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Update on Firearm Use in G- and PG-Rated Movies
To the Editor: Previous studies suggest that children imitate behavior such as violence and tobacco use shown in media.1-6 Of popular G- and PG-rated movies released during 1995-1997, 40% depicted firearms.7 We examined movies released during 1998-2002 to determine whether the depiction of firearms in children’s movies has changed.
Methods
The study protocol remained unchanged from the 1995-1997 study.8 For each year in 1998-2002, we selected the 25 G- or PG-rated movies with the highest annual domestic box-office gross.9 To be consistent with the first study, we excluded movies or scenes not set in the present day (1992-2002) or that were animated. The coding unit was a person-scene, defined as a scene in which 1 person was involved in an activity of interest. For example, a person handling a firearm would be counted as 1 person-scene; 4 persons handling firearms in a single scene would be counted as 4 person-scenes. Possession or handling of firearms was recorded for characters with speaking roles only. Using a standardized data collection form and a video home system (VHS) or digital videodisc (DVD), each movie was viewed simultaneously by 1 of 2 pairs of reviewers until there was consistency in coding. Comparisons between 1995-1997 and 1998-2002 data were analyzed using  2 testing; if a cell size was less than 5, the Fisher exact test was used instead. Differences were considered significant if P<.05.
Results
Of 125 movies, 61 met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 11 (18%) were G-rated and 50 (82%) were PG-rated. Seventeen movies (28%) depicted characters with firearms (Table). There were 109 person-scenes depicting characters with firearms, with a median of 3 person-scenes per movie (range, 1-18). Five movies accounted for 72% of the person-scenes depicting characters with firearms. All characters with firearms were adults; 90 (83%) were men. Of characters with firearms, 55 were law enforcement officers (government agents, police officers, park rangers, and security guards), 27 were criminals, and 27 were other characters such as a homeowner or hunter. Seventy-three person-scenes (67%) depicted characters handling firearms and 52 person-scenes (48%) depicted characters making a threatening gesture with a firearm. Nineteen person-scenes (17%) depicted characters discharging a firearm: 8 at a human, 6 at an inanimate object, and 5 at an animal. One person-scene (1%) showed a character that was killed by a firearm; no other injuries were depicted. The proportion of person-scenes with characters handling a firearm decreased significantly from the 1995-1997 to the 1998-2002 study (86% vs 67%, respectively; P<.001); no other changes were statistically significant.
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Table. Percentages of Movies and Person-Scenes Depicting Characters With Firearms in G- and PG-Rated Movies, 1995-2002
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Comment
Firearms are still frequently shown in G- and PG-rated movies. Since the 1995-1997 study, the only statistically significant change has been a decrease in the proportion of person-scenes depicting characters handling a firearm. The movies in which a character discharged a firearm rarely showed a person or animal injured or killed; this may minimize the child’s perception of the potential dangers of firearms.10 Because data were collected only for characters with speaking roles, our findings likely represent an underestimate of the actual number of scenes depicting firearms. In addition, children are likely to view these films multiple times on television and VHS or DVD.
This study has at least 2 limitations. First, the relatively small number of movies and person-scenes in some categories resulted in a limited ability to detect changes from the earlier study. For example, the power to detect a statistically significant difference in the number of movies depicting characters with firearms was 0.27. Second, we did not control for clustering of person-scenes within movies in either study. Our results indicate that parents should continue to be aware that many of the G- and PG-rated movies viewed by their children depict firearms and frequently omit the serious consequences of firearm use.
Leigh T. Ramsey, PhD
ltramsey{at}cdc.gov
Andrew R. Pelletier, MD, MPH
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Atlanta, Ga
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7. Pelletier AR, Quinlan KP, Sacks JJ, Van Gilder TJ, Gilchrist J, Ahluwalia HK. Firearm use in G-and PG-rated movies. JAMA. 1999;282:428.
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8. Pelletier AR, Quinlan KP, Sacks JJ, Van Gilder TJ, Gilchrist J, Ahluwalia HK. Injury prevention practices as depicted in G-rated and PG-rated movies. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2000;154:283-286.
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9. Variety Web site. 2004. Available at: http://www.variety.com/. Accessed November 16, 2004.
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Letters Section Editor: Robert M. Golub, MD, Senior Editor.
JAMA. 2004;292:2836-2837.
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