I say ‘yes’, but it’s not a sinister conspiracy thing.

Remember ‘The Summer Of The Shark’, when it seemed like everyone who even stuck a toe in the ocean on the East Coast got it chomped off? Shark attacks were actually *down* that summer but one in the spring caught the MSM’s attention so…

Basically I see it as:

1) Firearms releated issue rises up to the point where they *have* to cover it.
2) Newly sensitized to the words ‘firearm’ and ‘gun’, plus seeing all the other papers using those words, they start noticing the otherwise routine / filler pieces in their own pile o’ news.
3) Wanting to be one of the cool kids, they hype up these stories.
4) All the other papers see these stories and (go to Step 2)
5) Eventually some ’starlet’ gets upset with the lack of attention and starts waving body parts around. The MSM turn to look at her and loose their focus on the prior issue.