I guess I shouldn't be surprised when a show like "The West Wing" shows only one side of the gun issue, but it still bothers me. One of the oldest literary methods of persuading your audience to your point of view is to present two arguing characters, one (the opponent to your viewpoint) less than competent. Television and movies commonly make use of this tactic to influence the audience into taking up their own opinions.

On "The West Wing", we have a White House official denying the intent and meaning of the 2nd Amendment while simultaneously blaming violence on the existence of guns. No rebuttal is given to these points, no mention of the fact that the militia, as defined in Federal law (Title 10 USC, Section 311), "consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age... under 45 years of age... and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard." Kinda makes it hard to claim that the militia refers to the National Guard, when the very definition indicates the Guard is merely a subset. No mention made that Switzerland, one of the countries listed in the show's great roster of low gun-crime nations, requires that all able-bodied citizens keep an automatic assault rifle in their homes for defense of the country.