'American Guns' Canceled By Discovery Following Newton School Shooting
Discovery Channel canceled the reality show "American Guns," which ended its second season earlier this year, and the network has no intention to even air repeats of the show, according to a rep for the show.
Discovery Channel said the decision was made long before the Connecticut school shooting and the show's cancellation is in no way linked to the 20 children and six adults killed in Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14 at the hands of 20-year-old Adam Lanza.
The series follows a family of gun makers in Colorado and since the Friday shooting it has drawn negative attention by many calling for its cancellation, according to TV Guide.
"American Guns" star Paige Wyatt shared a screen shot of a tweet she received Saturday that read "Sickening to zap into American Guns right after the #Newtown shooting. Are you aware that you are encouraging this culture?" Wyatt responded by saying the person "obviously needs to be educated," and adding the hashtags #aggravating, #dumb and #gunsdontkillpeoplepeoplekillpeople.
Since the school shooting, TV Guide noted that Syfy did not air Dec. 14's episode of "Haven," which featured violence at a high school, TLC postponed its "Best Funeral Ever" special to Jan. 6 and Fox pulled new Sunday episodes of "Family Guy" and "American Dad," which might have had sensitive content in light of the shooting.
ABC briefly removed the winter finale episode of "Scandal" from its website but then restored the episode Monday with the following message added: "Since the episode contains a violent scene involving children, we urge fans to use their own discretion before viewing."
It was reported Tuesday that since the shooting, the National Rifle Association's main Facebook page remains inaccessible and its Twitter account had been silence. However, at the time of this report, the NRA tweeted a link to a statement it released Tuesday.
"The National Rifle Association of America is made up of four million moms and dads, sons and daughters - and we were shocked, saddened and heartbroken by the news of the horrific and senseless murders in Newtown," the statement read. "Out of respect for the families, and as a matter of common decency, we have given time for mourning, prayer and a full investigation of the facts before commenting."
The NRA also said they are prepared to offer "meaningful contributions" to help make sure another shooting massacre like the one at Sandy Hook never happens again, and also that it will hold a major news conference in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Dec. 21.
