This artifact is a poster from March for our Lives. It serves to introduce a young audience to an opinion that should seemingly be held by any reasonable person. Without introducing any of the details of the situation, merely relying on what the viewer knows through hearsay, it plants an opinion.

This artifact was a part of a large campaign to advocate for stronger gun control laws. By equating bullets (a contested subject) with cigarettes (one which has been decided as being harmful) this poster draws the conclusion that bullets are dangerous for the viewer.

This artifact is new and only relevant in recent years or even months, with the gun control debate reaching a fever pitch. A decade ago, it would not have been well received. A few decades ago, people would not have even understood it as cigarettes were not accepted as being detrimental for one’s health.

This derisive poster is accepted in very different ways. For one, it supports the ‘obvious’ and ‘common-sense’ nature of their opinions. For the other, it serves to enrage. They are angry at the simple conclusions that their opponents draw from this problem.

A commonplace in the ideology of this poster is how dangerous guns are. It is that guns are only used unnecessarily and for violence. It also shows the commonplace among those who support gun rights are those who don’t look at facts – like those who smoke cigarettes.

This is a civic artifact because it calls on voters, on citizens to support gun control. Its focus is on those who are being introduced to the topic to give them a prejudice. It is a call to action not only tax bullets, but to legislate more gun control. It urges a cultural change. One in which society comes to detest violence and loose gun control laws.