The Boston Globe, like many U.S. news outlets, is sick of the seemingly endless stream of mass shootings.
In response to the weekend massacre in Orlando, Florida, that left 49 people dead, the Globe tweeted a preview of its powerful front page for Thursday's edition. Alongside a headline that reads "Make It Stop," the page features a full-size image of a military-style AR-15 rifle, a weapon of war similar to the semi-automatic carbine used by the Orlando shooter to kill dozens at a gay nightclub early Sunday.
A single, to-scale bullet hole is shown just below the gun's ammunition magazine.
The newspaper's front page, accompanied by an editorial, adds to this week's blistering attacks on lax gun laws that make it easy to acquire a firearm designed for the battlefield. (Multiple news outlets have purchased semi-automatic rifles since the Orlando shooting -- including The Huffington Post -- often in a few minutes.)
The Globe also tweeted the names of people killed in mass shootings that have taken place since the federal ban on assault weapons expired in 2004.
Such a message has made its way from late-night programs hosted by Samantha Bee and Conan O'Brien to the editorial pages of USA Today and the cover of the New York Daily News.
President Barack Obama has called for Congress to reinstate an assault weapons ban, an appeal also championed by presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and challenger Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). A Democratic filibuster over gun control took over the Senate on Wednesday night.
Despite these calls, as well as surveys that show a majority of Americans support a nationwide ban on assault weapons, presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump has instead called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States.
The NRA, in turn, blames Obama for the Orlando attack and said the president was "desperate to create the illusion that they’re doing something to protect us.”
“This transparent head-fake should scare every American," Chris W. Cox, the head of the NRA's lobbying arm wrote. "Because it will do nothing to prevent the next attack."
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