New Google Chrome Extension Erases Names, Photos Of Mass Killers
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A new Google Chrome plug-in removes mass shooters' names and photos from major news websites in hopes of curbing future attacks by copycats who have a "desire for notoriety."
The plug-in, created by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, not only removes the names and photos of known mass killers from major news websites and Google search results but it then replaces them with the photos and names of their victims.
The hope is that by giving the killers "zero minutes of fame," instead of shining a spotlight of them, fewer people will follow in their footsteps.
Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign said in a statement Wednesday, "The fact is, notoriety serves as a reward for these killers and as a call-to-action for others who would seek to do similar harm in the name of infamy."
The Brady campaign is going a step further and has started a petition to "encourage the media to stop showing the perpetrators' names and images on their channels."
The Brady Campaign is named for Jim and Sarah Brady. President Ronald Reagan appointed Jim Brady Assistant to the President and White House Press Secretary in January 1981, but on March 30, 1981, a man identified as John Hinckley shot President Reagan, Jim Brady, and two law enforcement officers. Jim Brady suffered a serious head wound that left him partially paralyzed for life.
The Bradys also lend their name to the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act which, in 1993, established a five-day waiting period before the purchase of a handgun along with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which gun dealers are required to check before transferring ownership of a firearm.
According to the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action, the Brady Act's five-day waiting period "has never applied to many high-crime states," including California, 17 other states and Washington D.C.
The NRA-ILA maintains that those 18 states and D.C. that are "Brady-exempt" accounted for 63 percent of violent crimes in the U.S. in 1993.
California currently has a 10-day waiting period when buying a firearm.
The new Chrome plug-in, which some reviewers said has significant glitches, is available in the Chrome web store.
By Hannah Albarazi - Follow her on Twitter: @hannahalbarazi.