MyLastShot Project

On March 28, Senator Julie Gonzales (D), Colorado, referenced #MyLastShot in her speech[5] before voting 'yes' on the Colorado Extreme Risk Protection Orders bill that passed 18–17 in the state senate. In her speech, Sen. Gonzales said, "Current high school students from Columbine High have created a website called mylastshot.org where they are asking fellow students to put a sticker on the back of their driver licenses to let the media and others know that if they die in a mass shooting, that they want the photos of their death to be publicized."

Colorado State Representative Tom Sullivan also threw in his support of #MyLastShot in light of his own son's tragic murder in the Aurora theatre shooting. He went on to state that people need to see the photos, and that he keeps the graphic images of his son's crime scene photos on his phone to show legislators in an effort to create change.[6] In an interview with Denver7 on the #MyLastShot Project, Rep. Sullivan said, "Alex was only shot one time. It came in from his left side. He's lying on the floor in floor 12. He was wearing khaki pants and a red shirt. The impact of our story, once you hear it over and over again, is that it wasn’t fazing anybody,” Sullivan said. “Maybe they need to see some of these pictures."

On March 28, 2019, Denver7 News reported on #MyLastShot pointing out how the Poynter Institute for Media Ethics typically is against the release of graphic imagery. On their website under 'Best Practices Offered For Media Coverage of Mass Shootings' they state "Be sensitive and cautious about using visual images, rather than showing graphic images of the crime scene."[7] However, about one week after launch, Al Tompkins of the Poynter Institute wrote an article about the #MyLastShot Project giving journalists and photographers guidelines should they come upon the body of an individual with a #MyLastShot pledge. In the article, Al Tompkins writes, "...the use of such images is situational and should not be covered by a blanket “never publish” or “always publish” policy that allows journalists to escape tough calls."[8] This stance goes contrary to Poynter's previous guidelines to stay away from showing graphic images of the crime scene. In the same week, another large media ethics institution, Reynolds Journalism Institute gave journalist Jim MacMillan a one-year grant to create new guidelines for gun violence reporting in the United States.[9]