Thoughts On "Bowling For Columbine"

Thanks to all for the thoughtful responses. I started this post because I think "Bowling for Columbine" is an interesting and worthwhile film for everybody in the U.S. to see. What is so refreshing about the movie is that it actually dares to address a serious social issue. So few films today even try.

All I can tell you, Lugnut, is that most people I know, i.e., professionals who live in Northwest or the suburbs, would be *extremely* uncomfortable carrying a weapon. Most of them just don't come from a gun-oriented background. I, myself, have far too severe a temper to carry a gun. I can almost guarantee that if someone pushed me too far at the wrong time, I'd pull out the piece. I believe, and most people I know (those with whom I've had this discussion), is to just stay away from known "trouble areas", and try to keep yourself in as safe a situation as you can. Does that make us ultimately safe? Of course not. Could we still be shot in the most posh store in Georgetown? Absolutely.

But in Washington, I really think most of us feel far more threatened by weapons other than guns. If polled, most people (including me), would probably say that they would die a violent death at the hands of (in order of likelihood):

(1) Terrorist attack
(2) Bomb
(3) Gun

That's just life in Washington. We don't talk about it much, but we all (and I mean ALL) secertly believe that we could die by either of the first two means at any time, especially (1). It genuinely doesn't occur to us to worry about (3).

Sugarbrie,
From reading some of these replies you could get the impression that some are proud of the gun culture in the USA.
Imho it's tragic and a massive mistake to consider it part of American freedom and I'm sorry but your argument doesn't hold water for me.
As I stated earlier I believe the situation in America is complex and now it may be close to impossible to solve.
As for the UK gun crime is on the rise but it is mostly contained within underwold assinations and yes we've been having armed robberies and gun related murder since after the war.
It's a mistake imho to consider the tightening of gun laws related to this increase as the percentage of UK citizens who wish to own guns is minimal to say the least-I would think these laws are aimed at the criminal element.
I can assure you the criminals of Britain are not running riot with guns because Joe Public hasn't got a shotgun under his bed.
Of course any increase in gun related crime is worrying to say the least.
You can use Cuba,N.Korea if you like to highlight why American freedom works but you may wonder why the whole of western Europe doesn't have the problems America has.
I think you'll find we have the same freedom Americans have.
I have never stated anywhere in my threads a pro-gun control stance but I'm afraid your idea's concerning the UK are pretty out of touch.

Does anyone remember the early scene in the movie 2001 when the ape discovers he can use a tool to kill? He's overjoyed. It then skips our intervening evolution and goes straight to the orbiting space station.

Our society will remain violent so long as the people consider violence a form of acceptable behavior. Pre-meditated killers have a knack for rationalizing their crimes. From gangland revenge to national policy - "he deserved it" - lets the bullets fly.

For some instant karma, check out Jimi Hendrix's song Machine Gun.

Ben,

Your observations have merit in that most of us would love to have peace be prevelent in our lives. What I find curious however is I have personally known two British citizens that won the lottery to imigrate to the U.S. Both of these great guys are now enjoying citizenship. I met each one shortly after their arrival in Boise. The first thing they did was to buy a hand gun. They did this for the enjoyment factor, because they could and not as personal defense. One of the fellows took to riding mules in the mountains surrounding Boise and quickly took to the persona of being a "mountain man", complete with all the appropriate dress. The other fellow loves to fire his weapon at targets which was an activity so regulated at home as to be nearly impossible. Thankfully there are numerous places one can go here to partake in this pastime.

We have spent many hours discussing the differences between the United States and the U.K. One of the common observations they had made was that violent crimes against women and burglaries were much more common in the U.K. than here and both of these guys felt much safer in the states than home. They both expressed surprise that life in this country is much different than what it's portrayed to be by the media where they came from. Both of these guys loved their homeland and missed many aspects of living there but felt that living in this country offered more of everything life is about.

One of the biggest differences that they brought to my attention is that our immigration policies provide access to all peoples from all countries around the globe while the U.K. has joint citizenship as a result of expansionist policies from long ago. It's my understanding, as an example, that people form India, which was a "posession" of Great Britian, can move to the U.K. at will and this has greatly affected the "feel" of what was their home. The United States keeps it's feel because of open immigration. Granted, the feel is changing through illegal immigration, but that is another topic.

One thing struck me as very insightful coming from these two imigrants. They both instantly recognized that private gun ownership in this country ensures that our own government cannot run roughshod over the population. Of course, these guys are old enough to have studied 20th century European history shortly after it unfolded and were aware that one of the first things a corrupt government does is disarm the populace. They both recognized that even if the United States wanted to disarm the common man that it could only be done in theory. Most weapons are not registered since they were made and owned prior to such legislation. Nobody that owns one of these weapons would ever comply with turning them in.

The point I'm trying to get to is this: Our violence with guns and the deaths that occur in that fashion may be a less costly price to pay to ensure that freedom will always prevail here because of private gun ownership. Let's face it. We don't have friends in government, at least in this country. Citizens are a commodity; a natural resource. If our government really cared about we citizens (after 9/11) then we would be organized on the block level to care for one another and prevent chaos in the event of more terrorist activity. This was done during WWII but is not being done today. Why not?

The movie Brave Heart should be required viewing in all free countries since it's a fairly accurate portrayal of events of that period and should show that maintaining ones freedom is less costly than gaining ones freedom in terms of blood shed and lives lost. This is why a well armed populace is necessary once freedom is gained.

What is not discussed by Michael Moore is the accuracy of the gun death data. Many of the deaths are suicide. Many others are from police. Many are from self defense. Many are hunting related. Many are accidents. They are all rolled into one set of data to make us look as bad as possible for the purpose of disarming us. I for one am comfortable that the bureaucrats, police and elected officials can only do as much as we allow them to do.