(boom)
- [Narrator] That image was quite
controversial to a lot of people.
Some people saw it as irresponsible.
Some people saw it as
dangerous, threatening.
Whereas other people, including you,
saw it as a symbol of
something very different.
What was it to you?
- Powerful.
Protecting.
That it's my freedom.
- [Narrator] But the
people who criticised you,
what do they see?
- A right-wing lunatic.
- [Narrator] 18 years
ago, I traveled across
the United States
exploring America's deadly
love affair with the gun.
I witnessed the grim
results of these weapons
in hospital emergency rooms, morgues
and the confused aftermaths
of mass shooting sprees.
After each new massacre,
the newspaper headlines
were always the same.
Why did it happen here?
Since my book was
published in the year 2000,
more than half a million Americans
have been killed by firearms in the U.S.A.
527,000 people dead and many more injured.
I decided to return to the subject
to track down each gun owner who I'd
met and photographed those years ago
to understand why,
despite this death toll,
there is such fierce resistance to even
moderate gun control laws in the U.S.A.
(heartbeat)
- His finger wasn't even on the trigger.
That's not what the picture is about.
He's not trying to harm me.
He's trying to protect me.
- I'm looking out for myself,
my family, my neighbours.
(gunshots)
Alright.
(gunshots)
Zen.
Relaxing.
(camera click)
- The thought that some people would want
to take our guns away,
to me, is so ludicrous
because the bad guys,
the thugs, the murderers,
the rapists are always going to have guns
and all you would be
doing would be take them
away from the good guys, from us,
the law-abiding citizens.
People in this country
huddle in their houses
and throw the deadbolts,
but I will not succumb
to the scum that is out there.
We were at our church last Sunday
and our Sunday School
teacher, Mike, asked the class
how many people had gun permits
and I would say over 2/3 of
the members raised their hands.
This is a .38 Taurus and it's
a five cylinder revolver.
It's a concealed hammer
and it is concealed
so that way it doesn't
get tangled or stuck
on anything when you try to pull it
out of your pocket or your purse.
If a bad guy tried to get
to one of my family members,
he would have better
luck with a butter knife
against a grizzly bear than
hurting one of my babies.
The armadillo or
something's digging, look.
We've got a big hole.
One morning, come down the driveway,
start across the street, and there walking
right in front of me,
is the armadillo.
So I think, "Here's my chance."
I've got babies, this
armadillo carries leprosy,
I've got to take this thing out.
So, I rev up my--
- Honda.
- Car, run, run, run, run, run.
And I floorboard it.
Hit the armadillo and it's like
bang whap whop bang boom.
When they get scared,
they jump straight up
and they curl into a ball, so all that
whop bam boom was his shell rolling
around the front of my
car, but he was fine.
- [Narrator] I've never
heard of armadillos
carrying leprosy, surely not.
- They can, yes.
You look it up.
You Google it.
With my babies around, I'm not
gonna take that chance, so.
(birds chirping)
- [Narrator] What percentage
of people have guns
here, that, would you say?
- In this neighborhood?
Ooh, I would venture to guess everybody
in this neighborhood.
I doubt if anybody does not have a gun.
- [Narrator] And do you
think that having guns
is a great deterrent to people coming
into the neighborhood?
- Oh, absolutely.
I can promise you that's the reason
they're not coming in.
Stay away from me and
stay away from my home
and we won't have that problem.
(boom)
- Well, this is one of
my favorite things to do.
Quoting myself.
(chuckles)
With a bible in one hand
and a gun in the other,
we can make this country one
nation under God once again.
In the name of the founding fathers
of this great country,
don't you ever acquiesce.
Don't ever turn your
weapons of war and safety,
don't ever turn those
over to your government.
It is the great equaliser.
If two people have a gun, they're equal.
Or whoever has the gun
they are supreme.
Every time they pass
another gun control law,
they promise us safety.
Do you know who did the same thing?
Adolf Hitler.
Now, there's already 350
million guns in America.
What are you gonna do?
You gonna go confiscate 'em all?
Are you gonna make it more difficult
for the criminals to get 'em?
They already have 'em.
They can get 'em faster than you can.
The problem with crime
in America is recidivism.
The repeat offender.
If you want to go after criminals,
who misuse guns, the
first time you arrest 'em,
get 'em, go after 'em, keep 'em.
Second, make sure that
the law-abiding citizen
is ready, capable and
prepared to shoot back.
You know, my motto
comes right from the movie Cinderella.
Last year it was my
favourite movie, really.
The motto in Cinderella was
have courage and be kind.
(clicks)
(gunshot)
I want my daughters armed.
I want my wife armed.
I want my sons armed, and
I want them to be able
to defend their families.
We've never hurt anybody
and we don't want to.
But at the same time, we're not gonna just
make ourselves an easy
target for those who would
rape, rob and plunder.
No, no way.
(boom)
- I got six machine guns in the house.
10,000 rounds ammunition in the closet.
With the license I have,
I could get on the phone
today and get a, I could
order a hundred machine guns
and they're here in two weeks.
I could get anything.
You know, I have a tank.
You know, there's no end, you know?
The two hot guns is what I sell.
The AK-47s and the AR-15.
And I got everybody beat
in town with the prices,
'cause I buy so many of 'em.
The newspeople come here and
they always blame the gun.
You know, they asked
me when that happened,
"Why do you sell guns that kill people?"
- [Narrator] And what do you tell them?
- What do I tell them?
I said all these guns were
on the wall last night
and I walked in this
morning and nobody was dead.
You know, it's stupid.
Gun doesn't kill the people,
the people kill the people and they just
use the gun to kill the people.
You know, they could use a fork, a knife,
a hammer, a screwdriver, you know.
Why keep blaming it on the gun?
(customers chattering)
Okay, just gimme uh, just gimme $40.
- This one won't lock open,
so just keep the safety on.
- Oh, yeah.
- Just keep it face up, okay?
(customers chattering)
- Here, you carry that.
- Man, that's a rifle.
- Uh uh uh, up, here you go.
There you go.
- Which one do you wanna--
(gunshots)
- It's my birthday and I
got a gun for my birthday.
So, I'm going to shoot it for
the first time here today.
(gunshots)
(engine roars)
(gunshots)
- We've seen just about everything.
M-16 assault rifles, AR-15 semi-autos,
hunting rifles with homemade silencers.
These guns could've been used by anyone.
They could've been used in robberies,
domestics and also homicides.
Yeah, that was 19 years ago.
Those words still ring true.
Since that time, the laws
in the state of Tennessee
have changed substantially.
You're allowed to carry guns in parks.
Guns in bars.
Guns in your car, so,
from a police chief's
perspective, I would definitely say that
I'd probably prefer if we
did not have guns in bars.
(gunshots)
(boom)
- I got a .410 shotgun
from Santa Claus last year.
Um, right now, our best
selling rifle is the
Smith and Wesson.
It's just, you know, a fun gun to shoot.
People just go to the range
and go shoot 'em, have fun.
- [Narrator] Is it a
hunting rifle as well?
- Yes, it can be a hunting rifle.
- [Narrator] Doesn't really
seem fair on the animal.
- No.
(chuckles)
It doesn't.
You know, poor Bambi and all them.
(clicks)
- [Child] Mommy!
(mumbles)
- Start singin'.
(opera music)
(gunshots)
- This pistol right here, the
Glock semi-automatic pistol
is one of the biggest,
biggest movie guns ever.
I get kids out here that think they know
what they're doin' 'cause
they saw it in a movie.
They're dangerous.
We have to go out there and stop them
and actually educate them on how to handle
a firearm immediately.
Okay, I've got one of our most popular
self-defense rounds, here.
It is 124 grain 9mm jacketed hollow point.
It expands rapidly
hitting organic material,
such as your flesh.
Couple of Mausers.
We also have an AR-15,
which is a huge seller.
It really is.
This is an extremely accurate weapon
at very long ranges.
- [Narrator] But I mean,
someone wouldn't buy that
for home protection, would they?
- Oh, most definitely.
I have one by my bed for home protection.
My wife actually has a
Benelli M4 by her bed,
which is a semi-automatic shotgun.
- [Narrator] But what
does it do, having that
next to your bed?
What does that do to your mindset?
Does it not make you feel
constantly vigilant and prepared?
- Oh not at all.
I mean, definitely prepared, all the way.
But I also have a family that I love
and care about very much.
(clinking)
If you do watch the news,
you see it all the time.
Home invasion here.
Home invasion there.
Highway shooting.
It's pretty much, it can be
like the wild west out here.
(clinking)
- Most shootings take place
in domestic situations.
The sizable number of
people who kill other people
are so-called law-abiding citizens.
The law-abiding citizen produces
a lot of the fatalities,
by mistake, in anger or by accident.
Several years ago, there was
a surgeon here in Memphis
who did a study of murders
in two different urban areas,
seeing if the presence or
absence of guns in a home
was a trigger or a
protection from a murder.
And his conclusion was that
the presence of the gun
was more likely to cause
a murder or death by gun
than the absence of a gun in a home.
(boom)
- The protest held
against the NRA Convention
took place 10 days after Columbine.
What happened at Columbine
on April 20th, 1999
was that two young men
who were intent on killing
as many students as they
could, they opened fire
on students outside and
then went, when confronted
with a police presence,
they went inside the school,
began shooting there,
went into the library.
That's where they killed and
injured the most students
and that's where my son was.
It went worse as the day went on.
No word from him, being
asked by the police
if we could provide a description of him
and what he was wearing.
At one point asking for dental records,
and being told at one point that there
was one last school bus bringing students
back from Columbine.
When you're waiting for
45 minutes for a bus
that should've only taken a couple minutes
I then began to realise that
there was no last school bus.
(footsteps)
- [Narrator] And how old
was Daniel when he died?
- 15.
- [Narrator] Just 15.
(click)
(thunder booms)
(birds chirping)
- 17 years ago when we
last met, I think it ended
in tears for me because I realised again
what I would do if they
came to take my guns.
That would be the end of it for
this country for sure
and I'm not willing to
hand that over.
I know I'm able to do it
and I know I would do it.
- [Narrator] What's it?
- Protect my rights.
The rights of my friends,
the rights of my loved ones,
the rights of this country.
- [Narrator] Yeah, but
you mean armed struggle?
- I think so.
I wouldn't let it go easily
and probably not while I'm living.
I feel like there are a
lot of gun owners out there
who don't take the
responsibility of owning guns,
carrying guns, storing guns, I don't think
they take it seriously enough.
- [Narrator] Well, why the
resistance to regulation?
- Because it leads to more regulation.
It's too slippery of a slope.
We can't have laws to protect people
from their own stupidity.
Guys use the word sexy
when they talk about guns.
I'm not going to, but they're romantic.
They're emotional.
(gunshots)
(chanting)
- A well regulated militia being necessary
for the security of a free
state, the right of the people
to keep and bear arms
shall not be infringed.
The second amendment and
every state constitution
guarantees my right to keep and bear arms.
Why?
For my personal safety
and to preserve liberty.
That's why.
It's called America.
- [9-1-1 Operator] Newtown 9-1-1.
What's the location of the emergency?
- [Caller] Sandy Hook
school, I think there's
somebody shooting in here.
- [Narrator] Mass shootings in America
have become almost commonplace.
But the Sandy Hook school massacre
where six and seven
year olds were targeted
by a gunman reached a new level of horror,
and cut to the raw nerve
of the American gun debate.
(tense music)
- Did it cause me to want
to strengthen gun laws?
Absolutely not.
I think if one of those
teachers, the principal,
whoever had had a gun,
that young man possibly
would not have killed anyone, or very few
of the children would have died.
- [Narrator] Do you
think a teacher is gonna
be able to cope with a gunman
with an AR-15 assault rifle?
- I think a properly trained teacher
can adjust to any threat
that they deal with.
- I think it's friggin' fantastic
that certain school districts are training
their teachers so they can
carry a weapon in school.
(gunshot)
- We go through drills,
and we put ourselves
in real scenarios.
It was interesting to see
how fast we get on the buses,
how fast we do this, who actually got hit
by the paintball gun.
It was pretty cool, but pretty, you know,
real-life scary, too.
The SWAT team comes into our room
and they're like, "Okay, everybody out."
"Put your hands up."
And we're all puttin' our
hands up and we're terrified
and takes us out, so.
- [Narrator] You had a SWAT
team come into your school?
- We had a SWAT team, yes we did.
Yes, this was in middle school.
- [Narrator] So, people do
sense that possibility--
- Oh, yeah, we gotta be prepared.
- What do every single mass
shooting have in common?
Gun free zones.
- [Narrator] I mean, there
was, I think there was
an armed guard at Columbine.
- From my cold, dead hands.
(audience applause)
- You know, I think
that part of the problem
is that the gun lobby
has been very successful
in getting their message out much more so
than those who want to
see reasonable gun laws.
They control the narrative
that you're either
for the second amendment or against it.
You're either for freedom
or against freedom.
- The surest way to stop
a bad guy with a gun
is a good guy with a gun.
(audience applause)
- After these mass shootings,
gun sales do tend to go up,
just because people start
getting freaked out.
People think that the government is gonna
take all our guns.
I mean, I hate seeing
the shootings happen,
but it is definitely,
it is good for business.
(gunshot)
This is a Smith and Wesson M&P15.
It is our best selling weapon right now.
Do I look pretty tough?
You know, you look like you're
a bad, a badass, I guess.
- [Narrator] Assault weapons
seem to attract controversy.
- Yeah.
- [Narrator] What is that?
- This is a semi-automatic rifle.
- [Narrator] Is it not an assault weapon?
- No.
- [Narrator] Why not?
- Semi-Automatic.
One pull of the trigger, one shot.
- [Narrator] And that's
what differentiates it
in your eyes, the fact
that one's fully automatic
and the other isn't?
- Right.
- [Narrator] Why are
they controversial, then?
- Because the media and
the left-wing politicians
want to make a boogey man out of a tool.
- [Narrator] What is an assault rifle?
I mean, it's such a debate,
even about what it is.
- I know, I know, and I shouldn't even
call 'em an assault rifle (chuckles).
It's a military style weapon.
That's what they want me to say.
A sporting gun, you know.
Different names, but it's the same thing.
It's a military weapon.
- The only reason to buy an assault rifle
is if you're going to make an assault
on an enemy position and
you need a lot of bullets
because you got a lot of people
in the position you're attacking.
The assault rifle was
meant for an assault.
It seems to me you don't need an assault
rifle to kill a deer.
- This, this ongoing
debate that some people
have about whether things like the AK-47
and the AR-15 are assault weapons or not,
that whole discussion is absurd.
That's the greatest friend
that a mass shooter could have.
- [9-1-1 Operator] Jefferson County 9-1-1.
- [Caller] On the floor,
you gotta stay on the floor!
Oh god!
- [9-1-1 Operator] Stay
on the line with me.
- [Caller] The gun is right
outside the library door.
- The two killers went
out in search of guns.
They were under 18.
They got an 18 year old
to go to the gun show,
to a gun show with them,
to make the purchase.
They purposely sought
out a private seller,
that's the so-called gun show loophole,
where you can go to a gun
show and at one table,
if it's a licensed dealer,
you have to go through
a background check.
Table of a private seller,
no background check.
- There's guns that I
sold and everybody sells,
every gun dealer, that
are found all around
the United States in crimes.
They should have, you know, mandatory
registration nationwide.
Everybody that owns a gun,
it should be registered
in their name and they're responsible
for that weapon.
Why should you let some
kid walk in a gun store,
buy 15 guns and be able to
give 'em to 15 of his friends
with no receipt that he even sold 'em
and everything's legal?
That means guns could be shipped in from
the east coast and the west coast and sold
in the newspaper to
anybody that can't pass
a background check.
That's how the criminals get guns.
- About 40% of all gun
sales are private sales.
They don't go through a background check.
That means they're not going
through a licensed dealer.
Imagine going to an airport
and have to go through security
and they said, "Okay, we're gonna have 60%
of the people go through security
and 40% can bypass it."
Would you get onto that airplane?
(mumbling)
- I can take you right
now, three miles from here,
and buy you anything you
want on the side of the road.
- [Narrator] Who's selling them then?
- Black market dealers.
It's out there.
Facebook, for example, you
can buy guns all day long.
You know? But--
- [Narrator] Just privately?
- Privately.
Yeah, and that is still
legal in Tennessee.
As of now, you can still do
private sales in Tennessee.
But--
- [Narrator] Without a background check?
- Without a background check.
You can.
- [Narrator] So you can sell it to anyone?
- Yes.
- [Narrator] Some people
are trying to introduce
a law that says
that shouldn't be allowed,
that you shouldn't
be allowed to sell a gun
without a background check.
Do you think you should or you shouldn't
be allowed to?
Do you not want to answer that one?
- Mmmm, I prefer not to.
- Maybe there needs to be some things done
to people where they're
back to working again
and not being given
money by the government
to run around and do
whatever they want to.
There's a lot of things we could address.
Maybe that's not the only problem.
Could be some mental health issues.
Could be drugs causing these problems.
I don't know the answer, but
we are not the problem.
(birds chirping)
- [Narrator] Can anything be done?
Should anything be done?
- No.
Let natural selection take its course.
(boom)
(chanting)
