From: [c--wf--d] at [fido.econlab.arizona.edu] (David Woo Crawford) Newsgroups: rec.guns Subject: [MEDIA] Pro-Second Amendment Documentary Date: 25 Jul 1994 14:09:03 -0400 #Date: Wed, 20 Jul 1994 04:25:13 -0400 (EDT) #From: Jim Cammarano <[H M CINC] at [delphi.com]> #Subject: Pro-Second Amendment Documentary #To: [l--er--t] at [Dartmouth.EDU] ARMED AND LAW ABIDING 90 minute Public Television Special RIVA FREIFELD and DOMINIQUE LASSEUR, award-winning Canadian and French documentary filmmakers living in New York City are producing a Public Television special on the Second Amendment, the current debate over gun control, and the American tradition of private gun ownership. Today when politicians, the mainstream media, and a large segment of the public are calling for gun control to help solve the apparently rising tide of gun-related crime, we wish to open up a side of the gun issue that is not often portrayed, the "good side." Our film will first of all examine the fearful image of guns in today's society. We will show some of the tragedy that has so often been depicted, accidental deaths of children shot by guns belonging to careless owners, the bloodbaths that have been the topics of so many headlines. But we will tell another, more difficult story as well. A story which does not lend itself to dramatic headlines and fast moving imagery, because it is not about death, it is about life. There are over 200 million guns in America. But many people have been saved by guns, and their stories rarely make the news. There is a stigma attached to gun ownership, yet about half of all American homes contain a gun, whose only purpose is for protection. A gun is used successfully in self-defense about 1,000,000 times a year. In many of these cases, it is not even fired. In other cases, the person defending him/herself is prosecuted. The people who own these guns are not the media stereotypes, and come from all political persuasions. Most of them are average citizens, some of them are prominent Americans. The film will present portraits of a variety of gun owners, doctors, lawyers, teachers and businesspeople. Women, the elderly, and the disabled. Some of them have already had to defend themselves or their loved ones. Others are merely exercising their right to be able to do so in the future. Our subjects will tell their own stories, through on-camera interviews and real documentary sequences. We will augment these portraits with stock footage, TV news clips, and dramatic re-enactments when necessary. The human drama that will emerge from hearing people talk about being responsible for their own lives will be our film's primary focus. We will also interview more well-known figures who will help dispel some of the popular myths about who owns guns and why. These will include actress Valerie Perrine, Roy Innis of C.O.R.E., author Tom Clancy, sociologist David Kopel, constitutional lawyer Don Kates, Dr. Edgar Suter, Dr. Suzanne Gratia, Massad Ayoob, members of Congress, and the head of the NYPD License Division. We also would like gun owners to participate in a search for solutions to the crime problem and the accidental deaths associated with guns. So we will end our film with an open debate about gun control in the form of a town meeting, in which we hope to create a new awareness and communality among people of different opinions. A celebrity who is not associated with guns will be the narrator. The production company is Tatge-Lasseur Productions, Inc. of New York City, which has produced independent issue-oriented documentaries airing on national PBS and French television. For additional information, and should you wish to make a tax-deductible financial contribution to this project, contact the producer, Riva Freifeld, at (212) 874-7535, fax (212) 874-3970 or on the Internet at [70642 426] at [compuserve.com.] t, contact the producer, Riva Freifeld, at (212) 874-7535, fax (212) 874-3970 ------------------------------ [c--wf--d] at [Arizona.EDU]