It seems that the American mindset is that if there is a threat or a fear, protect yourself with a gun. But why? Wouldn't stashing a handgun in the linen closet create opportunity for more threats and cause more fear? Michael Moore attempts to make the audience aware of Americans' overzealous use of guns in his 2002 documentary, Bowling for Columbine.
At the forefront of Moore's persuasive tactics are the number of school shootings throughout the United States. He presented the audience with stories of Columbine, Flint, and an overall American climate of fear. To explore this fear, Moore went to Canada to see if it was strictly home to America -- it was. While Canada is home to more guns than the United States, there are shockingly fewer murders. In one interview, a Canada resident hypothesized that this was because the Americans are afraid of their neighbors while Canadians are more trusting.
But is it a matter of trust? Some say it their social responsibility to carry a gun. And keep it loaded and stashed under their pillow. Moore made a great use of people with similar views in order to create an image of an aggressive America. A short clip of Chris Rock stating that we don't need more gun control, but rather more bullet control also supports this image. Whether it be gun control, bullet control, or fear control; Moore's message is clear; something needs to change.
His points were definitely obvious that America is doing something wrong with our violence issues. Just like you stated, Canadians have much more guns for hunting purposes or ownership, but there is not an issue at all of crime. In America, not everyone owns a gun yet we still see murders and violence happen all the time. It definitely is a country thing and we can’t seem to figure out the problem. We definitely need to fix this issue by having stricter gun laws like Moore was trying to point out.
ReplyDeleteAve,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your question, "wouldn't stashing a handgun in the linen closet create opportunity for more threats and cause more fear?" You would think storing a loaded gun in your house would case more trouble then its worth, but now a days it seems like Americans will do anything to be safe from, what exactly? Others doing the exact same thing as them? This leads right into your next point, trust. That is a huge factor! No one trusts anyone anymore. In Canada, they leave there doors unlocked. All the time. How is this possible? Well, the movie and other studies show they have less deaths by guns. I don't know what Canada is doing that we aren't, but you are correct in thinking something needs to change.
Hi Ave, I agree that when it comes to fear, Americans turn towards guns for safety. It was very interesting to learn how even though Canada has more guns than America, America has more gun-related deaths. It was really weird to see that people in Canada don’t lock their doors because they are so trustworthy. Even people, who Moore interviewed, that said they’d been robbed continued to leave their doors unlocked. You wouldn’t see people doing that here in America.
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