Bowling for columbine documentary and gun violence in America?

Question

Hi,

I'm from Australia and i am doing an assignment on the documentary Bowling for Columbine. I am to present an arguement regarding the PRO's of owning a gun in America. I was wondering if any one had any views they would like to share on the representation of this documentary, particularly people living in America.

And also wanted to know is it true that you can buy bullets in stores like K-mart as easy as if you were going to go buy clothing from there?

And what the actual laws are on owning a gun in America and how easy it is to get one?

Answer 1

Don't use Bowling for Columbine for any kind of accurate information.

There were a series of laws pass for buying bullets but it had no effect on gun crimes.

The number of gun crimes commited by legally own gun is zero.

Those with some of the toughtest gun laws have the highest crime rates.

Look up Chicago gun crimes.

Look to your own country what happen to the crime rate when you ban gun ownership.

Gun laws are just feel good measures that have no effect.

Answer 2

I don't know as much about gun ownership as I'd like to, but here's what I can tell you :

The constitution secures the rights of people to own guns. I am definitely pro- 2nd amendment, despite the fact that dumb people do dumb things with guns. And considering the relative ease of attaining a gun on the black market, I'd prefer to own a gun in order to protect myself from those dumb people. And from the government ;)

You can buy bullets in K-Mart/Wal-Mart, but for some reason, I'm under the impression that this is only for shotguns and hunting rifles.

It's very easy to get a gun. Again, I'm not too clear on the laws, but I know to get a concealed carry permit, you've got to have a squeaky clean record.

As  for the documentary itself, I don't remember much about it. I know that Moore misrepresentated some things, and based assumptions of Heston's character on falsified statements. If I recall correctly, I want to say that it was a bit over-done with the object of preying on silly people's emotions.

Anywho, that's all I've got for you. Wish it was a bit more detailed and a lot less scatterbrained, but hopefully it helps.

Answer 3

1.  There is no national law.

2.  The laws vary from state to state with New York and Massachusetts having the most restrictive and Alaska nd Vermont having the least restrictive.

In Alaska it is easy to buy ammunition in most stores with Identification, though K-Mart has ceased selling it.  In fact, in Alaska it is relatively simple to buy reloading components to load your own ammunition.

The issues against gun ownership are domestic violence and child access.  The issue for gun ownership is generally less violent crime like muggings, robberies, etc.

People do appear to be more polite to each other in Alaska, where the law allows anyone who is a resident over 21 without a criminal record to carry concealed.  That is, they are more polite than they were before the law was enacted.