Fully Automatic America

But do you understand that the Second Amendment transcends a "fascination with guns"? It protects the rights of Americans to overthrow a corrupt government when the system stops working. I'm not saying that we're there or anywhere near there, and I think that the reality of people owning a grenade launcher, etc. is a little odd, but the right is there for a reason past people collecting. A lot of folks like to disconnect those 2 things because it makes it easier to paint gun owners as disconnected from reality that way.

I understand the fascination with guns. I know that people, like the ones shown in the beginning of the documentary, are law abiding citizens and will never actually use their guns while committing crimes. I understand the tradition and your rights and all that. But an automatic grenade launcher? a flame thrower? a tank? That just seems like it goes against what people say about the gun culture, because war is not a sport.

Great documentary!

I found the opening section interesting, but still a little disingenuous. The main problem I have with this film is that it only showed the two polar opposites of the gun control "debate". It didn't depict any of the folks who just have a rifle or two and maybe a handgun for self-defense. And I realize that there isn't any glamour in that. No big night-shoots, and no flashing lights and sirens. But it's us in the middle that the 2nd amendment is for. We've become a society of easy-answers and shortcuts and gun legislation is the shortcut for trying to curb crime. It's too hard for our society to teach young people in these cess-pools that we call cities to behave responsibly and not shoot each other. It's too much work to have parents police the actions of their children and not let them get caught up in the violence and drugs that are out there waiting to ensnare them. And it's too hard to justify going out and rounding up these thugs who are murdering our children. So let's just go after the thing that is the loudest and flashiest. Guns. Let's not consider the fact that if we effectively taught our kids that murder is wrong, or that hurting others for money is evil we might be able to prevent crime. Let's not talk about the fact that if you took away guns there would just be a vacuum that would be filled by some other weapon and that the brutality of these murders would only multiply. I mean look at the dark ages? Did they have guns?

i believe it has to do with the environment that these people are surrounded with because obviously well earned americans whose life is well and dandy dont have to or are not put in the situation were they feel like they have to cast revenge on someone else with harm of course not the people in the slums the hood the ghetto will kill wether it is with a gun or not the guns is just an artifact that facilitates the crime but the people that want to kill that are in gangs that sell drugs steal etc.. the ones with no opportunities will do what they have to do wether with a 9mm or a swiss army pocket knife

Guns do not cause crime, not even in Camden, NJ. Guns are tools and are not good or bad per se. All the guns in the Camden PD evidence locker are ILLEGAL GUNS - they were seized because someone used them to break the law. (I bet that at least 95% of the guns in there are NOT fully automatic, btw!) Don't call the gun 'bad' - we already have more than enough laws on the books - just enforce them and stop trying to ram more laws down the throats of the legal gunowners.

The Founding Fathers clearly intended for every able man to own a firearms, as they comprised the 'militia'. This has been upheld by the Supreme Court - 2nd amendment has been declared an individual right, not a collective right. Furthermore, a strict interpretation of the 2nd amendment means that civilians must have access to the exactly same weapons as would an infantryman - man-portable weapon systems - select-fire rifles, sub-guns, and pistols, and everything up to explosive/destructive devices. The original intent of the Founding Fathers was for this 'militia' to always outnumber the standing armed forces, and they have succeeded tremendously. While the US has a few hundred thousand (about half-a-million?) active military troops and LE agency members in arms, there are about 90 million armed citizens. Do not be fooled by the new 'sporting use' test - this is a ridiculous test that has no bearing when it comes to the natural rights of law-abiding citizens to own any man-portable firearm that is available to government troops.

Finally, if you want less crime on the street, you need to enable your law-abiding citizens to arm themselves and to be able to carry their weapons - make all 50 states shall-issue when it comes to concealed firearm permit issuance. Statistics prove that this is the path to a safer nation, not the ban of guns in the hands of law abiding members of society. The failed experiments of England and Australia are a warning of what will happen to a disarmed population, not even getting into the subject of a potentially tyrannical government having to face an armed and angry nation.

Taj is obviously biased and completely ignorant.

His response to the legitimate, law abiding gun store owner "Well actually, it's bullets that kill people" is absurd.

Since a bullet is an inanimate object, it can not decide to commit a double homicide. A gun is a tool, and the person wielding the tool is the killer. We don't blame vehicles for murder, we blame the driver. We don't blame guns for murder, we blame the gunner.

We all have brains, lets use them.

Just today, it was announced that Colosimo's gun shop will be closing, after the Feds finally brought charges to revoke his license to sell firearms. As a Philadelphian, I am very happy to hear this!

I own lots of guns... Never thought about shooting anybody with them... Not since Nam anyway...

Glad you got a giggle, but you guys post too much--I'm goiNG to turn it off. Youre filling up my email box! This currenttv thing wax MONTHS ago, and this is still all you do, besides shoot guns, I guess.

I have other email to answer.

Some of you need to get hit by the logic bus...

The Constitution does not protect private gun ownership? The Supreme Court and the majority of Americans disagree. What part of "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed" do you not understand. Why do you believe that the Framers used the word "people" five or six times in the bill of rights, yet people, meaning citizens, does not apply in the second?

Do any of you really believe that violence will go away when guns do? How's that gun ban doing for the UK. They might have lower gun crime, but they damn sure have higher violent crime.

Guns level the playing field. When you remove the right to own guns, you remove my 120 pound wife''s ability to defend herself from a 200 pound man.

Why did crime go down in every state that allowed concealed carry? The fact is, the majority of gun owners do not shoot other people. The problem is not the gun. The problem is the criminals. We've outlawed murder, yet they still do it. When they ignore one of our most fundamental laws, what makes you think they will obey any other restriction you impose on them?

The second amendment has nothing to do with hunting either, so please refrain from your ignorant tantrums about guns supposedly more deadly that a deer rifle or shotgun. The amendment says "being necessary for the security of a free state." Where is hunting or food procurement mentioned in that amendment? Oh, it isn't. The constitution was written by men that had just used their own personal firearms to repel the most powerful nation at the time. Do you think they forgot the importance of private gun ownership so soon? The second amendment is the 4th in a system of checks and balances. When all three branches of the government fail us, at least we have a fighting chance for freedom. Without those guns you are completely at the mercy of your government. Ask the Jews how well that worked for them in the 30s and 40s. The framers realized that. Why can't you?

The second amendment also says the right to keep and bear arms. If you look up the definition of arms in the dictionary, you will find small arms, as in firearms, not nuclear weapons which no private citizen could afford to purchase, store, and maintain anyway. No need to go to extremes to try to prove a point. No one is asking for the private ownership of nuclear weapons.

Next...

I disagree but not so respectfully--j/k

I am tired of this pissing contest. You just keep saying the same old tired NRA cliches

But i am not going to be convincing you nor you me.
I dont think there is a constituional right for everyone to have a gun and you do. You may be well trained with your weapons but that does nothing for a person who just got shot by someone who wasnt or who made a mistake.

Ive been around guns all of my life and I have never seen anyone shot that deaserved it. Just tragic mistakes.

Good luck to you

What the hell do you think that means? "The truth comes out"?

I have a graduate degree and have read the book you describe (I had to). I did not impress me.

There is a reason why the uS has more gun violence than any other western country and everyone with a brain knows what the reason is. I find you unconvincing (if thats what youre trying to do) and gun obsessed. Maybe you should get laid.

KDelphi, you sure do seem unhappy. Maybe when you move to your utopia you can finally be happy. Good luck. Keep in touch... we enjoy the humor of your posts.

Ban cars..I've ridden horses all of my life. At least we could breathe.

I long for the day we will have true liberty from gun-toting idiots.

I think getting shot is the ultimate loss of liberty

"Thank you for your service" is a bullshit response by those who tolerate our soldiers making 1/3 of what Mercenaries and Congresspeople do.

Wait until soldiers become Vets and realize how much the US Imperialist govt is going to take a crap on them with budget cuts

If youre good with a gun, I have just the job for you--esp if youre poor or a minority--you can play with all the weapons you want

If you believe that the govt doesnt have a right to control weapons ownership, then everyone who is rich enough should own a private nuclear weapon.

If not where do do you draw the line and who gets to decide?

If it impinges on the First Amendment right because you scare me, what about my rights? My right to NOT own a gun and still be safe.

The US is gun and war crazy, but the richer countries wil soon fix that--with a weapons embargo, maybe.Join the Marines and do something with your gun that doesnt involve sex. Or the lack thereof.

The reporter was fair until he dumped on the gun dealer at 49:37. He is talking about who is to blame and he says "... or the gun dealer who claims the law protects him from his actions...". Obviously the reporter feels the gun dealer is to blame from this comment. Yet, as the gun dealer said, he sells guns to those who can buy them legally, so he has complied with the law. If the gun dealer was breaking the law the cops would have arrested him.

I own guns, I have a permit to carry, I am law abiding, I support the police and I believe in my right to protect myself. It is the criminals that are giving guns a bad name, not the law abiding.

I need more coffee... and a road trip to Knob Creek!!

As I finished watching this I had one thought cross my mind. I wondered what people from each of these distinct cultures would think if placed in the opposing area. Would the gun shooting enthusiats realize that maybe there should be stricter gun laws; after walking the streets of Cambden? Or would the Cambden natives agree that its not the guns that are hurting their neighborhood but instead whom posess them? Personally I think it should be harder to acquire guns and those that aren't strictly for hunting should be banned from being sold completely in urban areas. I don't beleive the average citizen has any need for a full or semi-automatic weapon.

to solve the problem......have a bigger gun than the next guy..PROBLEM SOLVED..

You never mention, the war is fueled by drug money. Just as alcohol prohibition created Al Capone, drug prohibition created these gangs. End the prohibition of drugs, end the war.
Leave guns out of it.

you unknowingly prove my point...

I just watched the Fully Automatic episode and I just think that its crazy. I really do.

If you want to use those kinds of weapons, go into the military. These fully automatics are only used to kill people.

Killing should not be a hobby...sadly, it is. Some of these people would drop a person over a DVD player..shame on the uS.

My goal in the future will be to save enough money to leave the US. No health care,. now quality, low income housing, but wars and weapons galore.

Death 'R Us...

Thank you for the anti gun Vanguard show.

It would have been despicable for you to have shown the relationship of the manufacturers of small arms to the lobbyists in DC who are responsible for over $200 BILLION of US Senate appropriations going to BLACK BUDGET un-auditable line items that Harry Reid & Co. have signed off on annually for years.

Great Show!!!

BTW:
All those UN NGO's funded by nonaligned countries and Switzerland, et. al., it's quite a blessing that you failed to mention their statistics related to small arms sales and the perpetuation of the WAR ON TERROR. You missed the 80's CRACK epidemic coordinated by the post COINTELPRO element too. BRILLIANT!!!!

It's a pity that George Clooney didn't have the chance to see your program before shooting Three Kings (1999).

Keep up the great anti communist propaganda.
http://amazon.imdb.com/title/tt0120188/quotes

I'm glad to see a relatively unbiased piece.

As prohibition showed us, you cannot prohibit people from getting things they want. Where there is a demand, there will be a black market to fill it. The problem lies in drugs. If drugs were legal, as they should be, gangs would not have nearly as much capital to purchase guns and ammo. Take their business away and they will have to resort to less discrete crimes, or actually get a job. Zero tolerance should take care of the rest. Legalizing drugs may create other problems, but it would definitely handicap the gangs.

The war on alcohol, drugs, poverty, guns, terrorism...none of them really work, and they are all an excuse for more money and power.

Did anybody catch the top 5 best and most dangerous states or where I can find those lists?

.

After World War 2 reporters ask the Japanese General
why they did not invade the US after they bombed Pearl Harbor he said that he had went to college in America and knew that almost every American house hold had one firearm and they could not defeat the people of the United States. I all should be arming our selves to the teeth. Take guns away from good Americans only criminals and government will have them, not good and can not happen.

I didn't like this pod, I couldn't really get whether He was advocating Guns or against them. I didn't like it.....

I must admit I like to target shoot myself, I kinda got into it after 4 years of being in the Army, but I would never want to kill a person. However America was founded on a constitution and we shouldnt have our rights infringed on or amended. The way to teach control with guns is not to take them away or make laws so rediculous that hardly anyone can have one, the way to teach control is to teach people to respect weapons at a younger age so that they dont do stupid things with them when they're older.

I could think of far better ways to spend my money.

taking away guns wont do anything then people will just run around stabbing people like assassins creed and elder scrolls then who will be a 3rd world country

what u need to do is get rid of the criminals.maybe try sending them 2 Iraq? they like to kill right and we don't like eny of them let them work it out.

Very good doc but makes America look like a very scary and totally alien place. Why have a machine gun? they are for killing people. On the other hand if gun ownership was that rife in England then about 10% of the population would wiped out every Saturday night

True, guns are dangerous, but what's more frightening are the people who wield the guns.

Watched this on Current a couple nights ago, one of the best Vanguard's yet. "Just when you think you've seen it all, someone rolls up in their own tank!"

Great stuff Kaj!
Like always.

I like America... from afar.

It was almost a fair documentary. Suggestion for your next gun episode. Interview people who used a gun in their home or business to save themselves from an violent offender. They number in the thousands. And provide an answer to these questions: If you passed strict gun laws in all 50 States would you still be able to buy a gun on the streets? Do you think they might come in illegally over the border? Could a gun be made with simple equipment in a basement? And why do States that allow Conceal & Carry for law abiding citizens have a lower violent crime rates? We need the full story with fair analysis from both sides of the issue.

An extremely good piece. Well covered, very informative, fairly impartial. I hooked it to my Facebook and hope that many more watch it.

I reserve the right to arm bears!

while i do think having a safely stored weapon is a right in America, these people scare me. toothless bob having any lethal weapon is bad. but then again, none of the police i've encountered are any better. my faith in humanity thermometer just went down a bit.

I can't view this video there is a blank space on the page where its supposed to be. Why is it broken?

Without guns were not America. Ever hear of the minutemen? The good thing is that everybody that is against guns doesn't have them. Good luck taking them from us. Obamas policies have done nothing but fuel the sales of guns. About a year back a lunatic went postal at a mall close to my house. If there would have been one person carrying a gun they could've saved alot of lives. But nobody was and nobody stopped him. After that there was a line at the gunstore to get concealed carry permits. Criminals will always carry guns. But will we?

In CA, AB1471 was signed by our liberal republican governator. The whole microstamping idea is nothing more than a devisive way of making guns unobtainable. The technology doesnt exist, and they don't care if it ever does. They know it will never "help solve a crime". It will only make it so it is no longer financially feasable to manufacture guns to sell to a state that requires it, and there you have it....no more guns for sale in CA. Their mission accomplished....

We, as a nation, demand that manufactures in EVERY other industry use technology to make their product as safe as is possible and economically reasonable.

However, for some reason the gun manufacturers are not required to function like other products manufacturers. hmmm....so now the pro-gun group (btw, I legally own a few) argues that their industry can't function w/o special consideration. lol...so the gun lobby group is anti-capitalism?

So how would they be "improving" the guns. Are these new features going to prevent jams and malfunctions? If not then I wouldn't want them on the gun. Plus many of you have no idea how easy it is to actually build a gun. I've built an ak from a receiver and a parts kit. But have seen from online demonstrations how building an old style tommy gun could be accomplished using primitive tools found around a DIY's home. Little than $45.00 later you have a fully automatic Thompson sub-machine gun. Now it is completely illegal to do this but for murderers I doubt they care if they get a extra 10 years on that life sentence.

Evoleon,

the same arguments were made in other industries too. However, products liability did work to improve the products and ensure various safeguards (that could not easily be tampered with) were developed and put into practice.

Why should they be prosecuted over someone others actions. Yeah maybe if the gun blows up in someone's hands but to be responsible for someone else's actions would destroy the industry. What now? Miller brewing company made me drive my vehicle into oncoming traffic and kill a family of five. I don't think so, hold those responsible for their actions. Stop blaming everyone else for what you do. I'm a product of society, I wasn't given the opportunity, I wasn't hugged enough. Give me a break, these people will use any excuse to get off for the things they do. The federal government already tracks gun sales through their FFL system. Smart guns would put the prices of firearms through the roof. Guns like you are describing wouldn't be under 2k guaranteed. Plus how easy would it be to modify these guns to be used by anyone. 30 Million dollar micro-stamping technology can be taken out by using a .99 file.

Permit the gun manufacturers to incur liability. We permit other companies to incur liability for harm done to a 3rd person through product liability. Why isn't this true for hand guns?

Seriously, allow the gun manufacturers to incur liability and over night you will see superior accounting and tracking of fire arms. I'm also willing to bet you would see smart guns (guns only able to be fired by certain individuals) that would also transmit their discharge and by whom.

Great doc, just pointing something on this discussion.

Around 40% of the illegal Guns in Brazil came from a illegal mammer from the USA.

The truth is that criminals will always have guns. Why can't I? Oh, and look up how many times an automatic weapon has been used in a crime if you are worried about that. It's basically never. With the exception of North Hollywood.

I have a few guns for fun and a few for my and my families protection. I am not really gun crazy though. I might go shoot a moose this coming year too since I am poor and that would be a helluv a lot of free meat.

Please tell me. Is there any more of a basic right than the right to protect ones life? These people making gun laws live in their ivory towers with trained gaurds. They have no idea what it's like on the street. Get a gun, know how to use it. That is all. You can accept being a victim or stand up for you and your family. One day that firearm may save your life.

Another excellent educational Vanguard installment.
For Knob Creek, that kind of passion scares the shit out of me. "Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition."
Camden? A microcosmic view of the worldwide madness that is lax gun control legislation and all that comes with it.

Incredible video, well done on a much needed issue. As a legal gun owner of several fire arms and CCW permit i really believe we really need to have stricter laws with little to no room for pleading involving illegal sales, assault usage, and possession. Gun dealers that are caught illegally selling should get life, straw buyers likewise. Those selling illegally likewise and the use in commission of a crime as well. The number of those who legally owning fire arms and having conceal permit hardly come up. Spending time and money focusing on weapon type and the like are no helpful, it the execution of penalties that creates and feed the problem. When the criminals know they are going to face capital or life sentences without being able to plead down they will give serious thought to weapon involvement. As for the law abiding, their rights should be protected simply because face it, the police are not paid to protect during a break in or assault, they are paid to write reports and I for one intend to be the one providing the information for the report.

Featured a year too late. :X

I agree that this was really an exceptional piece, I had no idea that citizens who live 20 minutes away from me in Kentucky can legally own these sorts of weapons! Unfortunately gun control is an extremely difficult problem to solve, both sides have a number of valuable points:

Pro-Gun: Defense from violent criminals, Defense from government, Sport, Cultural Significance, etc.

Anti-Gun: Needless murder of thousands, proliferation of a culture of violence, guns oppress the poor since they are so easily available to them to mow each other down, etc.

The best way to solve this critical problem is to stop the causes of gun violence by working to economically revive neighborhoods where people feel they have no legitimate means to earn a living wage.

We need to stop treating the symptoms instead of the disease of poverty, and if we do perhaps the issue of gun-control will cease to be one.

Has anyone else heard people say they want automatic weapons for hunting.. if you need a AK or bigger to bring down a deer?? Then HELL, you will never be able to get the slugs out of the meat and you DON'T deserve the KILL!
DAMN!!!!

Yeah the show is cool. It would be fun to fire the weapons, but .... I don't really want to own any of it.
But I guess there are some that do.

Then again I enjoy collecting katanas, I don't use them for fighting, I just like bladed weapons... stars and other stuff are fun too. Everyone has what they like to play with. But they aren't for use on humans.

coolest thing ive seen on current yet! i really enjoy how it goes from the legal side of owning guns to the dangerous illegal side, then shows how either way guns really serve no purpose rather than causing problems.

"What a load of BS. First, fully automatic requires special licensing, and is not common at all."

What does this have to do with the gun control issue? I'm not limiting my argument to automatic weapons. They're only for poor marksmen.

"This is a pacifists view, and it is very slanted."

It is my viewpoint and only as slanted as those that deny that guns make killing other humans easier.

"Yes the world would be a better place without any guns"

I'm glad you agree

"it would also be a better place without disease, injury, and temperatures that require air conditioning and heat."

True, but we don't have the option of controlling these natural forces. We have found ways to limit their impact though. I would advocate making disease, injuries, too hot and cold weather illegal.

"One should accept the reality, that man is an animal, and we are a smart animal."

Apparently not smart enough to know that guns need to be regulated.

"If it weren't guns, it would be knives. If not knives, then clubs. If not clubs, then rocks. People will always have weapons."

Haven't heard of too many drive-by clubbings or knifings. Have you? Also, rocks, while certainly able to kill or injure someone truly don't pose much of a threat - ask the Palestinians.

"I'd appreciate you all keeping you hands off of mine, as I don't ever plan to have a fair fight. I'm a combat vet with over 20 years of service, and I'm not encumbered with the notion that if I leave everyone else alone, that they will return the favor 100% of the time."

You've made my point why you shouldn't have guns.

15,000 all armed to the teeth- no violent crime
Couple hundred people 'no' guns- four stabbings
Where would you rather be?

Kaj man! You became involved in car chase while filming your pod?

It seems as if you always find yourself in the heat of things. Good luck brother.

The video was slightly tainted in my opinion due to the lack of respect from the crew when going into the town were the shoot was, they made prejudice comments about the people they had seen and even laughed at the guys nickname who was nice enough to let them film there. They didnt seem so disrespectfull when it came to the filming of the marshalls or the man who had lost his brother to a firearm crime now did they? They didnt cover the "buyback program" well at all ,offerred from the man who had lost his brother and that was something i would actually of liked to hear about what there offering these kids growing up (as another poster informed) in a uneducated and less positive environment. I had the pleasure to grow up in a much more stable situation, and i agree totally with the poster who had mentioned education as being a major factor in many of the circumstances. After all almost any race can get some type of assistance in education for college. But the sad thing is college can seem like a very long way away for a kid especially growing up in the conditions as seen in Cambridge. Thats one reason the "buyback program" was an improtant part left out to me, what are you offering these children? Will it get them in a bad situation with the gangs that constantly run the street? Cops are greet to have but they cant protect you all the time and in definition are a "post event respone team" But guns are around for two reasons. 1> they are a very proffitable business like war and thats why they will never be gone. The rich make the decisions whether you like it or not and they will continue to. and 2> they are "meant" to protect; just as an officer is trying (or is being paid to) protect the public...some people who cant afford to move out of there conditions seek methods to protect there family or themselves from the many gangs that do thrive in our communities acrossed the nation. In my opinion the harder you make guns to obtain, the more likely youll start seeing them on the street, just like drugs, they are illegal, but are everywher, in countries were drugs are legal, they tend to cause less problems and are less pursued because there not glorified or mesmorizing anymore. I know it may sound very dumb but this might hit some of you were i mean it to , your brain... if every woman in a magazine was fat and old would your wife really feel like she needed to lose weight and get a breast job? if you dont understand that comment im sorry i went over your head they do offer g.e.d programs for you to catch up though :)

This is a comment for those with a negative slant on gun ownership. What are you going to use when the police and military are the criminals?

FK guns.

guns are evil

Guns are the most disgusting thing about America, if you ask me. While the people in Kentucky talk about protecting themselves from criminals, they don't come across as having anything worth taking from them. As for New Jersey, the Marshalls look like the most paranoid guys on Earth with 15 guys with guns drawn. The crooks are bad, but I think if you get rid of all the guns, there won't be a need for all the paranoia...personally, I think they should force you to join the military or only available to vets citizens if you want to own a gun.

Americans need more investment in education...weren't the people interviewed in this pod making that painfully obvious?

"For crying out loud, who freakin' needs a 50 cal machine gun? "

The Brady Campaign asks this about every weapon ever made, where do you want to draw the line? What kind of militia would be complete without a nice .50cal?

"By the way, if you reduce the availability of guns, sure it will increase black market gun sales but total numbers of guns on the street will go down making them safer."

Where guns are banned, gun crime is higher - LA, Chicago, CAMDEN as seen on this video, Philly, NYC. It makes it safer....for criminals while leaving citizens defenseless.

"It is pretty rare that the armed citizen thwarts crime because they have a weapon at the ready."

thats just untrue. it happens every single day, hundreds of thousands of times a year. the major media doesn't cover it but local tv stations do. in communities that ban guns the criminals are emboldened, but a gun does not always need to be brandished to provide a deterrent to a criminal.

"Do you really feel safer with your neighbor armed to the teeth and tigger-happy?"

YES, I do. And why do you call any random person who owns guns trigger-happy? its your own unreasonable fear. 40% of all households have a gun and if people were so 'triggerhappy' we would have anarchy - but we don't - that is the reality as much as you'd like to think otherwise people are generally decent.

On top of all this, concealed carry permit holders are FAR less likely to commit a crime than a non-permit holder by an overwhelming differential.

What a load of BS. First, fully automatic requires special licensing, and is not common at all.

This is a pacifists view, and it is very slanted.

Yes the world would be a better place without any guns, it would also be a better place without disease, injury, and temperatures that require air conditioning and heat.

One should accept the reality, that man is an animal, and we are a smart animal. If it weren't guns, it would be knives. If not knives, then clubs. If not clubs, then rocks. People will always have weapons.

I'd appreciate you all keeping you hands off of mine, as I don't ever plan to have a fair fight. I'm a combat vet with over 20 years of service, and I'm not encumbered with the notion that if I leave everyone else alone, that they will return the favor 100% of the time.

What a load of BS. First, fully automatic requires special licensing, and is not common at all.

This is a pacifists view, and it is very slanted.

Yes the world would be a better place without any guns, it would also be a better place without disease, injury, and temperatures that require air conditioning and heat.

One should accept the reality, that man is an animal, and we are a smart animal. If it weren't guns, it would be knives. If not knives, then clubs. If not clubs, then rocks. People will always have weapons.

I'd appreciate you all keeping you hands off of mine, as I don't ever plan to have a fair fight. I'm a combat vet with over 20 years of service, and I'm not encumbered with the notion that if I leave everyone else alone, that they will return the favor 100% of the time.

I've also been to my share of gunshows and it scares the hell out of me what kind of weaponry can be bought and sold. For crying out loud, who freakin' needs a 50 cal machine gun? Also, the "nut case" with the shotgun from the video was the law abiding citizen trying to stop the bad guy. Hard to tell that he wasn't the bad guy,huh. He's lucky not to have been shot by the police officer. Law abiding citizens that legally purchase guns and then have them stolen should be held in some way responsible for acts committed with their stolen weapon. This is THE route by which guns are getting on to the street. If you want to exercise your 2nd amendment rights, then make damn sure your guns are NOT STOLEN from your residence. By the way, if you reduce the availability of guns, sure it will increase black market gun sales but total numbers of guns on the street will go down making them safer. It is pretty rare that the armed citizen thwarts crime because they have a weapon at the ready. They usually end up killing the neighbor, UPS man or their own spouse by accident. Do you really feel safer with your neighbor armed to the teeth and tigger-happy?

i've been to my share of "gun shows" and it's always the case that the greatest part of the attendees are pot bellied mid-lifers who'd be the kind of guys you'd expect to be buying , and using , on a daily basis , cheap underarm deodorant .

To unimatrix0:

Out jails are already filled to capacity with drug offenders...

Make gun ownership so expensive that onlt the rich (and powerful) can have guns...

That's pretty dangerous...

Your suggestions would cause more problems than they would resolve... People would still have illegal guns...

You are an idiot

I found the documentary informative. It reminded me of the importance of money when speaking of guns in America: guns qua commodity.

I advocate fairly harsh gun control policies. We need much more rigorous criminal, psychological, and competency standards for ownership. In addition, there should be hefty taxes and fees for ownership to be collected on an annual basis. Guns should be an expensive hobby, the ideal being the expense would be so great that most simply could not afford to own a gun. Those in violation of such policies should be subject to a hefty fine and incarceration.

I long for the day America outgrows the adolescent infatuation with guns and bibles.

I’m with Jankyvictor on this one. I do not see the relevance in framing the gun control issue as a two sided battle between hardcore gun enthusiasts and the victims of intercity violence. The majority of Americans own guns for self protection and not because they enjoy free-for-all automatic gun expos. So why don’t we see an average gun owner, preferably a CCW holder, throughout this entire documentary?

If a person really wanted to contemplate the results of the framers ideology as the narrator did at the end of this doc, how could he/she do so based on the positions presented? The only time I actually saw a person talk about or attempt to safeguard his/her wellbeing with a firearm was when the marshal’s conducted their raids and when the police officer drew his gun on the shotgun touting nut.

Where are the people in this one country under gun?

Incredible doc. well written and produced.

Definitely shows the reality of guns never going away and the harsher restrictions put on the law biding gun owner, the stronger the black market dealers will get.

Just look back at the results of prohibition.

So often when I see people defending their right to bare arms they're merely sticking up for the interests of a hobby that they've taken to a fanatical level.

Nice overview of differing attitudes and very entertaining.

Interesting

dont take guns out of the hands of good americans because bad people will always find a way to get guns. all your doing is disarming the working class.

My favorite weapon is the shotgun also the sig sauer pistol from GERRRRRMANY.
Shotgun is for crowd control.

guns or no guns. well if they exist then they'll be present. thou, guns can be represented to frequently, and with people who should not bear them. As they say--regulate, regulate, REGULATE

Well, this video certainly captured the two extremes. What about the middle ground? Something completely left out of this documentary. People that have safes, take time to learn how to properly use their guns and enjoy the freedoms that our founding fathers intended. Don't go by 2a alone, read other writings from John Adams, Samuel Adams, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington....they clearly intended the common citizen to be sufficiently armed to defend themselves from ALL that may oppress them, INCLUDING THEIR OWN GOVERNMENT! But no, the times are nearing where all will be punished for a few peoples actions. I live in CA, and the laws are getting so rediculous.
The root of it all is at 47:20...poverty and lack of education. They have nothing to strive for but gang life. Fix that and see what happens when kids have lives worth living. Also quit glorifying gang life in music, videos, movies and video games.

if cops can have them, we should have them.
I don't believe one bit that if they have used these guns against drug criminals they would not be willing to use them on other citizen "criminals".
war on drugs.... should not follow the rules. your local drug dealer, they're the ones shooting across the street with their 100$ ak-47's, accidentally hitting your family. aim for them in your cross-hairs.
I live in philadelphia, where gun ownership is pretty much all around illegal, even in the counties outside of the city. It is very hard for a person to own a gun legally in this part of pennsylvania.
This pod makes me want one so bad.... especially because you never know when zombies might rise.

I've drunk the Kool-aid, myself, having come up in the late 50's during the Western craze. Own 3 rifles, even got pretty good@ shooting a rifle from the hip; but since all of these stupid wars the US has been involved with for the last 40-odd (make that 50-odd) years AND seeing the proliferation of child soldiers (which is about the only thing worse than seeing women soldiers getting blown away{of course, it's bad enough that GUYS have been getting blown away for millennia}), I haven't felt much like shooting. I believe in the right to own, though. That's about the only thing I agree w/the right wing about.

Don't hate us..join us! There is enough ammo to go round! Haha i said round!

Wow, people really do love their guns in America. Doesn't seem like a safe place to live if you have to defend yourself from other people with these types of lethal weapons in 21st century...

Own, shoot, love, cherish and respect guns!

Guns are not the problems, it's crimes. Guns just make crimes more dangerous.

What do u think would happen if an American Muslim showed up to this event?

All in all, a good pod.
Remember this: taking away the guns will not stop people from being killed by them. There will always be a black market, just as there will always be prostitutes, drugs, computer crackers, etc.
Anyone who wants one enough and has the money to pay for it can get one.

Great piece and I also enjoyed the live chat.

I really enjoyed this pod. I'm for the Second Amendment, and many people are responsible citizens that do not violate the law.

But mostly in cities, people misuse guns and use them in violence. Gun control should be much stricter in urban areas, especially in the inner cities, where gun violence can always be a problem.

I believe that the gun dealer is telling the truth. Who buys a handgun for $850+ then waits for 2weeks on a background check etc. Then goes to a street corner and sells it for 20-100$? Nobody.. The guns are results of home invasions\ robberies\ drug trade.

Here in west Nashville about a year ago a group of guys ran a truck threw a local gun shop front window and stole most of the weapons. They have not been apprehended and I'm willing to bet most of the guns stole are on the streets sold for profit since the robbers didn't pay 1k a pop for them. The gun store closed not long after so now honest people buying the guns will have to go further to attain home security weapon which results more armed thuglets and less armed average people.

People who steal weapons A: probably don't have money to afford and that is why it will be used to steal someone elses money. B: have a reason why not to buy legit , criminal history of gun violence, or don't want a paper trail connecting them to the gun because of obvious reasons of future use in illegal way.

Gun control should be in the terms of if your caught with a weapon not registered to you should be a very serious offense . Maybe even as bad as say 20 year mandatory. Then send a squad to do a round up on known drug corners and maybe they will get a crime that will stick and keep the dangers of this problem to at least a minimum. Soccer moms who don't own guns think lets just bust every ones balls that owns a weapon a ban them. Have you heard the term don't bring a knife to a gun fight. Well wait till you can't bring a gun to a gun fight or better yet bring one to a knife fight that leaves you or loved one stuck like a pig.

Guns don't kill people= aholes with guns kill people

What an excellent documentary.

wow didn't know this kind of stuff ways going on

Get one while you can; we just elected a Socialist...

btw did you see that sporterized Steyer AUG (at 1:00)... WOW

being a registered gun owner from new jersey i can definatly see the importance of every point of view in this... illegal guns make it hard for me to function....

this show is amazing!!!

my comment was deleted...hmn not by me

Great, very impartial and very informative.