Michael Moore On LAX Shooting: 'Guns Don't Kill People, Americans Kill People'

[onehandle]

Days after a gunman opened fire at Los Angeles International Airport, documentary filmmaker Michael Moore was spotted outside of a terminal and asked about the incident. In a video obtained by TMZ, Moore discussed the ongoing gun violence in the U.S. and why similar incidents are so prevalent here.

"Nothing changes. It's the country we live in. Again, these are legally purchased guns, bullets ... what are you going to do?" Moore asked. "Well I think there's a reason why this doesn't happen in Canada, in Ireland, in France, and elsewhere. They have the occasional craziness but it's not on a weekly or a monthly basis. So why us? Cause they're not better than us. So why us? What is it about us? That's the question to ask."

Moore famously addressed the issue of gun violence in the U.S. in 2002 with his Academy Award-winning film "Bowling for Columbine." The documentary focused on the 1999 shooting at Colorado's Columbine High School, looking for causes and explanations.

"They have mentally ill people in those countries. In Canada hunting is a bigger sport than hockey. There's a lot of guns in Canada, but why don't they kill each other?" Moore continued. "I think the NRA, they've got it half right when they say 'Guns don't kill people, people kill people.' But I change it to guns don't kill people, Americans kill people, cause we're really the only ones that do it on this level and this scale."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/06/michael-moore-lax-shooting-nra-half-right_n_4226676.html

[Nuclear Unicorn]

1. Michael Moore's bodyguard was arrested for packing an unregistered gun.

I guess that makes him a killer.

[Eleanors38]

3. Another peculiar Americanism: Ethics are highly compartmentalized.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

4. Only if you --

1) believe in a caste system and

2) imagine yourself at the top of the caste

[Eleanors38]

2. Well, Michael is coming around, finally...

But he needs to focus better: We have the day-to-day littany of violent crime committed by violent people with violent criminal records, and we have the F-ups who shoot-up places. They are 2 wholly different animals with greatly differing causes. One can be ameliorated by social programs, from economic reform to imprisonment; the "schoolyard spectaculors" for now are more intractable and poorly understood, but can at least be dealt with by hardening potential targets. I think there is a common thread with the latter: The mass murderers want easy targets, and seem to avoid places where significant obstacles to slaughter are in place. They also want to make a celebrity-oriented social statement that sets the crime apart from the nightly news stuff.

[Fumesucker]

5. Hardening targets is extremely expensive both in terms of infrastructure and manpower

The manpower costs are particularly high because they are ongoing and unless you have trained, competent and motivated personnel they might as well not be there. That means highly paid personnel.

And the same group that fights any sort of restrictions on firearms also tends to be the same ones who loathe paying taxes for the target hardening procedures.

Definitely an interesting conundrum.

[Eleanors38]

6. It's all expensive, but I'm an old-line lefty who is willing to bite the bullet.

[Fumesucker]

7. So the entire "more guns make us safer" meme is basically bullshit

Plenty of other nations aren't having to go through this extreme target hardening process to deter domestic terrorism.

I wonder what the difference could be?

[Eleanors38]

8. I have no idea if "gunz makes us safer," that is someone else's "meme."

What I have said and believe is that individuals who wish to avail themseves of the RKBA should have that right assured, both as a security measure for a free state, and for personal self-defense; the first a fundamental social policy, the second a private choice.

What remains clear is the rather stable violent/"gun" crime rate during a time of unprecedented increase in the number of guns in civilian hands. This phenomenon does not support the far more popular mantra chant meme "More guns=More crime." In lieu of reliable evidence, the # of guns in society can't be linked to "gun crime" rates, only to the thwarting of crimes-in-progress or crimes threatened. I choose to arm myself for these and other reasons.

Why don't you wonder more on the subject of preventing theatrical mass murder, since this seems to be your chief concern? Michael Moore is beginning to.

[JaneyVee]

10. Security measures for a free state? We have a military for that. A very LARGE military.

[Eleanors38]

11. What do you suggest? How is this military to be employed in a free state?

[Eleanors38]

9. I appreciate Onehandle's OP, and hope for further discussion on the topic.

[Recursion]

12. Strangely enough, Michael Moore is the most nuanced speaker on guns there is

You wouldn't think that from his reception. But if you actually listen to him, his points are not balms to gun control foes or fans.

This is another great column from him, that highlights the specific problems we face.