Moore shocks in Columbine

The notion of putting further bans on gun use in the United States has been a hot topic among politicians, the National Rifle Association and many concerned citizens of the country. The concern for personal safety doesn't go unnoticed, the right to bear arms can't be revoked and the 11,000 plus people killed by guns in America is not declining. Michael Moore (director, producer and writer) was on a mission to shock the bullets out of American guns when he created "Bowling for Columbine." Moore makes a disturbing, yet effective film, essentially focusing on the absurdities associated with gun control, or rather the lack of gun control in America. Moore opens the film with an advertisement for a bank in Michigan which will give anyone who opens an account a new gun. As the narrator of the documentary, Moore goes into the Michigan bank and fills out the necessary paperwork required to obtain his gun. The survey contained questions such as, "Have you ever been committed to a psychological institution?" Moore makes a complete mockery of the system and leaves with rifle in hand. Michigan-native Moore describes his own state with a certain sense of disapproval. The Michigan Militia was made famous by Timothy McVeigh and company, those held accountable for the Oklahoma City Bombing. Eric Harris, Columbine High School gunman was raised in Michigan. Starting in his own backyard with Terry Nichols, brother of accused accomplice to McVeigh, Moore questions the importance of guns used for civilian protection. Nichols declares the need to protect himself from others, and Moore questions his need to sleep with a .44 millimeter underneath his pillow. Nichols, as seriously as possible, looks the camera and says, "Because there are wackos out there." Whew. Moore also visits Littleton, Colo., camera in tow. He investigates the background of the young killers, questioning what could have been done to stop them. Moore never actually says, "Guns are bad." Instead, he shows footage of a father standing outside an NRA rally which Charlton Heston decided to hold in Littleton only ten days after the Columbine massacre. "Something is wrong in this country when a child can grab a gun so easily and shoot a bullet into the middle of a child's face as my son experienced. Something is wrong, but the time has come to understand that a tech. 9 semi-automatic which killed my son is not used to kill a deer. We need to address this problem," a father of a boy who was killed on April 20, 1999, in the Columbine shooting, said. "Bowling for Columbine" is intense. It is riveting and truthful, but, at the same time, unbelievable. The film is an incredible eye -opener made to give the closed-minded a full view about the relaxed gun control laws in the United States. Anyone who takes a few hours to watch this film will be inspired and moved. Grade: A