2nd Amendment Film Documentary

Amendment II. A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.

I am in the planning stages of a film documentary discussing the 2nd Amendment of the United States Constitution, which guarantees the right to bear arms. I believe that our modern culture has very little understanding of this basic freedom despite having strong opinions on the topic. I want to educate as well as to highlight the weaknesses in our public discourse.

Topics to Cover

1. Historical Circumstances leading up to the 2nd Amendment
2. The concept of individual freedoms
3. The balance between government power and "people power"
4. Crime, violence, self-defense
5. The role of law enforcement in punishing, not preventing crime
6. Hunting, wildlife population control
7. Sport shooting
8. The relationship between gun control and violent crime rates
9. Gun control efforts in the United States
10. Gun control efforts in foreign countries
11. The use of disarmament by authoritarian governments and dictators
12. The erosion of individual rights by the US Government
13. Bias of the news reporting media
14. Bias of the school/educational system
15. Effects of gun portrayal in entertainment media (film and now video games)
16. The ACLU, anti-gun organizations, local and world-wide
17. FBI Crime Statistics
18. 1994 Assault Weapon Ban
19. Gun industry lawsuits
20. UN studies
21. Gun Control Acts of Congress
    • National Firearms Act of 1934
    • Gun Control Act of 1968
22. Concealed Carry
23. Fear of guns
24. How "States Rights" applies
25. School shootings, senseless gun rampages
    • Increased frequency: perceived or real?
    • Occurance in "gun free zones"
26. Gun accidents (hunting, cleaning, children, Dick Cheney)
27. Gun Suicide
28. Military use of guns
29. Black market arms trafficking
    • U.S. arms into Mexico
30. Political grandstanding and dealmaking
31. Currently Accepted Compromises
    • What types of guns should be banned?
    • Who should lose their right to bear arms?
32. 2007-2008 Supreme Court Decision
    • D.C. Handgun Ban
    • Federal Appeals Court Ruling
    • Supreme Court Case
    • "individual" versus "collective"
33. Runaway gun control in California
34. The Castle Doctrine

People to Interview

• John R. Lott, Jr.
• Historians
  • American Revolutionary History
  • 20th Century Nazi/Fascist History
• Legal Scholars, Law Professors
• Attornies
• NRA folks, Gun enthusiasts
  • Mike Blank
• GCLA folks
• Anti-gun organizations
• Michael Moore
• Wal-Mart and K-Mart
• Law enforcement
• Everyday people on the street
  • Why do you think the 2nd Amendment is part of the Bill of Rights?
  • What is an assault weapon?
• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms

Archival Footage to Find

• Various Legislation, passage of, signing of, speaking for
  • The Patriot Act
  • 1994 Assault Weapons Ban

Books to Read

• The Bias Against Guns - John R. Lott Jr.