John Douglas’s documentary, originally broadcast on the Cutting Edge series on Britain’s Channel 4, aims to offer insights on American gun culture. The focus is on the Freedom Firearms gun shop in Battle Creek, MI, where store owner Joel Fulton greets the start of each new business day by declaring "Sun’s up, guns up!" Fulton advocates for responsible gun ownership and has conducted classes on weapons usage over the last 14 years. The store’s patrons and staff talk about why they own guns. One man, whose teenage daughter was badly injured in a local mass shooting, fails to see the value of strict gun control, commenting that "the most unhelpful argument out there is take away all the guns." Another woman enrolls her 9-year-old in shooting lessons—she was the victim of an armed carjacking, which explains her interest in gun ownership. While the film tries to be respectful of its subjects, it also gives a somewhat dubious impression that the majority of the store’s patrons have a dangerously naïve view of the value of gun ownership and a paranoid belief in the government’s alleged interest in voiding the Second Amendment. Still, while this is unlikely to change minds on either side of the gun debate, its hot-button topic timeliness makes it a strong optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)
The Gun Shop
(2018) 60 min. DVD: $39.95. DRA. Film Ideas. PPR. Closed captioned. Volume 33, Issue 5
The Gun Shop
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