NEWS BLOG (WSAU) I watched “Bowling for Columbine” last night. It was on cable as a ‘special presentation’ in light of the Newtown,Connecticut shooting. I’d never seen it before. The Michael Moore pseudo-documentary is ten years old.

It’s a shameful propaganda piece. (I almost turned it off when Moore took two of the wounded Columbine survivors to Wal Mart headquarters with the absurd demand that ammunition no longer be sold. The entire segment was exploitive beyond my imagination.)

The movie is rambling and poorly put together, and almost all segments would make you believe that guns randomly fire themselves, instead of having actual people with intentions – good or bad – pulling the trigger. The psychological problems of gunmen Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold are almost completely ignored.

But I’m not disappointed that I spent the time to watch it. The school security-camera footage of the actual shooting is instructive. As difficult as it is to watch, you also can’t avoid the thought that armed security might have made a difference, either as a real-time lethal response or as a deterrent. Even anti-gun activists, and Moore certainly presents his movie from their point-of-view, have to concede the basic facts. Guns in the hands of private citizens are a part of life inAmerica. Change the laws any way you like, and that won’t change. Any strategy to mitigate the possibility of school shootings needs to use that as a starting point.

12 people were killed that day… a decade later 26 other students were killed in their school. Michael Moore made a slanted, disingenuous movie that spends two-and-a-half hours exploiting the problem. Not a moment of film was expended on what to do about it. I want to spend my time considering productive solutions.

Chris Conley
12.27.12