Columbine film ‘did no good’
NEW YORK — More than a decade has passed since Michael Moore released his pro-gun control documentary, Bowling for Columbine, and the director says he’s saddened that the United States has not made enough strides toward ending violence in schools.
“I never thought I would have to, a decade later, stand here and say that that film of mine did no good. That to me is personally heartbreaking,” Moore said Tuesday while on the red carpet at the National Board of Review Awards.
His 2002 documentary, which won an Academy Award, was inspired by the 1999 Columbine High School shootings in Colorado.
Moore says he has no interest in making a film about last month’s shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., that left 20 children and six adults dead.
“No, I’ve made the film I wanted to make with Bowling for Columbine. Every word in it stands true to this day, which is the saddest thing.”
The Sandy Hook tragedy has reignited the national debate on guns: U.S. President Barack Obama has appointed Vice-President Joe Biden to help come up with a solution.
The Fahrenheit 9-11 filmmaker said certain weapons need to be banned, and gun ownership should always require a licence.
“The short-term solution is we have to ban the assault weapons, ban the semiautomatic weapons, ban the magazines that can hold more than 10 bullets. That’s it. That should be the bottom line of what we need to start with,” he said. “We should be licensing everybody with a gun. I have to have a licence for my dog … for my car. If you’re going to do my hair later you have to have a licence. … We don’t require a licence to own a firearm?”
Moore adds that U.S. violence issue runs deeper than gun-control laws. “We are a violent people,” Moore said. “We as Americans believe it’s OK to kill people.”