The issue of gun control has been a mainstay in the United States for over twenty years now; continuing to grow with each shot broadcast on national television. Coming from a family that had no guns in the house, I never saw a need for people to own guns that looked like they were stolen from a gun shop. While there have been many people who have contributed to the gun control debate, famed documentary filmmaker Michael Moore does his best to gather information in his documentary Bowling for Columbine. Even though this documentary is over fifteen years old, it still feels relevant today. With Moore's statements about how America's gun problem is tied to fear, media coverage, and violent history, Moore is able to draw the viewer in for an entertaining two hours. The question though is whether Moore provides enough information to support the claims he makes, or whether he is simply trying to point the public in a certain direction. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayThe United States always seems to live in fear. With an animation that shows fear as the reason we formed our country, Moore really pushes the audience to support this statement as to why so many people own firearms in the United States. He even gets to see how people in Canada compare to American citizens. He does this by seeing how many homes in a populated area of ​​Canada lock their doors, which, to his surprise, isn't a lot. Yet only 7% of Americans don't lock their front door. Why? Is it because Americans are afraid of being robbed? Among gun owners in America, 67% said they own them for protection, so that may be the case. I believe Moore is right with this statement and supports it well with his investigation. When you turn on the television, what do you see? I mostly see stories about someone getting killed on the street or how someone tried to rob a gas station with a gun. I never see stories about local pollution. Moore highlights this problem with the media in his documentary when he approaches a reporter and asks why they aren't covering the story about how bad the welfare system is in Flint Michigan. The reporter promptly closes the van door and refuses to answer the question. According to Valerie J. Callanan, “the media is an important factor in defining social conditions as problems and in influencing individuals' perception of reality.” I don't think the only thing going on in our country involves guns, but that's what the media portrays. If people only relied on what the media and news say, they would constantly be shown how “dangerous” the United States is and put fear in people's minds. Even the United States has had something to fear, and most of the time we "solve" the problem by doing something violent. Moore points this out in an animated short that shows how we “solved” the Native American problem by killing them all with guns. It is also evident that firearms played a role in keeping African Americans and Hispanics “in their place,” as Clayton E. Cramer stated. However, violence and guns do not always solve the problems of the United States. As Andrew F. Krepinevich stated, “the United States may look at Vietnam as the wrong war.” Five of the deadliest shootings in the United States have occurred in the last 15 years, as of this writing, so it is surprising that gun control has become.