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ARMED AND LAW-ABIDING



A 90 minute documentary for 

Public Television and foreign broadcast





 1994

Riva Freifeld

Riva Productions

170 West End Ave., #21G

New York, NY  10023

(212) 874-7535

fax (212) 874-3970





GUNS.  There is probably today no issue which so divides the American

public. Half of us think we should be allowed to own and carry guns. Half

of us think this uniquely American right should be abolished immediately.

Guns are what make us different from the British, the Canadians, the

Japanese, the French, and people from these countries can't understand why

so many of us insist on having them. Guns are associated in the popular

imagination, in films and television with crime, death, and evil, but they

are also a force for good in the eyes of many people who own them for

hunting purposes and self-defense.  For some of us, guns were part of our

childhood education, for the rest of us, part of our childhood fears. But

never before were guns so much in the news as they are today, dividing our

society with an intensity that permeates no other issue except perhaps

abortion. 



**************************



RIVA FREIFELD, an award-winning Canadian filmmaker living in New York

City, is producing a 90 minute documentary special for PBS on the untold

story of guns in America today. Ms. Freifeld began research on this film

shortly after a young relative was accidentally shot by a neighbor who had

found his father's loaded gun. She began to film herself as she studied

the attitudes of people connected to the incident. As a person completely

unfamiliar with guns, she took up target shooting, in order to gain

insights into the gun culture, its proponents, and its enemies. What she

learned forms the basis of the film -- and it's not what has been depicted

in the mainstream media. 



There are approximately 200,000,000 guns in the United States. About

13,000 Americans are murdered every year with a gun. These statistics and

others, together with comparisons with other countries, are used to create

the perception that only bad things happen with guns, only bad people

have guns, and bad things are happening here in America because we have so

many guns. 



But as the mainstream media showers us with image after image of gun

violence and death, statistic after statistic about the dangers of gun

owning, another story is not being told. A story which does not lend

itself to dramatic headlines and fast moving imagery, because it is not

about death, it is about being responsible for your own life.  There is a

stigma attached to gun ownership, fostered by negative coverage in the

media. This applies not only to hunters and handgun owners, but also to

target shooters. Yet about half of all American homes contain a gun, most

of them for self-protection. 



Many people have used guns to save themselves or others, but their stories

rarely make the news. A gun is used successfully in self-defense about

1,000,000 times a year, according to criminologist Gary Kleck. In many of

these cases, it is not even fired. In other cases, the person defending

him/herself is prosecuted. The people who own these guns are not the media

stereotypes, and come from all political persuasions. Most of them are

average citizens, some of them are prominent Americans. 



The film will present portraits of a variety of gun owners, doctors,

lawyers, teachers and businesspeople. Women, the elderly, and the

disabled. Liberals and conservatives. Some of them have already had to

defend themselves or their loved ones. Others are merely exercising their

right to be able to do so in the future. Some have been around guns all

their lives, others only recently Our subjects will tell their own

stories, through on-camera interviews and real documentary sequences. We

will learn why they own guns, why they made this choice, how it may have

changed their lives. We will augment these portraits with stock footage,

TV news clips, and dramatic re-enactments when necessary. The human drama

that will emerge from hearing people talk about being responsible for

their own lives will be our film's primary focus. 



The film will also portray: A rigorous 4 day handgun training course for

civilians, taught by one of the country's leading experts on the legal

aspects of self-defense. A gun historian who will talk about the history

and lore of guns and the relevance of the Second Amendment. Rank and file

police officers who will talk about why they feel gun control won't work.

We will interview academics and legal experts who will question some of

the currently accepted statistics about guns and gun owners. 



We will also interview well-known figures who will help dispel some of the

popular myths about who owns guns and why. These will include Roy Innis of

C.O.R.E., author David Mamet, historian/collector R. L. Wilson,

constitutional lawyer Don Kates, trainer/author Massad Ayoob, J. Neil

Schulman (author of "Stopping Power, Why 70 Million Americans Own Guns"),

director John Milius, members of Congress, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco

and Firearms, and police chiefs from several large cities. We will

interview one of the survivors of a recent highly publicized shooting, who

is a staunch advocate of people owning guns. We will also interview the

head of one of America's prominent gun manufacturing companies and a

prominent N.R.A. executive -- both of them usually demonized in the media

-- who will present some practical, down to earth views that often get

lost on the cutting room floor. 



Our film will also examine some contemporary mythology about guns. The

reason TV usually reports gun violence, but rarely self-defense, will be

analyzed by a prominent media critic. The ambiguity that many feel about

guns will be held up to the spotlight, including a look at "gun

hypocrites", people who publicly advocate strict gun control, but who

privately own firearms. These will include columnist Carl Rowan, Senators

Dianne Feinstein and Jay Rockefeller, Congressman Steve Solarz, and Jane

Fonda.. We'll also take a look at gun education, why it isn't being taught

in the U.S. any more, and how that may be contributing to ignorance, fear,

and negative attitudes. 



A celebrity who is not associated with guns will be the narrator.

Possibilities include Cybill Shepherd and Robert Duvall. 



This film is being produced without the financial participation of any

organization financially or philosophically connected to either side of

the gun control issue, in order that it may qualify as a PBS broadcast. 



The budget for the film is $500,000, of which $50,000 has already been

raised. The producer is seeking the remaining $450,000 from private

sources, which will receive a standard funding credit at the top of the

film. The film's fiscal sponsor is a 501(c)3 tax exempt foundation and

contributions are tax deductible.  Foreign distribution is very likely. 



For additional information, and should you wish to inquire about a

financial contribution to this project, contact the producer, Riva

Freifeld, 170 West End Ave., #21G, New York, NY 10023.  (212) 874-7535,

fax (212) 874-3970. 











RIVA FREIFELD



Producer/Director/Writer ,  ARMED AND LAW-ABIDING  



Riva Freifeld is an award winning documentary producer, director and

editor. She recently edited the acclaimed PBS series, CHALLENGE TO AMERICA

with Hedrick Smith, and the Emmy winning NBC series, C. EVERETT KOOP, M.D.

She was one of the editors of WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT VIOLENCE? with Bill

Moyers, which airs on January 9 and 11 on PBS. Her one hour documentary,

ISAAC IN AMERICA: A JOURNEY WITH ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER was nominated for

an Academy Award in 1987, and was shown at the New York Film Festival and

on American Masters.  She was the editor of the 1994 PBS summer pledge

week program, THE STORY OF LASSIE, hosted by June Lockhart. She edited MAE

WEST AND THE MEN WHO KNEW HER, hosted by Dom de Luise, which was recently

shown as part of the Arts & Entertainment "Biography" series. 



Ms. Freifeld was also a producer/director on the children's programs BIG

BLUE MARBLE, 3-2-1 CONTACT, and SESAME STREET, and her segment on a child

prodigy violinist won an Emmy. She was the editor of two one hour

documentaries hosted by Walter Cronkite, CAN'T AFFORD TO GROW OLD and OUR

CHILDREN AT RISK. For the Museum of Modern Art, she edited the videos

VIENNA 1900 and NEW WAYS OF SEEING: PICASSO, BRAQUE AND THE CUBIST

REVOLUTION. She was co-producer and editor of the 1985 documentary

EISENSTAEDT: GERMANY, which aired in Germany (ARD) and the U.S. (PBS). She

has also edited films for The World of Audubon, Lifetime TV, HBO, National

Geographic Explorer, Arts & Entertainment, ABC, NBC, CNN, Fox, and

Britain's Channel 4. 



Ms. Freifeld has also worked as a production supervisor for foreign

feature films. She was the New York production manager on Luigi Zampa's

film MONDO VIVO, starring Michel Simon and Gian Maria Volont~. She was one

of two editors of the 1988 series THE STREET, a cop show shot in Newark,

produced by Bob Pittman. 



 

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