Last week, I shared a short BBC World Service story on guns in America. How short? It was 3 minutes and 30 seconds, with 45 of those seconds belonging to me. Not much airtime to work with.
But the full interview was another matter. The BBC posed nine questions and I spent nearly an hour answering those questions and discussing other issues related to guns in America.
Only to have the recording fail.
They asked me to re-record my answers and send them over. What you see here is the result: my complete answers, roughly 2 minutes per question, each answer thorough but concise.
It’s my director’s cut.
The 9 questions are:
Why was the right to bear a gun written into the US Constitution? What was the reason and the history?
Why do people feel they need the guns? What are the main reasons?
How hard is it to buy a gun? Does anyone need a license?
What are the current laws and are they strict enough to prevent mass shootings/suicide?
What are the ‘red flags law’?
What do you think about politics and the divide between Republicans and Democrats about gun culture? Is the divide creating more problems now than in previous decade?
Why is the NRA so powerful in its lobbying, and does this block efforts to crack down on gun ownership?
What are possible directions for the next phase of development of American gun culture ( 3 solutions) what can be done to reduce gun ownership and deaths?
Pro-responsible ownership. What does it mean?
I hope this behind-the-scenes look at how I approached these nine questions is useful. What do you think, both about the questions the BBC chose to ask and the answers I gave?
