Super. MY FIRST RIFLE

USA, July 2013

00:00

VO: This is Cumberland County in South Kentucky. Deep in the American countryside, far from the sprawl of urban life. A place where alcohol is neither sold nor consumed and the Bible reigns supreme.

In a village of 1800 people there are 40 churches. It is a pious, closed community, yet weapons are a part of everyday life here; for protection and for hunting.

Exposed from childhood, it is not unusual here to own your first gun in kindergarten.

01:29

Interviews with townspeople

KOEN VAN GROESEN: How many people own guns in this village?

02:08

SHOPWOMAN: More probably do than don’t. I’d say-

02:11

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Yeah? What do you think sir?

02:13

SHOPMAN: Yeah, yeah, I’d say 99% of the people round here own guns.

02:15

GIRL: About everybody in the county.

02:20

KOEN VAN GROESEN: It’s part of the way of life here?

02:22

GIRL: Yeah.

02:23

GAS STATION WOMAN: Everybody hunts around here – ain’t much else to do except hunt and fish.

02:23

DRIVER: I would say, you know, a very high majority of the country people own guns.

02:27

GAS STATION WOMAN: My grandson started hunting probably when he was three or four years old. And I got one that hunts and one that fishes, so…

02:31

KOEN VAN GROESEN: So when you go to Kindergarten you get your first gun?

02:39

GAS STATION WOMAN: I guess. If that’s what they want.

02:42

US Newscast

ANCHORWOMAN: The family of a southern Kentucky two-year-old girl, shot and killed in her home, says it was all an accident.

02:45

German Newscast

REPORTER: Ein funfjährige Junge aus dem US Bundestatt Kentucky seiner dreijahrejungere Schwester erschossen.

02:51

British Newscast

REPORTER: He’d received the rifle, especially made for children, as a gift last year.

02:57

Driving

Music

03:00

VO: Cumberland County hit the front pages of news worldwide in May, when 5-year-old Christian

03:02

Shack

Sparks shot his 2-year old sister dead with a gun he received as a gift for his 5th birthday. A real gun, with real bullets,

03:07

Crickett Gun advert

that manufacturers openly advertise for children as “My First Rifle”.

03:16

BOY: Hey, where you going?

03:22

OLDER BOY: Shoot my new Crickett rifle!

03:24

BOY: I wish I had one.

03:25

VO: The Crickett is the perfect way to get young or small-framed shooters starting right. With a safety-promoting design, it’s soft-shooting, affordable, and accurate.

03:27

Shack

VO: While their mother was in the kitchen, Christian picked up his gun, and, unaware that it was still loaded,

03:38

Photo. Christian and Caroline

he accidentally shot his sister in the chest.

Caroline Sparks was rushed to hospital, but tragically she died soon after.

03:44

Cityscape

Music

03:56

AZARIA’S GRANDMOTHER Interview

AZARIA’S GRANDMOTHER: I could hardly understand my daughter, because she was so excited and crying and hysterical, and said that Zizi had been shot. And I just- my heart just sank, and as soon as I got in the car I got in the back seat and I couldn’t breathe. I guess it was just anxiety and I was so scared that she was gone that I didn’t know what to do, I remember I rolled the window down to try to breathe because I could hardly take a breath. We went to the hospital, and I just went up to the nurse’s window and I said I was her grandmother, could I please go back and see her, and I don’t- usually they don’t let you do things like that, but Ithey let me, so I went back there and she was already in a coma, to help with the brain swelling, but she looked perfect, I held her hand and talked to her, but of course she couldn’t hear me.

03:57

GRANDMOTHER looks through photos

VO: This is the grandmother of another child, Azaria Gaubatz. Both families live in the same area. Azaria was shot in the forehead, also by another child.

04:54

AZARIA’S GRANDMOTHER Interview

KOEN VAN GROESEN: What did the doctor tell you at that moment?

05:09

AZARIA’S GRANDMOTHER: That she was in a critical condition, that she may not make it. That the bullet was lodged and that she had a lot of brain swelling, and that they didn’t know – most likely it would not be good. And to prepare myself

05:12

Landscape-city shot.

VO: Louisville Kentucky is the closest major city to Cumberland County. This is where Caroline Sparks’ ambulance was heading

05:36

Photo. Caroline Sparks

when she passed away.

05:47

Louisville Hospital

TERESE SIRLES: There’s the emergency room entrance and of course all the ambulances come down this way and they will stop right at the door. So close to our trauma rooms.

05:52

Shots of Hospital.

VO: Terese Sirles is a board member of the Kosair Children’s Hospital in Louisville. Every day the hospital is confronted with the downside of mass gun possession in the state of Kentucky.

06:02

TERESE STILES Interview

KOEN VAN GROESEN: How many children a year come into US hospitals with shot wounds?

06:14

TERESE STILES: Every single year in the United States, fifteen thousand children come into hospitals with gunshot wounds.

06:17

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Fifteen thousand?!

06:22

TERESE STILES: Yes, fifteen thousand children.

06:24

KOEN VAN GROESEN: And the adults?

06:27

TERESE STILES: In the United States, with adults, it’s 32 thousand people are killed with a gun every single year in the United Sates.

06:28

KOEN VAN GROESEN: They’re amazing amounts.

06:36

TERESE STILES: Incredible, and all preventable.

06:38

KOEN VAN GROESEN: What kind of shot wounds do you get in this hospital?

06:40

TERESE STILES: Because we are a Level One trauma centre, we get the most critical of gunshot wounds of all gunshot wounds that happen in the State of Kentucky. When we talk about this picture of a child’s thumb, this picture was sot in the middle of the thumb area. All the tendons are avulsed in the hand area. The thumb itself sits away from the thumb bone, so in order to reattach this, and make the wound clean again, this child would have to be pinned with metal pins. If the child’s thumb could even be saved at that point in time.

06:44

KOEN VAN GROESEN: And you work with this on a weekly basis?

07:17

TERESE STILES: We work with this on a daily basis. On a daily basis.

07:19

Office

In this hospital, Terese and her colleagues witness the dark side to the massive possession of weapons in their state. Terese is extremely critical of the ease with which weapons are dealt with here. She is angry that manufacturers use children as a target audience.

07:22

TERESE STILES Interview

TERESE STILES: They’re still learning how to tell time, they’re still learning how to cut with scissors – It’s more than strange, but when they market guns to children, they make

07:38

Pictures of childrens’ guns

them in pastel blue and pretty Barbie pink, just like Barbie dolls. They make them with swirls, and then they call them cute little names

07:46

TERESE STILES Interview

Like Cricketts and Chipmunks just as though if you owned a gun, you would belong to a disney club.

07:56

4x4 pulls up – clay pigeon shooting

VO: This is the Wood family. For them shooting is an activity for the whole family, including the younger children.

08:03

WOOD BOY Interview

WOOD BOY: When I was six, I went hunting with a gun. I shot, but I missed the deer – it was like, the first shot that I’ve ever shot with a real gun.

08:20

Range

KOEN VAN GROESEN: You know this, in Holland, would be very illegal (laughs)

08:30

RANGE MAN: Well, in Kentucky in the United States it’s just part of the way we operate.

08:34

VO: This is the local shooting range.

08:39

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Are you sure you trust me with this gun?

08:43

RANGE MAN: I trust you.

08:44

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Okay. Let’s give it a go then.

08:45

Driving

Music

08:51

VO: The free possession of arms is enshrined in the U.S constitution, and is inseparable from countryside life here.

08:56

Sherwood’s Guns

09:05

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Hi there I’m looking for Mr. Sherwood Davis?

09:10

SHERWOOD DAVIS: My name’s Sherwood Davis.

09:13

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Nice to meet you

09:14

SHERWOOD DAVIS: Yessir.

09:15

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Koen van Groesen from the Netherlands.

09:16

SHERWOOD DAVIS: From where?

09:17

KOEN VAN GROESEN: The Netherlands.

09:18

SHERWOOD DAVIS: The Netherlands

09:18

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Yeah. You have lots of guns?

09:19

SHERWOOD DAVIS: We do have lots of guns

09:22

KOEN VAN GROESEN: How many do you have here?

09:23

SHERWOOD DAVIS: Typically in stock we’ve got somewhere between 1500 and 2000. It goes up and down but 1500’s a small number for us.

09:25

KOEN VAN GROESEN: And how many do you sell a year?

09:33

SHERWOOD DAVIS: Oh gosh I’d have to look at the numbers, but you’re probably looking at seven to eight thousand.

09:35

SHERWOOD DAVIS: See that one right there, that’s definitely pointed towards a lady. A lady would buy that firearm and that would be her AR-15, whereas her husband might own that one right there or something.

09:51

KOEN VAN GROESEN: The pink one over there? In plastic, that’s like a real gun?

10:01

SHERWOOD DAVIS: Oh, most definitely. Yes sir.

10:04

KOEN VAN GROESEN: It looks like a toy gun when it’s there in the plastic, but it’s a real gun!

10:07

SHERWOOD DAVIS: Well that is just the furniture, meaning those are just the accessories that you put on a plain black gun like that to doll it up like that.

10:11

KOEN VAN GROESEN: And how much is a gun like that? The pink one.

10:19

SHERWOOD DAVIS: Dressed up like that one is, I haven’t looked at the price tag yet, it’s probably about 1400 dollars.

10:22

SHERWOOD DAVIS: With the scope.

There’s another paint gun, that’s for the ladies. We carry a huge stock of handguns – everything you can think of from target guns to little-bitty ankle guns; self-defense guns, target guns.

10:28

KOEN VAN GROESEN: You know, we don’t have this in the Netherlands – we don’t have weapons stores, and for us this is like-

10:41

SHERWOOD DAVIS: Really?

10:46

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Yes.

10:47

SHERWOOD DAVIS: What do y’all do to protect yourselves? (laughs)

10:48

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Well, not with guns.

10:50

VO: Sherwood Davis has weapons of all shapes and sizes, from handguns to semi-automatics. And, of course, guns made especially for children.

10:53

SHERWOOD DAVIS: We do, we do. Sometimes they’ll have a shorter stock to make it easier for their length to pull ‘cause their arms are shorter. Most of the time they’ll be lighter, because they can’t hold up as much. Here’s a very good example of what-

11:02

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Wow, you even have them in colours, like in pink or in-

11:18

SHERWOOD DAVIS: Of course. Pink, for the young girls, camo for the future hunter.

11:21

VO: This children’s gun is marketed as ‘my

11:26

Crickett Website

first rifle’. It is the same gun that killed Caroline Sparks. Yet the state of

11:28

Back to Sherwood’s

Kentucky support the sale of it.

11:34

SHERWOOD DAVIS: I could lay this gun right here, loaded, and I could come back in ten years, and Ill guarantee you, if nobody picks up that gun, it will have not hurt anybody. The gun is simply a tool or a toy.

11:37

KOEN VAN GROESEN: So you’re saying guns don’t kill people.

11:51

SHERWOOD DAVIS: Guns do not kill people; people kill people.

11:53

KOEN VAN GROESEN: But five-year-olds also don’t kill people.

11:56

SHERWOOD DAVIS: But they get killed by skateboards. Are you gonna outlaw skateboards? Are you gonna confiscate pogo sticks? Everything requires supervision.

11:58

Koen’s car pulls up

Music

12:11

KOEN VAN GROESEN: So Jamie, you cooking up the grill already?

12:23

JAMIE: Yeah, I hope y’all are hungry.

12:25

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Good to see that. How are you doing?

12:26

JAMIE: Doing good.

12:30

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Yeah? How are the boys doing?

12:30

JAMIE: Well they’re being boys.

12:32

The Woods farm

VO: The Woods are a typical Kentucky family. Father Jamie is a farmer. He has 800 dairy cows that are milked 24 hours a day. The Woods

12:34

Barbecue

are hard workers. They love good food, especially meat.

12:44

Boys meet Koen

And there is something else they love too…

12:51

KOEN VAN GROESEN: How are you doing?

12:55

TJ: I’m good.

12:56

KOEN VAN GROESEN: yeah, you’re good? I hear you’re shooting guns.

12:56

WOODS BOYS: Yep. Yeah.

12:59

KOEN VAN GROESEN: And you also keep the gun in the house

13:01

TJ: Yeah.

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Yes?

13:03

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Could I see them?

13:04

TJ: Yeah.

13:05

Inside their house

TJ: We keep them in the gun cabinet. These are muzzle-loaders.

13:06

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Yeah.

13:10

TJ: And this one’s a .22, and two shotguns.

13:11

ALEX: They’re shotguns.

13:14

TJ: Well yeah, this one’s a shotgun too.

13:16

KOEN VAN GROESEN: And where do you keep the ammunition? Also here?

13:18

TJ: We have some down there, that’s for turkey hunting.

13:21

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Okay.

13:24

TJ: These are turkey-loaded shells.

13:24

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Okay.

13:27

TJ: And we have different chokes that goes in the barrels.

13:27

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Guys aren’t you afraid, you know, like, guns in your house? Doesn’t that frighten you?

13:30

ALEX: Nah. It keeps- It makes me feel safer.

13:34

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Yeah? It makes you feel safer? Why’s that?

13:37

TJ: If someone’s breaking in where there’s a gun here to protect you.

13:39

JAMIE Interview

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Do you trust our children with those weapons?

13:44

JAMIE: Yeah, I mean it’s not, you know, “hey, here’s a gun. Go out and-“, you now, it’s a time over time, you know, they have to earn my trust to do those things. Ike, the key- they know where it’s at today, you know, when they were smaller, No. That key was put up, they didn’t know where it was. It was either on my key chain, in my truck, and you know, they couldn’t get in that gun cabinet.

13:46

Dinner

14:06

TJ: That’s cheesy potato.

14:07

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Cheesy potatoes, okay.

14:08

TJ: And then we have- I have no clue what that is.

14:10

ALEX: That’s zucchini grounded.

14:12

JAMIE: No that’s squash.

14:13

Range

VO: After dinner the children go outside to practise their favorite hobby in their backyard.

14:19

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Aren’t you guys too young to own a gun?

14:44

ALEX: No. No.

14:47

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Why not?

14:49

TJ: Because- I dunno.

14:51

ALEX: We know how to operate them.

14:54

KOEN VAN GROESEN: You know how to operate them.

14:55

ALEX: Yeah. Take care of them.

14:56

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Are you not afraid if something happens with the gun, an accident or something.

15:00

TJ: No.

15:03

WOODS MOTHER (VO): Well, the image you have, it’s not right.

15:05

WOODS MOTHER Interview

I think you honestly do need the positive side every now and then. Because, you know, I mean-

15:07

KOEN VAN GROESEN: And what is the positive side?

15:12

MOTHER: The positive side is they learn, you know, I mean, this teaches them- I’m not saying that they’re gonna be better than anybody else’s children when they grow up, but I mean it teaches them a lot of responsibility.

15:13

TERESE STILES Interview

KOEN VAN GROESEN: You know what gun rights advocates will say- You’re using this tragic death of Caroline Sparks to get your own message across.

13:25

TERESE STILES: I hope they do say that, because it is my message, but it is also the message of the American Academy of Paediatrics. The American Academy of paediatricians in the United States in 2012 set a policy statement stating that the only safe home in the United States is a home without a gun. And I stand behind that belief.

13:32

Park Mammoth Resort. Koen drives in.

Music

15:06

VO: Just around the corner from where Caroline Sparks was shot dead is one of the largest shooting grounds in the United States. At 8000 hectares, this shooting ground is larger than 11,000 football pitches.

16:04

Look over the Grounds

NICK NOBLE: So this is what we call ‘The Point’, and I’ll give you some perspective. The most of our property is all north of us and west.

16:20

VO: This is Nick Noble, owner of Rockcastle Shooting Range. Despite the tragic incidents in the neighborhood, he still sees shooting as innocent fun.

16:29

NICK NOBLE: I call it golf with a shotgun, so you’re going from hole to hole, or station to station, then scoring, and then going to the end.

16:39

KOEN VAN GROESEN: It’s a day out.

16:47

NICK NOBLE: Yeah, it’s a day out.

16:48

Main pavilion.

VO: And the shooting club, equipped with a restaurant and hotel, is a family destination.

16:50

Driving through grounds.

Because of the vast size of Rockcastle, visitors travel by car between the 50 shooting stations.

16:55

Shooting Station

This particular station is a recreation of a cowboy village.

17:00

KOEN VAN GROESEN: So this is where the action happens.

17:05

NICK NOBLE: This is it, this is one of our many ranges, but thought it would be a good place for us to come down and maybe test out a few different types of firearms.

17:07

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Okay.

17:15

VO: Nick Noble wants to prove that shooting doesn’t have to be dangerous.

17:17

NICK NOBLE: First of all we always keep guns pointed in a safe direction, even when it’s unloaded. We presume that every firearm is loaded until we can prove otherwise. When you’re handling a firearm, you never have that finger on it, so if you’re even taking a picture, always be parallel with it, and then the only time that we’ll put our finger on the trigger is if we’re actually engaging in the target and ready to shoot, and then I’ll actually put my finger on the trigger. But anytime I pick this up, finger’s off the trigger.

17:21

Koen shoots

17:47

NICK NOBLE: Okay.

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Did I hit anything?

17:55

NICK NOBLE: Yes. You hit it every time.

17:56

KOEN VAN GROESEN: I can understand why children find this cool- it gives you a thrill.

17:58

NICK NOBLE: Bit of adrenaline.

18:03

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Yes. I can understand that. Is it wise to learn a kid how to shoot, when such a tragic accident happens around the corner here.

18:04

NICK NOBLE Interview

NICK NOBLE: There’s between two and three hundred million guns in the United States, so you can act like they’re not here, and keep kids away from them, and I think that’s when, I believe- this is my personal opinion- that when kids become curious about what they don’t know, is when the accidents happen. It’s no different to putting a child- a sixteen-year-old child in a vehicle, with no training, on an interstate.

18:14

KOEN VAN GROESEN: This is how you feel with guns.

18:37

NICK NOBLE: Yeah, you have to train.

18:39

Bridge.

Music

18:40

AZARIA’S GRANDMOTHER Interview

AZARIA’S GRANDMOTHER: Well I thought, you know, if she even lived, that she would be brain damaged, and maybe she couldn’t even see because, you know, your eye is right there. And I was just so worried that she would never be normal again, or in a coma forever. Or a vegetable.

18:46

Looks through photos.

VO: For Azaria’s grandmother, children and weapons should never be combined.

Her granddaughter was in a coma for two weeks, with a

19:00

Azaria’s X-Ray

bullet lodged in her brain.

19:08

Azaria hugs and sits with grandmother

Music

19:12

VO: It’s a miracle Azaria survived. The bullet is still in her head; it’s too difficult to remove it. But, other than that, she leads a normal life of any 7-year-old.

19:18

AZARIA’S GRANDMOTHER: Truly, truly a miracle.

19:31

KOEN VAN GROESEN: What are the chances that a girl survives something like that?

19:34

GRANDMOTHER Interview

AZARIA’S GRANDMOTHER: Well, One in a million. And the neuro-doctors say that

19:37

Azaria playing

they’ve never seen anything like this before, so they call her the miracle baby.

19:40

AZARIA: He thought it

19:48

AZARIA Interview

was a fake gun and then he tried it out on me, and it was a real gun.

19:50

KOEN VAN GROESEN: And he hit you. Where did he hit you with the bullet?

19:58

AZARIA: Right here.

20:02

KOEN VAN GROESEN: So the bullet got in your head.

20:05

AZARIA: Yes.

20:07

Azaria’s X-ray

20:07

KOEN VAN GROESEN: And what did the doctor’s say? You were lucky a little bit?

20:12

AZARIA: I’m a miracle.

20:15

KOEN VAN GROESEN: He calls you the miracle girl.

20:18

Azaria playing.

20:21

VO: Because of the accident, Azaria’s parents lost their rights to parental care. Her grandmother now has full custody.

20:23

Hospital visit.

Together, they visit the hospital where Azaria was treated.

20:32

NURSE: Hi! You look great!

20:37

AZARIA: Thank you.

20:42

NURSE: Oh my goodness. Oh wow. I can’t believe you look so different. That healed up really nice. You can’t even hardly tell it was there- looks like a little scrape now. Right there. It looks great.

20:43

AZARIA: She puts sunscreen on it every day to keep it from scarring.

21:00

NURSE: Oh, that’s fantastic. They’ve taught you well! You can’t even tell.

21:03

NURSE(OS): I’ve done this for thirty years and there are children

21:08

NURSE Interview

That you always remember, they just stick in your head, and I have my special ones, and she’s one of the special ones. You remember.

21:11

KOEN VAN GROESEN: And seeing her now? How does she look?

21:18

NURSE: Oh she’s fabulous. Absolutely fabulous. This is the recovery that you always hope for.

21:19

KOEN VAN GROESEN: A small miracle.

21:25

NURSE: A small miracle. Definitely.

21:26

Nurse visit.

NURSE: I’m so glad that you’re doing so good. Makes me know that what I’m here for is worthwhile. It makes me know that what I do is good.

21:29

Koen on laptop

21:40

VO: The figures are truly shocking. More than 15,000 children each year are brought to hospitals across America with gunshot wounds. And 8 children die every day because of the consequences.

21:45

Koen on phone outside

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Hi Mr. Hill, it’s Koen van Groesen again from Dutch Public Television. I left a couple of messages, I think six or seven.

22:02

VO: Attempts to speak with someone from the gun lobby aren’t successful.

22:08

Koen on laptop

A secretary admits that due to the death of Caroline Sparks, this is not a popular topic of conversation for the arms manufacturers.

22:12

Liberty Baptist Church Cenetery

22:20

VO: Caroline Sparks is buried here on the outskirts of Cumberland County. She,

22:24

Photo. Caroline and brother

her brother and mother would regularly visit the gas station nearby,

22:29

Gas station

which also serves as a convenience store.

22:32

Inside Gas Station

GAS STATION WOMAN: I’ve been here ever since she’s been born. I saw her on just about the average of once or twice every week, ever since she’s been a baby. Her Mom said I could be her second grandmother.

22:35

KOEN VAN GROESEN: So you were the second grandmother, so you must be hurt when you heard the news.

22:49

GAS STATION WOMAN: Yes, I’m really hurt about it. Real hurt about it.

22:54

Driving

VO: And so, this small village is now a symbol for the gun debate throughout the United States. President Obama wants stricter gun control, but is met with resistance from the countryside. Even in the village of Caroline Sparks.

22:58

GAS STATION MAN Interview

GAS STATION MAN: Force taking their rights, I don’t think they should ever do that.

23:13

KOEN VAN GROESEN: So even after the tragedy happened?

23:16

GAS STATION MAN: Even after the tragedy, I don’t.

23:18

KOEN VAN GROESEN: You still believe in owning a gun.

23:20

GAS STATION MAN: That’s right, yeah, yeah. You need something to protect yourself.

23:21

KOEN VAN GROESEN: So you say this gun, for five-, six-, seven-year-olds is a safe gun, you will even, your own

23:26

SHERWOOD DAVIS: With supervision.

23:32

KOEN VAN GROESEN: -Your own grandchildren, you would give the gun to them.

23:33

SHERWOOD DAVIS: Many times. Got many pictures with them with me. One day, I hope that they look back at these pictures and remember me and think good things.

23:36

Woods family pull up to range and shoot

VO: With Alex and TJ owning and shooting guns from the young ages of 12 and 7, The Woods will continue to consider shooting a family activity. Rather than spending Saturdays playing football, they go to the shooting range.

23:49

ALEX: Pull.

24:06

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Why do you like shooting so much?

24:11

ALEX(OS): It helps

24:13

ALEX Interview

Relieve stress.

24:14

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Shooting helps relieve stress?

24:16

ALEX: Yeah, yeah. Well it depends on how bad of a day I’ve had.

24:18

TJ Interview

KOEN VAN GROESEN: And aren’t you afraid something happens- eight children every day in the US die because of shot wounds. Aren’t you afraid it happens to you?

(TJ shakes head)

Why not?

24:21

TJ: Well, because it wouldn’t be me to shoot myself, it’d be someone else, and-

24:29

KOEN VAN GROESEN: Someone else who isn’t trained? Or-

24:36

TJ: Yes.

24:38

AZARIA’S GRANDMOTHER(OS): When you think it’s innocent, when you’re with kids involved, you think there’s not a bullet in there, you think it’s just playing,

24:43

AZARIA’S GRANDMOTHER Interview

You think everything’s safe but it’s not. Guns are never safe, and because of that, there’s a family that’s very sad and will always miss their daughter, and I’m very blessed that we have ZiZi with us.

24:48

Clay pigeon operator

25:01

WOODS MOTHER(OS): I think some kids, where there never

25:03

WOODS MOTHER Interview:

taught the difference between a play gun and a real gun, I think that’s where some of the accidents come into play. I mean, you were talking about the incident in Cumberland County. How do you know that that child wasn’t thinking that that gun was just a play gun.

25:06

Photo. Caroline and brother

25:22

Terese shows Koen a photo.

TERESE STILES:If you look at this infant, above this infant’s right ear, is a gunshot wound, close to the head in the temple area. Unfortunately this is one of the children that did not make it. We were unable to revive this child.

25:28

KOEN VAN GROESEN: This is the gun debate through the eyes of children.

25:41

TERESE STILES: This is the gun debate through the eyes of children, this is the gun debate through the eyes of Caroline Sparks. If we can’t do it for our children, for our future, what can we do as a country to save the future?

25:44

End Credits

26:01

26:06