0:01

I'm David Remnick and each week on The

0:03

New Yorker Radio Hour, my colleagues and I

0:05

unpack what's happening in a very complicated world.

0:08

You'll hear from The New Yorker's award-winning

0:10

reporters and thinkers, Jelani Cobb

0:12

on race and justice, Jill Lepore

0:14

on American history, Vincent Cunningham

0:17

and Gia Tolentino on culture, Bill

0:19

McKibbin on climate change and many

0:21

more. To get the context

0:23

behind events in the news, listen to The

0:25

New Yorker Radio Hour wherever you

0:28

get your podcasts. Hey

0:31

everybody, big news. I'm

0:33

thrilled to tell you that Scene on

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Radio is coming back soon with

0:38

a big full seventh

0:40

season about capitalism.

0:45

Coming in June, watch this space for

0:47

more in the coming weeks. In

0:50

the meantime, I wanted to tip you off to another

0:52

podcast that we think a lot of you all will

0:54

want to hear. Long

0:57

Shadow, produced by

0:59

Long Lead and hosted by

1:01

Pulitzer finalist Garrett Graf, this

1:04

podcast series makes sense of what

1:06

people know and what they thought

1:08

they knew about pivotal moments

1:10

in US history from 9-11 to

1:13

January 6th and beyond. Long

1:17

Shadow's current season, In Guns We

1:19

Trust, is produced in collaboration

1:21

with The Trace and

1:23

chronicles how guns have divided Americans,

1:25

especially over the past 50 years.

1:29

This new season just launched and will wrap

1:31

up by the time our season 7 kicks

1:34

off in the later part of June. So

1:37

listen up, this is A Uniquely

1:40

American Problem, episode 1

1:42

of Long Shadow, In

1:44

Guns We Trust. There's

1:48

a Christian church in Pennsylvania. On

1:50

Sundays, dozens of congregants file in.

1:53

Men, women, families

1:55

with their kids. They

1:58

pray and listen to readings from the Bible. The

2:01

pastor wears a gold crown, encrusted

2:04

with bullets, and

2:06

he carries an AR-15. The

2:16

pastor is Sean Moon. His

2:19

followers call him King. His

2:22

brother is the CEO of a local

2:24

gun manufacturing company, and their late father

2:26

was Reverend Sun Myung Moon, a

2:29

self-proclaimed messiah and the leader

2:31

of an ultra-conservative church often

2:34

compared to a cult. You

2:36

may know them as the Moonies. Pastor

2:40

Sean Moon's church, Rod of

2:42

Iron Ministries, is a lot like his

2:44

dad's, but he believes

2:47

that the AR-15 is a

2:49

divine instrument, the modern

2:51

embodiment of a rod of iron referenced

2:53

in the book of Revelation. The center

2:56

of the kingdom of God is the

2:58

crown, land ownership, and

3:00

guns. The

3:03

AR-15 assault rifle, the rod of

3:05

iron. It's the

3:07

center of the kingdom. This

3:10

is obviously not your average church, and

3:12

its members don't represent the average gun

3:14

owner. But to some,

3:16

this church might seem the epitome of

3:19

gun culture in America, and

3:21

it fits a sort of caricature of

3:23

gun rights proponents. Today,

3:26

more than ever, guns are

3:29

a lifestyle and a divisive

3:31

political symbol, worshipped by

3:33

some, and demonized

3:35

by others. While

3:46

many gun control advocates fight to

3:48

ban AR-15s, some

3:50

Republican lawmakers wear AR-15 lapel

3:53

pins, and its silhouette

3:55

was on flags carried at the Capitol on

3:57

January 6th. Who

4:00

like guns? See a

4:02

pictorial Have a gun.

4:04

The things that come

4:07

into the are mine

4:09

are very positive American

4:11

values of independence, interdependence,

4:13

collective action, and someone

4:15

who doesn't like guns,

4:18

seized crime, gangs, drugs,

4:20

all sorts of negative

4:22

things. There

4:24

are some four hundred billion

4:26

dunes in the United States

4:28

that's more guns than people,

4:30

and there are more federally

4:33

licensed gun dealers in the

4:35

country than Mcdonalds, Burger Kings,

4:37

Taco Bells, and Six. Americans

4:41

now carry the psychic wheat of

4:43

fear that a daily errands could

4:46

be their list at shopping malls,

4:48

grocery stores, movie theaters, And

4:51

in the places where we

4:53

once felt safest churches, schools,

4:55

and synagogues, We. Ask

4:58

ourselves if someone opens fire

5:00

here. How am I going

5:02

to escape? Where am I

5:05

going to? And

5:07

we can't seem to agree on what to

5:09

do about any of this. So

5:12

how did we get? Em

5:14

How do we get ourselves out. My.

5:17

Name is Garrett Grass and from

5:19

long lead Pure acts in Camp

5:22

Side Media in collaboration with The

5:24

Trace. This is season three of

5:27

Long Shadow in Guns We Trust.

5:30

It's a story about a fiercely

5:32

determined group of activists dedicated to

5:35

preserving a constitutional rights. And

5:38

who in doing so to

5:40

teach Italy and radically transformed

5:42

our relationship to does from

5:44

horse and buggy to jumbo

5:46

jets, the an array has

5:48

remained farm to be sure.

5:50

nobody tampered with the Second

5:53

Amendment and the bill of

5:55

Rights. It's a story of

5:57

an industry that has endured

5:59

and. They invented itself, remaining

6:02

ingrained in American life, even

6:05

while fueling an epidemic of gun violence

6:08

on America's streets and

6:10

inside our homes. The gun industry

6:12

figured out that if they

6:15

attached the firearms of fundamental

6:17

American values, they could

6:19

stop it from being regulated. And

6:22

it's the story of a rising

6:24

new counter movement, a

6:26

movement quickly gaining strength driven

6:29

by Americans from all walks of life,

6:32

united by tragedy, but

6:34

also by hope, who

6:36

aim to reimagine and reshape

6:39

the future of our country. This

6:42

isn't going to happen again, we thought.

6:45

We have good gun laws, we

6:47

thought. Someone will

6:49

do something about that, we

6:51

thought. And

6:54

the bottom line is, you're

6:56

the someone. Until

6:58

we stand up, it's

7:01

going to continue. Episode

7:05

1. Littleton. I

7:08

grew up in Vermont, one of the most

7:10

gun friendly states in the nation. The

7:13

first day of deer season was almost a state

7:15

holiday. Friends had freezers

7:18

packed with their families annual venison

7:20

hall. And we thought nothing

7:22

of people driving around with rifle racks in

7:24

the back of their pickup trucks. And

7:27

personally, I like guns. I'm

7:30

actually a gun owner myself. I

7:33

learned to shoot in the back pasture of

7:35

my grandparents farm. First

7:37

BB guns, then my grandfather's 22 unit,

7:40

shooting at cans and paper targets.

7:44

And I still find target shooting

7:46

wonderfully relaxing. It

7:48

forces you to concentrate, to fully

7:50

concentrate in a way that today's

7:52

constantly pinging world rarely lets you

7:54

do. Over

7:56

the years I've shot all manner of guns

7:59

From MP. If Swat rifles to

8:01

old fashioned the gangster era tommy

8:03

guns. And once I was

8:05

pretty proficient with a Glock handgun. I

8:08

don't hunt, but I take every opportunity

8:11

I can to go skeet shooting and

8:13

will audible a beautiful over under in

8:15

my subscription Deckard Ninja Magazine. As

8:18

a journalist though, I'm fascinated by how

8:21

far guns have moved in my lifetime.

8:23

From what I knew culturally as a

8:25

child. I spent

8:27

most of the last twenty years covering

8:30

federal law enforcement and national security, and

8:32

I've spent a lot of time around

8:34

people with guns. I've

8:36

covered and reporting on my own

8:39

share of done shootings, mass shootings

8:41

per se, but the run of

8:43

the bill everyday. violence that is

8:45

still by and large. how Americans

8:48

die from bullets. The

8:53

error of Baramidze hunting and the rural

8:55

cultural tradition that I knew as a

8:57

kid seems all but an after day.

9:01

To day in a country that

9:03

sells more than a million new

9:05

guns every month. Wildlife officials in

9:07

my home state of Vermont talk

9:10

about how the state actually needs

9:12

more new hunters because there just

9:14

aren't enough young people entering that

9:16

once proud tradition. Where

9:19

country where fewer people own ever

9:21

more guns. Mm.

9:23

This season will explore how

9:26

that transformation from a country

9:28

of world hunters to suburbans

9:31

was the result of a

9:33

calculated and organized three decades.

9:37

And how that seems

9:39

has transformed daily life

9:41

for all Americans. As

9:45

we get stupid and note for listeners.

9:48

On and across the season, There.

9:51

Are repeated mentions of guns and

9:53

then. Please.

9:55

Take care. While. You listen. The

10:01

modern story of guns in America really

10:03

begins on April 20th, 1999. I'm

10:07

full-blooded Italian, so I had an uncle Vito and he

10:09

said, you know, choose a job you love and you

10:11

never have to work a day in your life. Love

10:13

what you do and do what you love. And

10:16

so I chose a job I loved

10:18

and I never had a day of regret, even on the

10:20

worst day of my life. At

10:22

the time, Frank DeAngelis had been

10:25

the principal of a high school

10:27

for a few years in a

10:29

quiet, wealthy suburb of Denver, Colorado.

10:32

Before becoming an administrator, he'd been a

10:34

history teacher and a coach for more

10:36

than a decade at the school. It

10:39

was one of the best in the state. We

10:41

had a graduation rate of over

10:43

92 percent, dropout rate under 1.9

10:46

percent. About 85 percent

10:48

of our kids went on to college. We

10:51

were an international baccalaureate program, advanced

10:53

placement, and then we also had

10:56

one of the largest special needs

10:58

programs. It was a fantastic school.

11:02

It was the 1990s, long before

11:04

today's concerns about tech talk and

11:06

vaping. One of

11:08

Frank's biggest worries at the time was drunk

11:10

driving. And he constantly

11:12

reminded the kids how much he cared

11:15

about them and how much he

11:17

would hate to lose any of them in an accident. Most

11:20

days at lunchtime, you could find Frank in

11:23

the cafeteria. He found being

11:25

in the cafeteria a great time to check

11:27

in and sense how things were going during

11:29

the day. He had

11:31

nearly 2,000 students and knew almost all

11:33

of them by name. The

11:35

kids, in turn, called him Mr. D. For

11:39

me, it's all about relationships. I

11:41

love to just walk around to the tables

11:43

and socialize and talk to the kids. But

11:47

on April 20th, Mr. D. wasn't in the

11:49

cafeteria. He was in his office,

11:52

interviewing someone for a job, when

11:54

his secretary came rushing in. She opened

11:57

the door and said, Frank, there's been a reported

11:59

gun fire. I learned the first thing that crossed my

12:01

mind, this has to be a senior prank. We're about

12:03

a month away from graduation. But it

12:05

wasn't a prank. It was

12:08

real. Mr. D ran

12:10

out into the hallway to help his students. Someone

12:14

pulled the fire alarm. That

12:19

day, reporter Dave Cullen had been sitting

12:21

at home in Denver, watching the local

12:23

news when suddenly the coverage cut to

12:26

a nearby town he'd never heard of.

12:29

Littleton. I called my editor and I

12:31

left a voicemail saying, this is

12:34

probably nothing, but there's

12:36

this school shooting outside

12:38

Denver and I'm going to go. And if

12:40

it turns into something, I'll be there. So

12:42

I'm driving down and I noticed out my

12:45

side window, these helicopters circling, maybe six or

12:47

eight of them. And I knew what that

12:49

meant. That many like news

12:51

helicopters, something

12:53

horrible is happening there. Two

12:56

students had opened fire at Columbine

12:59

High School during lunchtime around

13:01

11, 20 a.m. When

13:04

Dave arrived, he got as close as he could to

13:06

the school. He stationed himself

13:08

there alongside other members of the press.

13:12

The national news networks would soon

13:14

be there too, broadcasting live as

13:16

hundreds of local and state police

13:19

officers and federal agents. Responding. Swarms

13:23

of police and rescue crews attended to those who

13:25

could get out. Emergency workers showed up on their

13:27

day off to help. There are probably about 150

13:29

to 200 officers from six or seven different districts.

13:34

There are still a lot of questions unanswered. The

13:37

official emergency response was a mess. Remember,

13:40

this was the 90s before schools

13:42

had locked down drills and active

13:44

shooter protocols. Responding officers

13:46

simply weren't prepared for a disaster

13:48

like this. They followed

13:51

the procedures of the time, which

13:53

called for them to stay out of the

13:55

building, secure the perimeter and wait

13:57

for more highly trained SWAT officers to arrive.

14:01

Police believe the gunmen are still inside the

14:03

school. It is unclear if they've taken hostages.

14:06

They thought the killers were alive in the

14:08

school, and this was a hostage crisis. And

14:11

they couldn't make contact with the kids in

14:13

the school, but everyone from the FBI to

14:15

all of America thought they were watching this

14:18

hostage standoff. It took around

14:20

45 minutes before any

14:22

law enforcement even entered the building. By

14:25

that point, the shooting was already over,

14:27

but police didn't know that. They

14:30

responded as if the assault was still

14:32

ongoing. Once SWAT

14:34

officers entered, it still took hours more

14:37

to search the school and

14:39

rescue wounded students and faculty. Inside,

14:42

officers couldn't get the code to turn off

14:44

the fire alarm, so the

14:47

SWAT teams had to communicate with hand

14:49

signals because they couldn't hear each other

14:51

over the piercing shrinks. Sprinklers

14:54

continued to flood the building. Meanwhile,

14:58

some students trapped inside were watching

15:01

the live news coverage on school

15:03

TVs, and some had

15:05

put up handwritten signs in the windows,

15:07

begging for help. Through

15:10

the afternoon, rescued kids streamed

15:13

out of the school with their hands

15:15

over their heads. 3.50

15:18

p.m., law enforcement officers continued to evacuate

15:20

shaken students from the school, ordering them

15:22

to run with their hands on their

15:24

heads. Everyone is a

15:27

potential suspect. They were

15:29

shepherded across the lawn by police.

15:32

Standing at the press line, Dave Cullen

15:35

remembers watching dozens of school kids run

15:37

towards him. It was like a hundred

15:39

of them. Coming out of

15:41

there, they were sobbing, holding

15:43

each other. One detail

15:46

stuck with him. Some

15:48

of the boys were shirtless when they came out of

15:50

the building. Dave found

15:52

it strange at the time, but

15:54

he later learned that they'd been trapped in a

15:56

classroom with their teacher, Dave Sanders,

16:00

The injured the boys who are.

16:03

The. Boys who have their shirts off

16:05

hum. Left one

16:07

forty cents breaks my heart because

16:09

like he was bleeding so much

16:11

that he the bandages so odd.

16:14

The. Boy the took the t shirts off

16:16

a detour them up to like try to

16:18

stop the bleeding. The boys

16:21

of five mister Sanders for nearly

16:23

three hours before help arrived. He

16:26

didn't survive. Outside.

16:31

The. Plan was for the rescued students to

16:34

be immediately loaded onto buses that would take

16:36

them to be reunited with their families. As

16:39

the kids approach Stave and the other

16:41

assemble journalists. The. Press Corps stepped

16:44

aside to let them through. One.

16:46

Of the reporters, I don't even know who just

16:49

said like legs. Few okay, And.

16:52

Within. Thirty seconds Authentic it's

16:54

are talking to us. How. Me

16:56

what happened and what you cry you

16:59

proud Very traumatic events happening yet either

17:01

I am now the whole saw the

17:03

Plow guys have Oliver and I thought

17:05

the to buy. Twenty five

17:08

years later, these interviews feel

17:10

eerily familiar. Survivors.

17:12

Stare blankly into the camera, stunned

17:14

as they described the horrors they'd

17:16

seen. But. Back then.

17:19

In Nineteen Ninety Nine. The. Survivors

17:21

of Columbine were different.

17:24

Muslim. had even heard of the school shooting

17:26

Though it wasn't a think. it was almost

17:29

as like like units at this isn't some

17:31

flip of like Marsans attack you know,

17:33

like oh there really are out there are

17:35

enough the boxes under your bed other really

17:37

are still there are a subset of the

17:40

world. Really was a shattered like like. If.

17:43

People shooting of schools like what else?

17:47

I remember that spring day. Clearly I

17:49

was in my own senior year of

17:51

high school. Home. On my

17:53

April school vacation that week. We.

17:56

didn't have social media to hear of

17:58

breaking news cell phones weren't

18:00

that common in early 1999. Instead,

18:04

I heard the news from my

18:06

dad, who was a reporter for the Associated

18:08

Press in Vermont, who called the

18:10

house phone in the kitchen to tell me to

18:12

turn on the news. As

18:16

I would come to learn, one shooter was a few

18:18

months younger than me, the other

18:20

a few months older, just

18:22

weeks away from graduation. They

18:27

killed 13 people that day, 12 students

18:32

and the one teacher, Mr. Sanders,

18:35

them themselves. Two

18:37

dozen more were injured, leaving some

18:40

paralyzed. Mr.

18:42

D was forever changed by that day, and

18:44

he will carry it with him the rest

18:47

of his life. The

18:49

media has made the names of the shooters

18:51

famous, but Mr. D remembers

18:54

the names of the people he lost.

18:57

Every morning before my feet hit the ground,

18:59

I recite the names of my beloved 13,

19:01

and they give me the reason to do

19:03

what I'm doing today. Cassie

19:07

Bernal, Stephen

19:09

Kurnow, Cory DePooter,

19:12

Kelly Fleming, Matt

19:14

Kekter, Daniel Mauser,

19:18

Manny Roarbach, Dave

19:20

Sanders, Isaiah

19:22

Scholes, Rachel Scott,

19:25

John Tomlin, Lauren

19:27

Townsend, and Kyle Velasquez.

19:32

The shooting in Littleton was a watershed moment.

19:35

Overnight, the word Columbi, a

19:38

name taken from a beautiful wildflower,

19:41

became synonymous with tragedy. It

19:44

was a short hand for a scourge

19:46

that would befall dozens more communities in

19:48

the years ahead. The

19:50

shooting made international headlines, and

19:53

in the days that followed, nearly 70,000 people

19:56

attended a public memorial service in Littleton,

19:59

including the. Gov. Colorado. Vice

20:01

President Al Gore. And. Retired

20:03

General Colin Powell. When.

20:06

President Bill Clinton visited the community a

20:08

month later. Students. In

20:10

the audience began to chant a

20:13

familiar phrase Mr. De had coined

20:15

in popularized as a football. And.

20:17

Baseball Coach when the a

20:20

heart and and ninety nine

20:22

to nine that says home

20:24

for Us. We are

20:26

power. He.

20:30

Sounded more like a pep rally said

20:32

president for remarks as Bill Clinton. Took

20:34

the stage. All

20:40

America has looked and listen.

20:43

With shared Greece and

20:46

enormous affection and admiration

20:48

for you. We

20:52

have been learning along with

20:54

you. A lot

20:57

about ourselves and our responsibilities as

20:59

parents. And

21:01

citizens. In

21:03

the aftermath, the community

21:05

faced unimaginable challenges and

21:07

questions. What should

21:09

they do about graduation? Would.

21:11

They ever return to the school. Should.

21:14

They demolish the building entirely. The.

21:17

Community eventually chose to remodel

21:20

and rebuild. while still

21:22

remembering those who were lost. They.

21:25

Painted a mural with aspen trees on

21:27

the ceiling of the cafeteria. And

21:30

Mr. De would stay on his principal

21:32

for another fifteen years. Until

21:34

every student in the district touched

21:36

by the tragedy had graduated. The

21:42

response at Columbine help define how

21:44

other communities respond to such acts

21:46

of violence. How. We grieve

21:48

and how we heal. And

21:51

how we keep kids safe in

21:53

school. Or. Try to.

21:56

Columbine cause America as such kind of

21:59

panic that. We can. you do want

22:01

to things in response godless out of

22:03

fear and safety. That. We're sending

22:05

our kids off to school. The die

22:08

I flicked Nine Eleven made us take

22:10

off her shoes and like both of

22:12

at airports you know those lenders around

22:14

your neck with your I d like.

22:16

Almost all schools have them. You know

22:18

when people started wearing them? Ninety Ninety

22:21

Nine because of Combine you know that

22:23

second table where visitors have to stop.

22:25

Started in Nineteen Ninety Nine. The lockdown

22:27

rules you've been all doing since you

22:29

know you were in kindergarten. Be active

22:32

shooter protocol. This circuit the culture and

22:34

required so many changes. In a way

22:36

that none of this other stuff death they

22:38

didn't know what them. but he would spend

22:40

the next decade raving about the shooting for

22:43

his Landmark book. Titled. Simply

22:45

Poem by. He

22:48

wanted to know what would happen to these

22:50

kids. To. These families. Into.

22:53

America. Some

22:55

of the survivors would become pioneers of

22:57

a new gun safety movement. Led.

23:00

By Americans impacted by gun

23:02

violence. But. The shooting

23:04

would also inspire a disturbing nutrient.

23:07

One that would seems public life in

23:09

America. For. All of us. Com.

23:12

Mind set in motion School shooting Earth

23:15

Mass shooting as a thing. It

23:17

never was a thing in America or the world. The for

23:19

Nineteen Ninety Nine. So. Now when somebody

23:21

is feeling outcasts a Lunar, you know

23:24

all these things in both of them

23:26

suicidally depressed. Now instead of just like

23:28

last year's is killing themselves, now this

23:30

is the other thing. Oh, I can

23:33

be a mess outta. Daves

23:38

Book has been reissued for the

23:40

twenty fifth anniversary of Columbine, and

23:42

it a startling new preface that

23:44

begins with a graphic visualizing the

23:46

legacy of that shooting. It's

23:49

a hub and spoke diagram with Columbine in

23:51

the middle. And. More than fifty

23:53

other shootings stemming from around the

23:56

center. Mattress in the

23:58

Us. but around world,

24:01

all inspired by Columbine.

24:05

A high school in Minnesota, a

24:07

Safeway in Oregon, a church

24:09

in Colorado, a mall in

24:11

Maryland, as well as

24:14

schools in Germany and Russia. And

24:17

yes, Sandy Hook Elementary

24:20

in Newtown, Connecticut. But

24:24

there were mass shootings in America before 1999.

24:28

So why did Columbine have such

24:30

a massive impact? More

24:33

after the break. There

24:42

were a few reasons the shooting at

24:44

Columbine shocked the nation and left such

24:46

a lasting precaution. First,

24:50

it all played out live on TV. So

24:53

we were living through it. The

24:55

only ones comparable where we lived through

24:58

it were 9-11, because one

25:00

hit the building, then another, and

25:02

the Pentagon. And we didn't know if it was

25:04

over. Even in Oklahoma City and all these others,

25:06

when it breaks, when it hits the news, it's

25:08

usually over. So it's like

25:10

this horrible thing happened. So

25:13

you're experiencing supreme sadness and horror,

25:16

but not fear. And

25:19

for Columbine in 9-11, we experienced

25:21

the fear, because it was still,

25:23

as far as we know, still

25:25

happening. And there were kids

25:27

being held hostage, may well

25:30

be killed. So that

25:32

just dramatically changed the impact

25:34

that it had on us. And of

25:36

course, this is about kids. And so

25:38

like, it made school kids across America

25:40

terrified, and it made parents

25:43

terrified to send their kids to school. Dave

25:45

says another reason Columbine was so impactful

25:47

is because it was not the first

25:49

attack of its kind. In

25:52

the two years before Columbine, four

25:54

people were shot at Parker Middle

25:56

School in Pennsylvania. Nine

25:59

were shot at Pearl High School

26:01

in Mississippi, eight

26:03

at Heath High School in Kentucky, 15 at

26:06

West Side Middle School

26:08

in Arkansas, and 27 people

26:11

were shot at Thurston High School

26:13

in Oregon. In

26:16

fact, another school shooting occurred as

26:18

President Clinton and the First Lady

26:20

were traveling to Littleton for the

26:23

memorial. Of all of

26:25

those shootings, though, Columbine was

26:27

the deadliest. And

26:29

with each one, the country was

26:32

getting more nervous about it. Like maybe the

26:34

school shootings is a thing, and there was

26:36

a lot of coverage of them, and each

26:38

one more so. And so it

26:40

was sort of like America was feeling the fuse going,

26:43

and then Columbine was at the bottom.

26:46

You know, the reaction was like, holy

26:48

shit, there's going to be more of these. This

26:51

is a blight in

26:53

America. What

26:56

was new in 1999, what was startling

26:58

about these school shootings, was not the

27:00

gun violence. There were

27:02

already around 250 million guns in

27:04

circulation in America that year. And

27:07

in 1998, the year before the

27:10

shooting, over 30,000 Americans had been

27:12

killed by firearms, including

27:15

homicides, suicides, and accidental

27:17

shootings. What

27:20

was new was the fear

27:22

that gun violence had become a serious

27:24

threat to communities and to

27:26

children in places that otherwise had little

27:28

crime. Suddenly, in

27:31

middle class suburban, mostly white

27:33

communities, schools no longer

27:35

felt safe. Over

27:37

the next days and weeks, America would

27:40

search for answers. Why

27:42

did they do it? And how

27:44

do we prevent this from happening to our kids?

27:48

Because if it can happen in Littleton, it

27:50

can happen anywhere. And

27:53

a narrative about the shooters quickly began

27:55

to take shape. Fascinated

28:00

by World War II, they were known

28:02

as the Trenchcoat Mafia. The question is,

28:04

why didn't anyone know they turned so

28:06

violent? The media was

28:08

particularly focused on a rumor that the

28:10

shooters were part of a sinister trenchcoat

28:12

mafia. In reality,

28:15

it was a nickname for a group

28:17

of students who played video games together.

28:20

It wasn't a game or anything organized.

28:23

But it provided a neat explanation that

28:25

seemed to make sense of a senseless

28:27

tragedy. And it's the

28:29

story many people still believe today. Angry

28:33

impressionable teens influenced by violent

28:35

video games, movies, and

28:37

music inevitably snapped.

28:41

In a way, the explanation was

28:43

comforting, because it meant that

28:45

parents and teachers could do something. They

28:48

were advised to look for early warning

28:50

signs of hatred or violent behavior. To

28:54

talk to your kids before they

28:56

became ticking time bombs. And

28:59

closely monitor their internet use in

29:01

video games. It

29:04

just is, two

29:06

outcast loners, misfits,

29:09

targeted jocks and possibly

29:11

African Americans as revenge

29:13

for years of bullying

29:15

they had experienced at Columbine High.

29:17

The problem with that statement is

29:19

not one thing I just said

29:21

is true. They

29:24

weren't misfits. They weren't outcasts. They

29:27

had quite a few friends. They weren't loners. They

29:29

were not part of the trenchcoat mafia. Even

29:32

more importantly, the main event

29:34

was to be the bombs that

29:36

they put in the cafeteria in

29:38

the first lunch period, which if

29:41

they'd blown off, would have killed pretty

29:44

much everyone in there instantly, about 600 people. So

29:48

that is the opposite of targeting.

29:50

That's completely indiscriminate, just killing anyone.

29:52

So that was their plan, not

29:54

a school shooting. They

29:57

were picturing like an Armageddon.

30:00

The attackers at Columbine left behind

30:02

hundreds of pages of writings and

30:04

hours of videos explaining why they

30:07

did what they did. They

30:10

had wanted to be terrorists. They'd

30:12

been planning their assault for more than a year,

30:15

amassing guns and ammunition and

30:18

building dozens of bombs big

30:20

and small. Law

30:22

enforcement ultimately found 99 explosive

30:24

devices. They'd

30:28

been inspired in part by the Oklahoma

30:30

City bombing, and they were

30:32

hoping to outdo Tim McVeigh. And

30:35

if all of their bombs had worked, they

30:37

would have. Columbine

30:40

occurred on April 20th, but

30:42

it was supposed to happen on the 19th. For

30:46

listeners of last season of Long Shadow, where

30:49

we covered the rise of the far-right

30:51

extremist movement, you'll remember

30:54

that April 19th is significant.

30:57

It's the anniversary of Oklahoma City, which

31:00

itself had been timed to the anniversary

31:02

of the federal siege of

31:04

the Branch Davidian compound in Waco,

31:06

Texas. But

31:09

most Americans don't remember these details

31:12

or never learned them. What

31:15

they remember is the first

31:17

story the media told. And

31:19

once America had an explanation,

31:21

just forever, the narrative, the

31:23

explanation, that sticks, and

31:26

you can't get it out. So

31:28

instead of a deadly act of terrorism,

31:30

Columbine became known as one of America's

31:33

deadliest school shootings. And

31:35

it revitalized the national debate over guns.

31:39

Proponents of stricter gun laws frequently

31:41

cited a jarring statistic. 13

31:43

young people are killed every day by gun

31:45

violence. While Second Amendment

31:48

advocates argued that more gun control

31:50

laws would not have prevented Columbine,

31:53

And would only penalize law-abiding gun

31:55

owners for the violent acts of

31:57

criminals. Come

32:00

on. Both sides of the issue were

32:02

asking, how can we keep guns out

32:04

of the hands of people who shouldn't

32:06

have them, felons, the mentally ill, and

32:08

kids who want to shoot up their

32:11

school. Here's a clip

32:13

from a debate on the issue backs featured

32:15

on Msnbc the Equal Time Okay let's negotiate

32:17

your friends. What's sad is that we don't

32:19

have to wait for our first book as

32:22

friends. My concern is in the owner's manual

32:24

Alex woman with I would either a that

32:26

a well regulated militia being necessary to the

32:29

security of a free nice on the right

32:31

of the people to keep and bear arms

32:33

and you may have my wanna do we

32:35

sell out of the we have well regulated

32:38

militia some are you on it's we mop

32:40

here than the Executive Vice president. Of

32:42

the National Rifle Association. The. An

32:44

array of jumps in you wanna take runs

32:46

away from all the law abiding power and

32:48

take guns away from the criminals if I

32:50

ask. On are definitely not as much as

32:52

not battling with. Less.

32:56

Than two weeks after the shooting,

32:58

the two sides of that national

33:00

debate on guns would collide in

33:02

Colorado. Eleven miles from Little To.

33:07

Do. Thank

33:10

you very much. Good

33:13

morning. I

33:16

am very happy to welcome

33:18

you to this abbreviated as

33:20

Annual Gathering of the National

33:22

Rifle Association. Loves former enter

33:24

a President Charlton Heston. In.

33:27

Old school Hollywood movie star who would

33:29

spend five years as the face of

33:31

the organization. Coincidentally.

33:34

The. Emirates Annual Meeting. Usually.

33:37

Held alongside a giant convention and

33:39

rousing celebration of firearms and the

33:41

people who use them. Had.

33:43

Been long scheduled for an

33:45

extravaganza in Denver. Set.

33:48

To begin just days after the shooting.

33:51

That. Timing seem not just

33:54

tragic, but downright disrespectful. The.

33:56

Community was still in shock. Planning.

33:59

Funerals for they're teenagers instead

34:01

of graduation parties. Denver's.

34:04

Mayor publicly ask the and are a

34:06

to cancel out of consideration for grieving

34:08

families. But. The emirate

34:10

came to Denver. Nonetheless,

34:14

I have a. Message from

34:16

the Mayor, Mister Wayne and where

34:18

The Mayor and then. He

34:24

sent me this. And

34:27

says don't come here We don't

34:29

want you here Heston open the

34:31

meeting with a fiery speech to

34:34

and are a members assembled inside

34:36

a few thousand of them. Don't

34:38

come here. Were already

34:40

air. This

34:51

community is our home. Every

34:53

community in America is our

34:55

home. We are one hundred

34:57

and twenty eight year old,

34:59

six year of mainstream America.

35:02

The Second Amendment ethics of

35:04

a lawful responsible firearm ownership

35:06

spans the broadest cross section

35:08

of American life imaginable. So

35:10

we have the same rights

35:13

as all other systems to

35:15

be here to help shoulder

35:17

the grief, to share our

35:19

sorrow. And to offer

35:22

are respectful reassured voice to

35:24

the national discourse that is

35:26

erupted around this tragedy outside

35:28

the meeting. Thousands. Of

35:31

demonstrators gathered in protest. One.

35:33

Of them was Tom Melzer whose son

35:36

Daniel had been killed in Holland. There

35:40

are reasonable gun owners, many.

35:45

For the time has come

35:47

to come to understand that

35:49

a Test Nine semi automatic

35:51

thirty bullet west and like

35:53

that that killed my son.

35:57

Is not used to kill deer. It

35:59

has. Though you for heard. He

36:03

defines a problem inside.

36:05

Applause for Heston drowned

36:07

those voices out. Although.

36:10

The an array had shorten their of

36:12

from three days to six hours. Heston

36:14

and the other speakers gave no

36:16

ground on their ideas about guns.

36:19

Leaving no doubt about the

36:21

necessity to them of the

36:24

organization's mission, we must not

36:26

let tragedy lay waste to

36:28

the most rare and hard

36:30

one. Human Rights In history.

36:32

A nation cannot gain safety

36:35

by giving our freedom. This

36:38

truth is older than our

36:40

country. Those who would give

36:43

up essential liberty to purchase

36:45

a little temporary safety deserve

36:47

neither liberty nor safety. And

36:50

Franklin said that. The

36:55

enter his choice to move forward

36:57

was indicative of the strategy that

36:59

would steer the organization for decades

37:01

to com, But despite his unwavering

37:03

conviction. The Emirate have

37:05

actually considered a different. Here

37:11

than twenty years later, Npr obtained a

37:13

recording of an An Or A conference

37:16

call made on April Twenty first, Nineteen

37:18

Ninety Nine. One day after the shooting,

37:20

Npr eared parts of that recording in

37:22

Twenty Twenty One and the story was

37:25

picked up by other outlets. On

37:28

the call, the organizations leadership and

37:30

public relations advisers can be heard

37:32

debating whether they should rethink their

37:34

upcoming meeting in light of the

37:36

tragedy. It turns out there wasn't

37:38

consensus and lots of options were

37:40

on the table. Ever.

37:42

And we Can we say

37:44

I'd have a difference. The

37:47

sensitivity of temper we are going

37:49

to our meeting or hundred miles

37:52

away we're going to care for

37:54

wait exhibit mask bachelor. But

37:57

we are going. To refine our members

37:59

colorado. The

38:01

Emirate considers postponing the event,

38:03

they consider moving at farther

38:06

from Littleton, and they consider

38:08

cancelling the event altogether. The

38:10

even consider raising money for

38:13

the community talkspace a great

38:15

track of victims finder was

38:17

wrecked by then and ways

38:20

yeah, we get six million

38:22

dollar. Like that. That

38:26

was bad. Ultimately, this is

38:28

where they kept getting hung up.

38:30

Does it look bad? Does it

38:32

look like some sort of admission

38:34

of guilt if we backed down?

38:38

That's what very good eye on the other

38:40

side. If you don't

38:42

appear to be stuff ritual and honoring

38:44

the fed. Up

38:47

there tremendous should have you would

38:49

favourite. So it's

38:51

it's. it's it's It's a double edged

38:53

sword. And then. One of

38:55

the Emirates fiercest leaders chimed in,

38:58

you. Issue An expression of

39:00

of of sympathy. But.

39:02

You have to go forward. She

39:05

didn't consider canceling. Even.

39:07

For a moment. For. In

39:09

our a scrap, they extend the

39:11

amount of money that way if

39:13

span. I

39:17

just screw the insurance. A

39:19

message that it will say

39:21

it is. Even

39:24

the Nrl was brought to. It's

39:26

nice and the media will have

39:28

a field day with. That

39:31

voices marrying him a former president to

39:33

be an array and the organizations top

39:36

lobbyist and see disappeared. You.

39:38

Probably don't know her name and she's been

39:40

the force behind some of the most important

39:43

thing, right cause of the last four decades.

39:46

Dot A story will pick up

39:48

in the next episode as we

39:50

explore how the Second Amendment went

39:52

from a constitutional after two seats

39:55

and right. Decision

39:57

on one second income.

40:00

We trust the gun is a

40:02

gun is a gun. But whenever

40:04

there's a horrible tragedy, the first

40:06

thing that we talk about is

40:08

banning whatever type of gun was

40:10

used in that shootings. Were not

40:12

solving anything. We're just sitting myself

40:14

to term gun rights if you could

40:16

have found it in centuries gone by

40:19

did not have anything like the meaning

40:21

it has today. I was met their

40:23

all of these families of victims of

40:25

gun violence and they were serious furious

40:28

they said was of where the hell

40:30

have you at the problem is it's

40:32

life and death and terrible terrible things

40:34

have happened because it's inability for both

40:37

sides to put aside the immediate inexpedient

40:39

politics the do what would keep our

40:41

children's school sex. It's. Been four

40:43

thousand, two hundred days Two

40:45

days since she's been done.

40:49

This a lot of days to be

40:51

without rebates. They're still four hundred million

40:53

guns in America and any law you

40:55

adopt house to confront that reality, the

40:58

guns are already here. Long

41:01

Shadow in Guns You Trust is

41:03

produced a Long Lead and Kincaid

41:05

Media in collaboration with The Treats

41:07

and distributed by Trx. The series

41:10

is hosted and reported by Me

41:12

Paragraph It was created by myself

41:14

and executive producer John Patrick Cohen

41:16

of Longleat. Jennifer Mafia of The

41:18

Trace, a nonprofit newsroom the covers

41:20

Guns In America is Michael Reporter

41:23

and a contributing producer for the

41:25

season. The show was written by

41:27

Emily Martinez. A We Have

41:29

Heaps is the associate producer and a contributing

41:31

writer as well. Matthew Share

41:33

and Emily Martinez also serve as

41:35

executive producers in the season. Or

41:38

theme song was composed by Never

41:41

Had Art Sound design by Clear

41:43

Mullen. additional engineering or you enlighten

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41:48

Dots Sessions and A Pm. The

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42:06

Ashley and Prayed Bomb and

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