GOOD GUY WITH A GUN Is Shockingly Thought-Provoking

Press conference, Dec. 21, 2012. A week since Adam Lanza fatally shot 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, U.S. National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre announces, “the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” This incident, along with that of January 6, 2021, when Trump supporters attacked the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. leading to 5 deaths, was the inspiration behind writer/director John Mossman’s Good Guy With a Gun.

In the US, the primary opposing schools of thought about civilian gun ownership are those who feel tighter ruling of ownership is the way forward in terms of gun control, and those who support the rights of the civilian to bear arms; the latter opposing increased restriction of gun ownership. Interpretation of existing legislation, and court cases concerning the effectiveness of firearms regulation on crime and public safety are topics hotly and ceaselessly under debate.

Whether you’re a US citizen or not, it’s likely you’ll have an opinion about their firearms laws. Should anyone outside the Armed Forces and Police be legally permitted to obtain/carry deadly weapons so readily (particularly in light of the vast number of mass shootings)? Should the Police even be armed? Not all countries have armed Police, but the number that don’t is dwindling.

Globally, many appear to be of the opinion that it’s a chicken-and-egg situation. Gun ownership results from gun ownership; people feel the need to protect their families and themselves. As Will (Beck Nolan), one of the lead characters in Good Guy With a Gun states, “you can’t bring words to an argument where the other guy has a gun and you don’t.”

His typical teen life (never an easy thing, even typically) is irreparably altered when his father intercepts a mugging, whereupon he’s shot and killed by the assailant. Subsequently when Will and mum Tessa (Tiffany Bedwell) take themselves and their strained relationship out of town to clear her recently deceased dad’s house, Will makes a small circle of acquaintances, all of them heavily into gun culture.

Dan Waller as Duke, father of one of the group and their gun-guru of sorts, leaves the viewer in no doubt as to which faction he represents, just as Tessa’s standing is equally clear. Will’s representative of the fact that between the two main opposing groups surrounding the subject there are more than 50 shades of grey.

I try to watch my screeners at least twice. I had to stop this film two times within the first 70 minutes, and not just because of the theme. The first time was to cry, for Will and Tessa; the second to get my breath back and practically close my mouth (which had literally fallen open; yep, it really DOES happen in real life) manually.

Mossman (himself a “responsible gun owner,” outdoorsman, hunter, patriot, and ardent Democrat), created Good Guy With a Gun with intent; this being to promote debate from ALL viewpoints over US gun laws. Having watched it I cannot imagine it doing anything less. However this film strikes you, I personally found myself in quiet admiration, not only for Mossman having the balls to broach the subject, but also the unusual angle from which he chose to do so. It’s a simple story; just sticking around long enough to give the outsider looking in a 360 degree view of a prickly subject eons old and with many sharp thorns.

This is a storm which has and will continue to rage, but one which, with the many lines of discussion Mossman aims to engender, may actually make progress.