’Bowling for Columbine’ filmmaker Michael Moore has responded to requests for comment on the Santa Barbara shootings, arguing Sunday that the majority of America’s mass shootings are committed by “angry or disturbed white males.”
Elliot Rodger, 22, went on a deadly rampage through the Isla Vista neighborhood on Friday, killing six people before killing himself. Police found three .9mm semi-automatic handguns in his car, all of which were legally purchased.
Mr. Moore, an outspoken advocate for stricter gun control laws, called the killing spree a “part of normal American life.”
“We are a people easily manipulated by fear which causes us to arm ourselves,” he wrote in a Facebook post. “We are a nation founded in violence, grew our borders through violence, and allow men in power to use violence around the world to further our so-called American (corporate) ’interests.’ … The gun, not the eagle, is our true national symbol.”
“Nearly all of our mass shootings are by angry or disturbed white males,” he continued. “None of them are committed by the majority gender, women. Hmmm, why is that? Even when 90% of the American public calls for stronger gun laws, Congress refuses — and then we the people refuse to remove them from office. So the onus is on us, all of us. We won’t pass the necessary laws, but more importantly we won’t consider why this happens here all the time.”
Mr. Moore concluded by promising, “this will all happen again very soon.”
“When the NRA says, ’Guns don’t kill people — people kill people,’ they’ve got it half-right. Except I would amend it to this: ’Guns don’t kill people — Americans kill people,” he wrote.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.