Niteshift

Fiction film maker Michael Moore, who supports gun control measures and won an Oscar for his falsehood laden mockumentary "Bowling for Colombine", gets linked to some gun trouble.

Moore, who referred to the NRA as a "radical, freaky group", was in NY this week when his gun carrying bodyguard was arrested for illegally carrying the gun as he tried to board a plane to fly to Michigan in advance of Moore making the trip.

"A California man who told police he was filmmaker Michael Moore's bodyguard was awaiting arraignment Thursday night in Queens for carrying an unlicensed handgun at Kennedy Airport, authorities said.

Moore, the 2003 Academy Award-winning director of "Bowling for Columbine," which spoofs and criticizes America's obsession with guns, was not with the bodyguard, Patrick Burk, 34, of Los Angeles, police said.

Port Authority Police arrested Burk at 8:10 p.m. Wednesday after he presented a black, .40-caliber Mauser pistol at a United Airlines ticket counter while trying to board a flight home, police said.

Burk has a license to carry the gun in Florida and California but not in New York, police said.

Sources said Burk arrived in New York with Moore on Jan. 11 for what was to be a short stay before they were to head to Michigan. It was not known how long Burk and Moore were together in the city.

Officials at the private security company Burk works for, Gavin de Becker & Associates, of Studio City, Calif., would not disclose whether Burk was assigned to Moore.

But the officials insisted in two e-mails that the former Marine was not carrying the gun illegally.

Burk was charged with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.

"Patrick Burk is licensed to carry a firearm in several states and a court will determine if any charge is appropriate in this matter," said an e-mail from Michael LaFever, the firm's president and managing principal."

People like Moore, Rosie O'Donnell and Ted Kennedy (whose private bodyguards were arrested under similar circumstances) tell you that you don't need firearms to protect yourself, instead you should rely on the police. But those rules don't apply to them.

Some people refer to that as hypocrisy.

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Higher Logic

Woah, now, woah now. This is like someone in the Bush Administration doing something and then "us" blaming Bush and then having to hear the "other" side say it wasn't his fault. It wasn't Bush's fault that he relied on faulty intelligence, it was his adminstration, right, right? Moore wasn't carrying the gun, was he?

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Zilos

Oh come on, he's a trained bodyguard, seems people will do anything to get a stab at Michael Moore these days. I find it funny it's even an issue at all, it's not like Moore had the gun on his person, his bodyguard did, and it was registered in some states.

And there's a big difference between someone carrying a gun to protect themselves (a normal citizen who few people know), then a trained bodygaurd carrying one to protect a well known person who may be targeted.

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Buzzby

So, in your estimation it's OK for rich people who can afford bodyguards to be protected from violent criminals? And the "commoners" should just take the hit? Once upon a time all aristocrats went armed and commoners were forbidden by law from carrying arms. I hope we've advanced beyond that stage.


Violent criminals, like all predators, target the weakest prey. They go after the most helpless looking person on the street. Someone who couldn't possibly resist their attack. Statistics indicate that when there is a possibility that anyone might be armed, criminals tend to seek a safer (though still illegal) way to make a living.

There is no special education required to be a bodyguard. In my state, everyone who gets a concealed-carry license goes through classes where they learn the law, when you can legally use your weapon, and must pass a test to demonstrate that they can use their sidearm with sufficient accuracy.

The fact is that people with concealed carry licenses are a third as likely to commit any crime compared to the average citizen. They are a seventh as likely to commit a violent crime. In a pinch I would much rather have people conscious of the need for self-defense and trained in it around me than clueless people who float around thinking, "It can't happen to me!"

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Zilos

Rich people may be targeted, the average person doesn't have to worry about needing a gun, unless there associated with some sort of crime.

Well, I gotta admit, I live in Canada and DON'T have to worry about everybody trying to kill me. And I'd rather go around with "It can't happen to me!", then running around with a gun, going "Is he after me? Or maybe Him?!". Thanks, but no thanks.

-Peace

MickityMike

*sigh* What if I just want a gun for a reason that's none of the government's (and Moore's) goddamned business? To say that I only need a gun because I must be involved in some sort of crime is simplistic to the extreme, man.

"You only want pot legalized because you must be an addict."

It's the same argument - and both are tar-tar.

It's not a matter of what one is worried about (and I can tell you've seen BfC as you've completely bought into its propaganda), it's a matter of the fundamental right of every free citizen to protect him or herself in the manner of his choosing.

It may or may not be an exercise in ultimate paranoia to carry a gun around with you or to even just own a gun, but either way I'd rather the government not make that decision for me.

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I'd be delighted to live in a country where happily married gay couples had closets full of assault weapons. - Glenn Reynolds

Niteshift

Haven't you basically said that you'd rather that the president believe in god instead of not believe in god and not think that he has to answer to a higher power? That leads me to believe you might have less support for Bush if he were say, an atheist. But feel free to pretend like you wouldn't.

I don't need to pretend anything.

Yes, I would RATHER have a president that believes in God than one who does not.

I'd also RATHER have a president that is a stronger supporter of the Second Amendment than George Bush is.

I'd RATHER have a president who is more fiscally conservative.

I'd RATHER have a president that supports other things I support stronger.

I'd RATHER have a brand new truck instread of a 3 year old one.

I'd RATHER have a house with a jacuzzi.

I'd RATHER have a million dollars.

I'd RATHER have a pepperoni pizza than just a cheese pizza.

But just because I'd RATHER have those things, doesn't mean I can't be satisfied with something/someone different.

Hiz Highness

Michael Moore has said we don't need firearms to protect ourselves?

Where?

-HH

MickityMike

I thought I'd heard that this story has turned out to be false. Apparently the guy used to be Moore's body guard, but no longer.

Anyhoo, regardless of this specific incident, the point regarding Moore's hypocrisy still stands. He, and many others as Nite has pointed out, isn't a big fan of guns, yet he hires people to carry them and protect him. How's that work, eh?

Have you ever seen Bowling for Columbine, HH? It rants against stores that sell guns and ammo, apparently because making them available at K-Mart and Wal-Mart is "bad." Well, that is, it's only "bad" when it's other people packing heat, not the guys who guard Moore.

Hiz Highness

I've seen it, but I didn't view it with a pre-conceived notion that it was anti-gun. I remember the part about going to K-mart and asking them to stop selling ammo, and him ambushing Charleton Heston (which I found to be in poor taste).

However, I was more intrigued by the question as to why American's were so much more violent than Canadian's, or other cultures with similar freedoms.

I also recall Michael Moore being a member of the NRA.

I guess people see the emphasis where they want to see it, and remember what they want to remember.

All that having been said, when did Michael Moore ever say we shouldn't have guns to protect ourselves?

-HH