SO FLO GUNS
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By Steve Richards - Updated February6, 2021
We began shooting footage for So Flo Guns in February 2018 immediately following the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL. Being newly returned to Miami from New Haven, it was easy to do and felt urgent – and cathartic to feel like we could do something. Personally, I was devastated by the event both in terms of horrific-ness as well as the seeming insensitivity of my neighbors, who seemed to have grown numb to such things in the wake of the Pulse nightclub shooting and the recent shooting at the Fort Lauderdale Airport. Guns and Florida go together like palm trees, sand, and art deco hotels. They’ve been here since before anyone can remember and are more numerous than people. It’s clear they are not going anywhere and are also a scourge on its citizens. We love them, and we hate them, and our politics can seem twisted by them with Florida especially stained by them in the national psyche. |
Memorial for Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School victims, Parkland, FL
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I’ve read some thought-provoking Facebook posts from friends, family, and acquaintances recently. One even equated assault rifles to hammers as weapons used in killings (496 in 2011) and implied we need to control hammers if we are going to control rifles. Another said he packed a handgun in line at grocery stores, so he could protect himself and his neighbors in case a shooter attacked. - My New Church - The NkRA?
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Parkland would be the first of many shoots we’d film over the course of 2018, including Carmen Schentrup’s funeral a couple days later. A month later we would be at the March for Our Lives protest on Miami Beach, and at a gun show a couple months later, culminating with the Line In the Sand demonstration on South Beach in which members of Florida Carry took their rifles and sidearms to the South Pointe pier. To go fishing. We’ve been meaning to get back to get more footage over the course of 2019 but we didn’t. And 2020 was taken up by the pandemic. We realized however in late 2020 that we had enough footage to edit as it became obvious that the original inspiration for the film, the essay My New Church – The NRA, was useful when juxtaposed to the Republican Neo-Know Nothing constituency we witnessed at the Capitol on January 6th. It was there that we realized that we had featured in our film the same Knickers (Neo-Know Nothing Republicans) movement that we had begun documenting in another film we had just begun shooting, Neo-Know Nothing Republicans I Love.
What constituency is that? The 2nd Amendment devotees, which include the Oath Keepers, the Three Percenters and various militia groups. Who that day decided to leave their guns at home. Not to mention Proud Boys since they generally tend to just use their fists when facing Antifa. All of these groups are represented in South Florida. In fact, the leader of the Proud Boys is from Miami — a neighbor if you will.
So, with all this as background, we need to now go back even further to an essay I wrote in July 2016 in the aftermath of the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting. Having just left Yale Divinity School I was tuned into the idea that the 2nd Amendment had become a kind of holy scripture and had led to a kind of religion, which is explored in the essay, which became the impetus for the So Flo Guns film when Parkland inspired then-high schooler Bobbie Richards and I to get to work. I’ve included some excerpts along the way here to offer some perspective as we discuss the film as they support each other and will be molded as such in the film.
What constituency is that? The 2nd Amendment devotees, which include the Oath Keepers, the Three Percenters and various militia groups. Who that day decided to leave their guns at home. Not to mention Proud Boys since they generally tend to just use their fists when facing Antifa. All of these groups are represented in South Florida. In fact, the leader of the Proud Boys is from Miami — a neighbor if you will.
So, with all this as background, we need to now go back even further to an essay I wrote in July 2016 in the aftermath of the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting. Having just left Yale Divinity School I was tuned into the idea that the 2nd Amendment had become a kind of holy scripture and had led to a kind of religion, which is explored in the essay, which became the impetus for the So Flo Guns film when Parkland inspired then-high schooler Bobbie Richards and I to get to work. I’ve included some excerpts along the way here to offer some perspective as we discuss the film as they support each other and will be molded as such in the film.
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So, I figure maybe this NkRA denomination just might be a reasonable facsimile for a church; especially since the passion it engenders seems so intense. But can it pass for a religion? Let’s see.
- My New Church - The NkRA? |
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GUN CULTURE USA: OLD GUNS & THE 2ND AMENDMENT
Ponce De Leon likely brought the first early guns to Florida (and North America) with him in 1513. Those early guns are a far cry from the rifles and handguns of today – and the 500-year history is a tale slow in the making, and arguably as important as any other invention to the development of the state. It’s hard to imagine South Florida without them.
The Kentucky long rifles and muskets around at the signing of the Bill of Rights and introduction of the 2nd Amendment in 1791 are what Andrew Jackson used in the First Seminole War in 1817 and were the most modern guns at the time. These progress to the Tommy guns of the 1920s and the assault rifles of today.
The Kentucky long rifles and muskets around at the signing of the Bill of Rights and introduction of the 2nd Amendment in 1791 are what Andrew Jackson used in the First Seminole War in 1817 and were the most modern guns at the time. These progress to the Tommy guns of the 1920s and the assault rifles of today.
CURRENT GUNS AND THEIR IMPACTFor many in Florida, and throughout the United States, the mass killing of students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School changed everything. But not long before that was the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, the airport shooting in Fort Lauderdale, the Dadeland sMall hooting in Miami in 1979 – the list is long.
But the totality of these shootings compares differently to the steady flow of shootings in Florida’s neighborhoods, especially the poorest. Florida gun laws are infamous for their laxity. "Stand your ground" and Trayvon Martin made Florida even more notorious than ever before. |
March For Our Lives, Miami Beach, FL
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GUN RIGHTS AND THE NRA
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With millions of adherents, the NRA is often a central figure in the debate. It’s about strength, power, politics, gun companies, and money. So why can’t the NRA enable citizens to get machine guns, silencers, sawed-off shotguns, and the like?
The National Firearms Act and U.S. gun control laws seriously limit the guns and weapons U.S. citizens can own: primarily rifles and handguns. The gun industry is alive and well though. An AR-15 can be had for well under $500 online. Gun shows are packed with dealers, collectors, and enthusiasts. Gun ranges and shops cater to a thriving community of enthusiasts throughout Florida. So Flo Guns brings these folks to the fore so we can understand where they are coming from. |
A year's worth of NRA mail still waiting to be opened.
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NkRA disciples have many myths to live by. Most are of questionable voracity, though, like with most religious zealots, opposing empirical evidence to the contrary offers little to their understanding of things. - My New Church - The NkRA?
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GUN CONTROLThe need for more gun control is generally agreed upon, even amongst the majority of gun owners, and yet is exceedingly difficult to enact into law, with the NRA generally blamed for this dichotomy. "Common sense gun control" is what advocates call what they are proposing, including universal background checks and limiting magazine sizes.
But many believe gun control just doesn’t work and that criminals will get guns no matter what. So Flo Guns will dig into these arguments. Production is scheduled throughout 2021 with a theatrical release planned for late 2021 or shortly thereafter. For more about its sister film Knickers I Love click here. |
Richard Nascak of Florida Carry, South Pointe, FL
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So, upon review, all in all, it appears the NkRA is like a religion in many respects…but with a big missing element. No Messiah/prophet/divine figure. - My New Church - The NkRA? |
March for Our Lives in Miami Beach, FL.