Thank you. And by the corporati for public broadcasting. John d. And catherine ded by the macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information is available at macfound. Org. The Ford Foundation working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. At fordfoundation. Org. On addi support is provided by the abrams foundation, committed to excellence in journalism. The park fndation, dedicated to heightening Public Awareness of critical issues. A the jo Helen Glessner family trust. Supporting trustworthy journalismhat informs and inspires. And by the frontline journali fund, with major support from jon and jo ann hagler. Hello. Today is the day. The day of my massacre shall begin. Narrator he was a 19yearold dropout. All the kids in school will i hate everyone and evng. With the power of my ar, you will all know who i am. laughing youre all goi to die. Ng imitaunshots ah, yeah. Cant wait. students talking in background it was valentines day. And we had joked, days prior, that i was going to ruiny valentines th this quiz. And the fire alarm went off. fire alarm blaring what the bleep . I heard what sounded ke faint pops. Students started to evacuate, thinkingt was a fire drill. And thats when he came up the stairs and ravaged that floor. gun firing, people screaming si narrator in less tha minutes, he fired 140 rounds from an ar15. It just became ry real, very fast. gun firing rapidly holy bleep oh, my god, oh, my god gunfire continues bleep oh, my god. gun firing in distance oh, bleep , yo. No, no, no. Shut the door. Shut the lights off. People were texting and whispers i heardi heard one gunshot. We thought it was a dril initially, but its not. Hush. We stood in a closet, 19 of us and theeacher. I just had to take out my phone and film a lot of what was going on. Hands up, guys, keep those hands up. Lets go, let go, lets go. Narrator ryan deitsch kept filming as he and s classmates fled. We codnt tell what was going ont what point. Ra its agedy. Follow me, follow me, follow narrator 14 students and on the wall. Re dead. crying oh, my god. Breaking news, a deadly shooting at a florida high school. Pkland, florida, this ise where therbeen a School Shooting. En it sends stud rushing out into the streets. Us there are numero fatalities. Narrator as the students evacuated, so did the shooter. He was later arrested. A number of parents who are crying right now, theyre worrieabout their children in that school. Parents going running to that area to find their loved ones. Youre looking at live pictures there where there is ae achooter at Marjory Stoneman douglas high school. Parkland, floridathats in broward county. Information in, its breaking at this hour. Narrator once again, students had been gunned down in a school. Yeah, hey, do you guys need a live interew . Narrator but this time, after the 105th School Shooting, these students were determined they wouldnt be just another statistic. T we didnt jusnt it to end here. We didnt just want it to end once the camer went away. We wanted to make sure thatt it wasnjust forgotten about. We wanted to make sure that the story was still being told. anting no more no more narrator ryan and his classmates went on the offensive. I now want to introduce Emma Gonzalez. Al iour government and president can do is send thoughts and prayers, then its time for victims to be the change tt we need to see. Narrator 18yearold Emma Gonzalez led the charge. The people in the government telling us nothing could have ever been done to prevent this, we call bs. Bs they say that no laws could have been able to prevent thes hundreds of senselagedies that have occurred. We call bs narrator they had a target. To every politician who is taking donations from the nra,ou shame on narrator the National Rifle association, theations we had learned in, own government class that the nra is one of the largest and most powerful lobbying forces. And we decided that they coaydnt just keep going the they were going. Emma gonzalezs speech is trending on twitter this morning. A teenar is getting a lot of attention on social media. Ange. Guished voices calling for students turned activists trained their own political sights on the nr i think that that speech resoted with so many americans. Going up against this kind ofen enched washington behemoth. You know, they were everything the nra is not. From my cold, dead hands. Narrator once one of the most feared foes in washington, for decades dominating one issue guns. The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. N rator an unrivaled power that would ultimately become a target. In hell, yes, were to take your ar15, your ak47. Were not going to allow it. Na the Natiol Rifle Association has made possible the training of thousands of instructors. Nartor long before it was at the center of a political firestorm. gun fires he. Ra was something very different. The nra was a safety organization. Ea they helped people their children and, and their friends and family how to use and ore and keep firearms safely. This is an organization that back ithe 60s, was a very tame, not particularly political organization. Here is a bulletin from cbs narrator but that would begin to change with the assassinations of the 1960s. There has beean attempt, as perhaps you know now, on the life of president kennedy. sirens blaring gun firing . Shooting, i repeat, a shooting on the motorcade. 12,. 38caliber, mailot by a rifle. gun fires Martin Luther king a 760 gamemaster. And robert f. Kennedy a saturday night special. siren blaring Armed Conflict broke out on americas streets. In washington, the response gun control. Effective crime control remains, in myudgment, effective gun control. Narrator those words would be a call to arms for some in the National Rifle association. The nra people said, wait a minute. Weve got otr things to worry about than, than teaching guys how to shoot or how to hunt, and so forth, orollect guns. And thats when, that was the transformative period. Narrator the transformation happened here in 1977. The National Rifle assoation convention in cincinnati went into overtime last night, a stormy, allnight session. Narrator two sides faced off hunters versus gunrights tivists. When it was over, some ssident members had take control of the 400,000member organization. What it means is even stricter support for the right to bear arms and against gun control. They believed that it was incumbent upon the nra to become a Second Amendment organizationh an cleared the board of people that disagreed with them. And the nra has essentlly been that ever since. This is an nbc news special narrator but just a few years later, another dramatic shooting would challenge the a. You can see the president gun firing . Narrator president eagan, ot in the lung. Theres the shots. people murmuring in background bleep narrator and his press secretary, james brady, in the head. They said six shots in twose conds. Let the ambulance in here te narrator in thrmath, once again, a call for gun control. These incents seem to keep happening, and that is a real puzzle and a tragic puzzle. Imarrator over the years, brady beme a powerful symbol. A guncontrol group formed around him in opposition to e nra, which had launched a fullscale lobbying effort in the capitol. And by t time bill clinton was elected, the antigun movement had found a president lling to take up their cause. President clinton blasted the National Riflessociation. Narrator clinton cracked down on guns. President clinton signed the crime billnto law today. Narrator banning the import of militarystyle handguns. Of one bans the importatio foreignmade assault pistols. Narrator the assault weapons ban. Weapons. N 19 types of assault narrator and background checks at gun stores. Esident. Nning victory for the narrator it seemed like a victory for the guncontrol forces. Saw it. Ts not the way the nra has the nra really lost its clout in congress . I think nra benefiteden trusly through the clinton years, because of the extreme radilism of the antiunw call them legers, i call them regressives, not progressives buthe antigun people. Its in combat that the nra thrives. Its with enemies that the nra b t able to communicate its point of view, and above all, raise money. Narrator near the end of his presidency, clinton would take on the nra one last time. Arrator it was set in motion by a shooting at a colora high school. The pictures that we are watching here in colorado are being broadcast nationally. Is very chaotic out there right now. Swat teams went in to rescue possible hostages. We are going to continue to follow this horrific situation taking place in littleton. Narrator americans would see fothe first time students being gunned down. 188 rounds fired off. gun firing rapidly explosion echoes and a bomb detonated in the cafeteria. As the two assailants, seen here, enter the room and hunt for stent victims, they hadd killed 13 and woun more. You see some of the victims being taken out. An we wt to advise you, we have no confirmation of any. Theyre continuing to find vig,ims throughout the build throughout the school, as swat team members slowly go through the building, because it is not secure as of now. Narrator in the days that followed, the police gathered evidence, including homeideos of the attkers and their weapons. Narrator they had assembled a small arsel sawedoff shotguns, a ninemillimeter carbine rifle, and a tec9 the shooters got a friend to buy some of the weaponat a gun show, which didnt require a cht would become known as the gunshow loophole. Columbine was a direct thre to the american gun culture because columbine really brought to the surface the idea that a couple of disturbed teenagers, if they want to, on any given weekend, can go to a, a gun show and assemble the weapons they need to go and take over the ooting everybody. Shoot, at the Colorado State capitol, the anguish over the columbine massacre turned to protests. Nartor in the wake of the shootings, thousands protested in denver. Some here are channeling their grief into protest. Narrator demanding thatso thing anything be done. 8,000 strong. O narrator of them was the father of a 15yearold victim. I had a sign made at a sign shop with daniels picture on it, and the rds, my son died at columbine. He would expect me to be here today. R narrahe protesters had a specific target guns and the nra. Something is wrong in this couny. When a child can grab a gun. Grab a gun so easily and shoot. A bull exhales . Into the middle of a childs face, as my son expeenced. Something is wrong. N theional rifle association, target of much anger in colorado. Arrator as it happened, just blocks away, the nra was gathering for its longplannedan al convention. Gun enthusiasts insist theres no connection between the columbine tragedy and weapons. Narrator inside, top executives of the a weighed how to respond. They issued a Public Statement of sympathy and then sent out their most famous member, movie star charlton heston. Thank you thank you, thank you. You cldnt have picked a better caricature of who you wanted speaking, with that stentorian voice of his. America must stop thisn predictable patt reaction. When an isolated, terrible event occurs, our phones ring, t demanding th nra explain the inexplicable. Wh us . Because their story needs a villain. R narraespite the shooting, the nra stayed focused on its core belief the right to own guns. The base of the National Rifle association believes so strongly, its more a religion,n or what a relised to be. Theres a passion involved in it. Ra thes the closest thing that a Membership Group can have to just pure patriotism. They love theicountry. As long as theres a secondne amendment, evil car conquer us. Tyranny in any form can never find footing within a society of lawabiding, armed, ethical people. Narrar heston tapped into a fundamenl fear of nra members that the government would use columbine to resict and then take away their guns. T purchasesn stores start to go up astronomically as people, who are thinking about buying a particular gun over thh course onext year or so, worry that they may outlaw it. Et ir get it while i can. Narrator hundreds of thousands of new members signed lumbine. He nra right after the gun is a symbol of frdom, the only thing that keeps bad government from taking over. It really has nothing to do with guns, it has to with freedom. But things started getting more political. The president of the united narrator within weeks, while speaking to the columbine community, president clinton would push back on the nra and rally the guncontrol forces. You have a unique chance a chance to make sure that the children of columbine are never forgotten. The attack in columbine was such a shock to the bo politic that we felt the country neededn to do some thankou and god bless you. crowd applauds bill to close that gunroposed a loophole. Mr. Ashcroft. Mrbaucus. Narrator it was quickly rushed to a vote. As the roll was called, the senate was split. Re Vice President go called to the capitol to break a deadlock. New laws to govern gun sales were deeply dividing. Narrator Vice President gore needed to break the tie. On this vote, t yeas are 50. The nays are 50. Al the senate being e divided, the Vice President votes in the affirmative, and the amendment is agreed to. It was a setback today for the gun lobby and its allies in congress. Arrator one month after columbine, the nra had lost the firsround. The democrats admit the grip of the National Rifle association had finally been broken. The guncontrol battle now moves to the house, where the tide also seem. Narrator the bill then headed to the republicancontrolled house of representatives, and that was where the National Rifle association would make its stand under the leadership of Wayne Lapierre. The way that we saw in columbine was really large and, in charge of this hunamic organization. Narrator in the 1970s, he started as a lobbyist. F youre a political junkie, like wayne or like myself, it was a wonderful jo narrator but lapierre was nh ones idea of a glding lobbyist. He was a very quiet man. I was amazed he was a lobbyist, because he did not have the hail fellow, well met attitude or personality that i associated with politicians or with lobbyists. Narrator and surprisingly for the nra, he was not a gun enthusiast, more comfortable on k street than in duck blind. The safest place you could bw wine and a gun back then was in a different state, because he really did not know anything about guns. Politics, yes. Guns, no. Narrator but inside the vided politics of the nr lapierre was skillful,ng navigaetween the sportsmen wayne could put a ftoists. The wind and see which way it a was blowin he would position himself so that neither side would be offended and might even think that he were, in fact, on that side. In an organization that is so beset by factionalism, his being unmoored to any particular point of view is actually very helpful for him in terms of being able to ride the torrents that have occasionally swept through the nra and emerge always on top. Legally to get a gun. De narrator now lapierre crucial decision to counterattack, fight against clintons attempt to close the gunshow loophole. What we see is the president now dusting off every tired old guncontrol bill thats been around his administration r the last six years. The nra needed to go and show that it could stand up to the presiden that it could stand up, and it could, it could, toetotoe, meet him in the ring and bash his brains out. Narrator it was all part ofa what would becomerre and the nras playbook. M recordsage Wayne Lapierre, executive Vice President of the National Rifle association. Es recordedge this year, more than ever, your vote really can make a difference. Narrator within days, faxes and phone calls. The clintongore administration isnt wasting any time attempting to further its aggressive antigun agenda. S narratoking fear that their guns could be taken away. Fear is a much greater motivator in american politics than anything else, the fear of losing rights that you perceive you have. When that fear level is high, thats when the groups that represent the issue do well. recorded message nra calling with an urgent. Narrator the nra activated its members. You dont need thounds of people, and u dont need millions of dollars. You need hundreds of people who will get on the phone, a really, a couple of hundred people to show up at a townhall meeting. You do that a couple of times, and your member of Congress Gets the message. Charlton heston. Sage im we need your help to protect our freedom. The nras membership, if it had e political trait, they vote. Its that simple. You are a politician. You want to get elected. You want votes. E a has votes. Narrator it also gradesie members of both pa punishing them if they break with the nra on guns. And so if youve got an f rating from the nra, and you are trying to get elected, good luck with that. Those in favor of the amendment will say aye. Aye those opposedill say no. No nrator after the nra lobbying blitz, the white house2 came votes short. Gunontrol legislation on today on the floor. For dead a handsdown victory for e nra. When i saw that after this horrific tragedy, despit everything that people say about, we have to do something to prevent this fr happening again, when they couldnt do something as basic as that, i was livid. The National Rifle association opens its annual convention today. The Nra Convention he is rallying the gunrights faithful. Narrator one year after columbine, it was time for another nra national convention. Convention center opened at 10 00 this mornin ladies and gentleman, and members of the National Rifle association of america, your president , charlton heston. Narrator they had overwhelmed the Clinton Administration and successfully demonstrated their