91%: A Film About Guns in America

Gr 9 Up—This film makes the argument that guns are too easy to obtain, beginning with the opening interview with Carolyn Tuft, who lost her daughter in a shopping mall shooting in which Tuft was shot twice. Using statistics and emotional interviews with shooting victims and their families, the documentary compiles evidence that while most Americans (one poll states 91 percent) favor background checks and restrictions on gun purchases, it is a few "special interest groups with deep pockets" (primarily the National Rifle Association and gun lobbies) that fight against them. The film makes good use of infographics as well as personal interviews with legal experts and regular folk, such as gun show attendees, to further its point and provides a good example of documentation by adding source notations to all statistics. It relies on both emotion and legal information and numbers to make a case that background checks and restrictions on gun sales would benefit all Americans. The piece is up front about its bias and presents a convincing case, and the combination of facts and personal accounts will hold students' attention.