Michigan epitomizes America's gun-loving culture
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No one knows how many guns there are in Michigan. The Michigan State Police say they couldn't even hazard a guess. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms says try the state police.
This is a state where only handguns are registered -- and even then only haphazardly. This is a state where getting a gun is a right of passage for a young boy. Where 700,000 licences are sold each November for the opening day of deer hunting season. Where you can get a free rifle for opening a bank account.
This is the state where a Grand Rapids mom bought her 15-year-old son an AK-47 clone from a local sporting goods store. And then that son tried to obliterate its serial number before packing it, along with its ammo, into a box labelled "aluminum baseball bat" and sending it by mail to a 15-year-old boy in Stoney Creek.
The boy in Stoney Creek is facing a bunch of charges after he allegedly took that assault rifle -- loaded on at least some occasions -- to an elementary school, a coffee shop, a New Year's Eve party and a classmate's home.
Charges still have not been laid against the Michigan teen. Lawyers are arguing over whether he should be prosecuted under state or federal laws.
It's not a shock the youths gravitated to one another while playing a violent Internet video game. Indeed, they have a lot in common. Their age, their 10th grade status, their low profile at school, their average grades, their lack of any previous trouble with police, at home or in school. Their obvious fascination with guns and computers.
What is very different, though, is the gun culture in each boy's community.
We know there aren't many kids in Stoney Creek -- in Canada -- who have access to AK-47s. Moms in this country generally do not bestow firearms upon their sons or daughters as gifts. We register our guns.
Now, welcome to Michigan.
This is the land of lakes and home of guns.
This is where, in the town of Flint, a six-year-old boy pulled a gun from his pants and fatally shot schoolmate Kayla Rolland in the neck in their Grade 1 classroom. The boy found the .32-calibre gun in the crack house he was living in.
Michigan is also the stomping grounds of gonzo filmmaker Michael Moore, whose look at America's gun-loving culture, Bowling for Columbine, won an Academy Award.
In the movie, we see Moore walk into a Michigan bank, open a new account and receive a shiny new rifle as a gift.
He also introduces us to some of Michigan's more strident gun advocates: James Nichols, friend and accomplice of Timothy McVeigh, the executed Oklahoma City bomber. Nichols confides to Moore that he sleeps with a loaded .44 revolver under his pillow. Rocker Ted Nugent, who is now as famous for his big game hunting and cache of weapons as he ever was for his music. And, of course, actor Charlton Heston, a native son and the most famous and controversial president the National Rifle Association has ever had.
It's not difficult to read the pulse of Michigan on the matter of guns. Call up any of the dozen or so gun shops in Grand Rapids, a city of 180,000 people, and the person at the other end of the line will be happy to chat about all-things guns.
"The AK-47 is a fun gun to shoot," says Tom Herbst, owner of a store called Gun Bugs. "But for someone to buy a gun like that for a 15-year-old, it's probably not appropriate."
AK-47s or their knockoffs can range in price from $90 to $500. They are no good for hunting, or for target shooting, says Herbst. About all they're good for is killing people.
"They're assault weapons," he says. "They're not lovingly referred to as sporting guns or hunting guns."
Still, Herbst owns one himself. Sometimes, after a day at the gun shop, he goes home, takes his AK-47 into the back yard, throws a milk jug up in the air and shoots it.
"The second amendment says anyone should have any kind of gun they want," he says. "Most people put it in their closet in case of an intruder or civil insurrection."
Over at Rylee's Ace Hardware Inc., Greg Burgenmeyer says he's not surprised at all to learn about a 15-year-old in his community with an assault rifle.
"To us, it doesn't shock us that much because in Michigan we have such a big hunting and shooting culture. To us, it's very American." He is a little surprised to know it was the boy's mother who bought the gun for him.
"It's usually Dad," Burgenmeyer says.
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No one knows how many guns there are in Michigan. The Michigan State Police say they couldn't even hazard a guess. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms says try the state police.
This is a state where only handguns are registered -- and even then only haphazardly. This is a state where getting a gun is a right of passage for a young boy. Where 700,000 licences are sold each November for the opening day of deer hunting season. Where you can get a free rifle for opening a bank account.
This is the state where a Grand Rapids mom bought her 15-year-old son an AK-47 clone from a local sporting goods store. And then that son tried to obliterate its serial number before packing it, along with its ammo, into a box labelled "aluminum baseball bat" and sending it by mail to a 15-year-old boy in Stoney Creek.
The boy in Stoney Creek is facing a bunch of charges after he allegedly took that assault rifle -- loaded on at least some occasions -- to an elementary school, a coffee shop, a New Year's Eve party and a classmate's home.
Charges still have not been laid against the Michigan teen. Lawyers are arguing over whether he should be prosecuted under state or federal laws.
It's not a shock the youths gravitated to one another while playing a violent Internet video game. Indeed, they have a lot in common. Their age, their 10th grade status, their low profile at school, their average grades, their lack of any previous trouble with police, at home or in school. Their obvious fascination with guns and computers.
What is very different, though, is the gun culture in each boy's community.
We know there aren't many kids in Stoney Creek -- in Canada -- who have access to AK-47s. Moms in this country generally do not bestow firearms upon their sons or daughters as gifts. We register our guns.
Now, welcome to Michigan.
This is the land of lakes and home of guns.
This is where, in the town of Flint, a six-year-old boy pulled a gun from his pants and fatally shot schoolmate Kayla Rolland in the neck in their Grade 1 classroom. The boy found the .32-calibre gun in the crack house he was living in.
Michigan is also the stomping grounds of gonzo filmmaker Michael Moore, whose look at America's gun-loving culture, Bowling for Columbine, won an Academy Award.
In the movie, we see Moore walk into a Michigan bank, open a new account and receive a shiny new rifle as a gift.
He also introduces us to some of Michigan's more strident gun advocates: James Nichols, friend and accomplice of Timothy McVeigh, the executed Oklahoma City bomber. Nichols confides to Moore that he sleeps with a loaded .44 revolver under his pillow. Rocker Ted Nugent, who is now as famous for his big game hunting and cache of weapons as he ever was for his music. And, of course, actor Charlton Heston, a native son and the most famous and controversial president the National Rifle Association has ever had.
It's not difficult to read the pulse of Michigan on the matter of guns. Call up any of the dozen or so gun shops in Grand Rapids, a city of 180,000 people, and the person at the other end of the line will be happy to chat about all-things guns.
"The AK-47 is a fun gun to shoot," says Tom Herbst, owner of a store called Gun Bugs. "But for someone to buy a gun like that for a 15-year-old, it's probably not appropriate."
AK-47s or their knockoffs can range in price from $90 to $500. They are no good for hunting, or for target shooting, says Herbst. About all they're good for is killing people.
"They're assault weapons," he says. "They're not lovingly referred to as sporting guns or hunting guns."
Still, Herbst owns one himself. Sometimes, after a day at the gun shop, he goes home, takes his AK-47 into the back yard, throws a milk jug up in the air and shoots it.
"The second amendment says anyone should have any kind of gun they want," he says. "Most people put it in their closet in case of an intruder or civil insurrection."
Over at Rylee's Ace Hardware Inc., Greg Burgenmeyer says he's not surprised at all to learn about a 15-year-old in his community with an assault rifle.
"To us, it doesn't shock us that much because in Michigan we have such a big hunting and shooting culture. To us, it's very American." He is a little surprised to know it was the boy's mother who bought the gun for him.
"It's usually Dad," Burgenmeyer says.
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