Transcript
In Guns We Trust (2026)
Every word of the film, who said it, where they are, and what’s on screen, scene by scene. From 22 October, every time becomes a link to that moment in the film.
670 lines in 31 scenes, checked by hand against the mix and the picture. Set as a screenplay: names above their lines, what we see in between. People are named as the film credits them; children aren’t named. Times are from the film itself (the picture-locked cut, 76 minutes).
Everyone named in the film, with every line they speak: Josh Janssen · Tommy Jackett · Dutch Merrick · Parnell McNamara · Mike Sodini · Kevin Dixie · Mel Bernstein · Sammy Dorian · Dustin Johnson · Joe Calabrace · Kevin Thomas · Autumn Bignami · Mychael Waller · Katherine Schweit · Ray Erickson · Melissa Flanell · Corey Ernest · Shawn Wood · Adam Winkler · Othal Brand · Gina McComb · Georgia Tucker · Devin Perkins · Irina Bucur · Daniel Patinkin · Roy Boyd · Chris Cabrera · Joseph Sakran.
1. THE RANGE — ATLANTA, GEORGIA
An outdoor dirt range, three paper targets against a red earth berm and pines. A line of shooters. In front, a boy in a teal shirt, safety glasses and ear defenders holds a black semi-automatic pistol. A bearded instructor in a black PURPOSE OVER POPULARITY shirt stands at his shoulder, hands on him like a coach.
SUPER: ATLANTA, GEORGIA
Further back, Josh and Tommy stand and watch. The shots make them flinch.
RANGE INSTRUCTOR
All right, we all have hot guns. We're all live. Safety off. Just go crazy. Make sure you're hitting that red stop sign. All right, give me three shots on go. Three, two, one.
MUSIC: “ENTER THE COWBOY” — ALTR
KEVIN DIXIE
Good. Nope, fix that grip. Good. Okay, now your slide's to the rear. What does that mean for you?
The slide locks back. All his shots hit. He fires three more; dust kicks up behind the target.
2. TWO AUSTRALIANS WHO LOVE AMERICA — UNITED STATES
Josh and Tommy look up at an American flag and a black POW/MIA flag. Then the country they already love: a flag ceremony, a Girl Scout hauling a flag up a pole, a crowd outside the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, the two of them laughing in the sun.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
(Director, co-host and narrator)
My name's Josh, and this is my best mate Tommy. And for as long as we both can remember, we've loved America. As Australians, we love their food, their movies, and their bigger-is-better attitude.
3. PANTS ON, GUNS ON — UNITED STATES
Opening titles over a man settling a rifle on a bipod at a bench.
SUPER: RETHINK FILMS PRESENTS
MAN IN A PRO GOD, PRO LIFE, PRO GUN SHIRT
(Los Angeles)
When I get up in the morning, my rule is pants on, guns on. So my gun goes everywhere I go.
SUPER: IN ASSOCIATION WITH FULL STACK FILMS
An older man in a camo cap by the open door of his pickup, and again on a mobility scooter, his shirt reading PRO GOD, PRO LIFE, PRO GUN.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
Most Australians, including myself, don't understand or relate to America's obsession with guns.
SUPER: A JOSH JANSSEN FILM
On a sunny street, a young man in a white T-shirt opens his backpack and takes out a handgun the way you'd take out a wallet. Josh and Tommy lean back.
SUPER: FEATURING TOMMY JACKETT AND JOSH JANSSEN
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
Can we make a documentary that shares a unique perspective beyond what we see in the headlines?
4. THE COUNTRY TALKS AT ONCE — UNITED STATES
A burst of voices from the road: a woman on a city street, a man in a wheelchair who shows where he was shot, three men by a river, a bearded man at an indoor range, a woman under city lights at night, a man under a bridge, a man leaning out of a car window.
SUPER: EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS COLLIS TA'EED, NAYSAN NARAQI, JOSH JANSSEN
OTHAL BRAND
(Hidalgo County, Texas)
And I said, I'm really sad to say, I'd probably give up my Bible before I give up my gun.
MAN IN A HOODIE
(Under a bridge at night)
In my mind, there's only two things that guns are used for: hunting and killing.
MAN IN A CAR
Documentary about guns, right? Yeah. My son said to use the guns wisely. "Okay, Dad."
5. THE ARGUMENT FOR NOT KNOWING — MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
A towering animatronic cowboy against a blue sky. The title.
SUPER: IN GUNS WE TRUST
Then quiet. The Melbourne skyline at dusk from the air, and an overcast beach where Tommy and Josh walk and talk.
SUPER: MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
JOSH JANSSEN
(Director, co-host and narrator)
I think it's, like, doing this topic justice. I think I don't know enough, and I feel like that's been a stress, which is, like—
JOSH JANSSEN
I think that people would call out and say, "Oh, you don't know what you're talking about. Why do you think that you're in a position to make this documentary?"
TOMMY JACKETT
Yeah. I mean, who is best placed to make a documentary on something like this? I think the fact that we're so removed from that environment, I don't feel like I have a stance on guns, because we don't have them in our lives like Americans do.
MUSIC: “GET SET” — TAXIRIDE FEAT. TTSAR
Tommy puts an arm around Josh. They stand looking at the water.
JOSH JANSSEN
Yeah, it's crazy to think that in a couple of weeks' time we'll be in the car, driving on the wrong side of the road, upside down.
6. ARRIVAL — LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
Tommy in a car on the way to the airport; the two of them down a jet bridge; a jet coming in low to land. Out of the terminal with their bags, towards a black Ram pickup. Josh goes for the driver's door; Tommy ends up at the wheel.
SUPER: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
JOSH JANSSEN
(Director, co-host and narrator)
It's got, like... It's a big American car. That's all I know. I'll drive.
A silver Cybertruck passes. The Ram drives out under a landing plane; Los Angeles from the air; the Hollywood Roosevelt sign.
7. SAMMY'S TOUR — HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES
A yellow open-sided tour van. At the wheel, an older man with grey hair, sunglasses and a headset mic. Josh, in a green cap and glasses, and Tommy sit behind him. The Hollywood Sign, the Beverly Hills sign, big houses, a red Lamborghini, the light going from gold to dusk.
SAMMY DORIAN
(Hollywood tour guide, Iraq War veteran)
Welcome to Hollywood, everybody. My name is Sammy, and we're heading to Beverly Hills.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
(Director, co-host and narrator)
We're starting the journey in Los Angeles, home of the world's biggest movie stars and storytellers. Being outsiders telling a story so foreign to us, I'm a little skeptical, but my mate Tommy is a little bit more relaxed about the whole thing.
SAMMY DORIAN
On Vine, you see stars going up and down. This is the Walk of Fame. Gary Oldman, Laurence Fishburne.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
To get over the jet lag, we've booked a Hollywood bus tour to find our bearings.
SAMMY DORIAN
Now, this is a very famous hiking trail called Runyon Canyon. We saw a big number of famous people here.
SAMMY DORIAN
Really, yeah. He has M4s, he has an AK-47, as if he's going to war or something. There you go, another guy racing.
SAMMY DORIAN
He feels safer, yes. Depending on the area where he lives, everyone is armed. Everyone has a gun, for example, right? They don't walk around with guns, but they have them.
SAMMY DORIAN
This is when people thought that they can carry guns and to protect themselves and their properties, but it's actually to protect the country, right? You can be civilians employed by the government to do a job for them. I may go in detail.
MUSIC: “CORALS UNDER THE SUN” — YEHEZKEL RAZ
Sammy holds up his phone: a photo of himself in military kit, holding a rifle.
SAMMY DORIAN
I served with the US military in Iraq. I'm a civilian. They pulled me out of Hollywood and they put me in a war zone. '06, '07.
SAMMY DORIAN
Very much. Yes, PTSD. It almost got me for a few months, but then I got out of it. A lot of my friends killed themselves. My captain shot himself in New York. Scarface filming location on the right.
Traffic at dusk through the van window. Josh and Tommy have gone quiet.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
We weren't expecting to have such a personal conversation with Sammy. By talking about suicide and the negative side of firearms so quickly, were we entering the conversation at a depth we weren't prepared for?
8. TEACH PEOPLE, OR HEAR PEOPLE — SANTA MONICA AND UCLA
A man in a suit at a desk of law books.
ADAM WINKLER
(Professor at UCLA, author of Gunfight: The Right to Bear Arms in America)
Americans are very divided on the issue of guns. For many people, guns are just something that wreak havoc on our societies, that result in death and destruction. I think for other Americans, guns are really about self-defense. They feel insecure in their homes. They feel like they could be victims, and they don't want to be victims. If they have a gun, they know that they are strong individuals who can stand up to anyone.
SUPER: ADAM WINKLER — PROFESSOR AT UCLA · AUTHOR OF "GUNFIGHT: THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS IN AMERICA"
Santa Monica at sunset: the pier, the sand, palms. Josh and Tommy stop people on the beach.
WOMAN ON THE BEACH
(Santa Monica)
What is the gist of this documentary? Is it pro-gun? Is it anti-gun?
TOMMY JACKETT
(Co-host)
In Australia, we have very strict gun laws. There's not even the thought in their mind of guns in Australia.
TOMMY JACKETT
We don't have to consider it day to day. Do you think you can be in the middle on guns as an American?
The man in the PRO GOD, PRO LIFE, PRO GUN shirt again, on his scooter with a small black dog, a Trump 2024 cap.
MAN IN A PRO GOD, PRO LIFE, PRO GUN SHIRT
(Los Angeles)
The right to bear arms is absolutely essential to being an American. There's a lot of good people out there. There's a lot of people that are kind of nuts. But the thing of it is, when they talk about taking away guns, whatever, the people that they're talking about taking the guns away are the honest people. It's totally against the Constitution of the United States, and they know it. They know it.
Two young women on a wall, the pier behind them.
ADAM WINKLER
Is your goal here to take guns away from people? Is your goal here to teach people, or is your goal here to hear people? If your goal is to hear people, it's not for you to push them to think differently, but rather try to get to the heart of the depths of their own views, rather than being challenged to think differently about their perspective.
Josh and Tommy walk the sand towards the Ferris wheel.
TOMMY JACKETT
I feel like, from where we're from, we're not thinking about guns, so I feel like I'm neutral at this moment. You think by the end of it we're gonna be still feeling like that?
JOSH JANSSEN
I mean, that's the journey we're going to be on. I'm really interested in getting every part of this conversation, so we can walk away and say we've made an honest film.
MUSIC: “GOLDEN PLAINS FOREVER” — BENJAMIN ESTERLIS
9. DUTCH MERRICK, HOLLYWOOD ARMOURER — LOS ANGELES
Los Angeles from the air. Josh drives; Tommy gets out at a warehouse. Inside, a man in a black polo walks the floor of a prop workshop.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
(Director, co-host and narrator)
We want to talk to all different types of people from across the US, but before we hit the road and start filming, we want to have a base level of firearm safety knowledge. So we signed up for training with renowned Hollywood armorer Dutch Merrick.
SUPER: DUTCH MERRICK — FILM & TV ARMOURER AND PROP MASTER
DUTCH MERRICK
Such a pleasure. Thanks for making it all the way out to Los Angeles. Are you ready to learn?
DUTCH MERRICK
I love it. So the goals of this course are to learn the best practices for motion picture firearms use, provide you hands-on experience, first person, to build your confidence around firearms on set and off. So that you'll be a good, confident shooter, and you're accurate, and it makes it fun and safe, and you'll be like, "Oh, I really like guns. This was a lot of entertainment." So here's a chance to get to know you in thirty seconds. If you wouldn't mind standing right here, Josh.
Josh stands, smiles nervously, and comes to the front. Dutch shakes his hand and pats his back.
JOSH JANSSEN
The last time I did this, I had a panic attack. I had to do it at a first aid course.
DUTCH MERRICK
Just stand right here. All you got to do is just tell us a little bit about your background with firearms.
JOSH JANSSEN
Experience with guns? No experience with guns. I'm from Australia. And I'm looking to come away with an understanding from a safety perspective, but also having some fun, too. Yeah. So safety and fun.
TOMMY JACKETT
I'm Tommy. My gun experience is that I watch a lot of movies, so I know what I see, but I don't know physically, because I don't have access to them like that.
DUTCH MERRICK
So you've been entertained by them, but you have no sense of how to really use them safely.
DUTCH MERRICK
That's one of the problems of our industry. All right, well, we're going to break you of that, and we're going to give you genuine skills. Now we get to delve into my world: studio armorers.
MUSIC: “ESCAPE” — RESOVIBE
DUTCH MERRICK
So this is what prop masters and armorers do behind the scenes that the real world never gets to see. We're going to deal with blanks, dummies, blank-adapted guns, blocking scenes, actors blowing up, and then we'll actually have a chance for you guys to be in a scene doing gunfire, getting hit, explosions. It's going to be really exciting. You with me?
On the table, brightly coloured prop guns and a Prop Gun Set Safety cap. A poster: the three golden rules.
A blank cartridge is lit in a metal dish. Dutch with a silver revolver, then a yellow-and-blue prop pistol.
DUTCH MERRICK
That creates pressure, setting the hammer, and it's dropping the hammer. Take your thumb and touch your middle finger. Remember what Dutch said: marry your thumb.
DUTCH MERRICK
You focus on you. Pull the trigger and nothing happens, it's a misfire. This guy is going to have a hang fire.
On a monitor, a video: a man's gun clicks, he lowers it, and the delayed round goes off and blows his hat off.
DUTCH MERRICK
The case, the bullet, the primer, the powder, is a cartridge. There's a thing called snap caps. Isosceles triangle, so it's a soft landing pad.
DUTCH MERRICK
That, gentlemen, is your dominant eye. You're steady as a fucking rock. Do not rely on safeties at any time. Remind me what they are, Tommy.
DUTCH MERRICK
You're learning already. Take aim. On the exhale, press the trigger. So you're not going to know when it's going to come up.
Ear protection on. Josh and Tommy take turns firing revolvers loaded with blanks down the workshop.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
Even though we're shooting blanks, it feels like the real thing. In the back of my mind, there's a comfort of being in the safe hands of Dutch. It's beginning to sink in that on the road, things won't be as controlled, and the risk will be real.
DUTCH MERRICK
Nailed it. Now that you guys know how to shoot, you fired the guns, we're gonna go do an action scene. You guys excited?
MUSIC: “DESERT HIGHWAY” — BRADLEY PARKER
DUTCH MERRICK
First and foremost, thank you guys very much for being here today. You want to get some shit done, pick up the phone and call Hollywood, right? You're gonna fall back against the container. Go ahead and grab it and point it in that direction. Camera's rolling and set. Camera set, and action!
Outside: shipping containers, a pickup, a slate. Fake blood is dabbed on Tommy's shoulder. Dutch, in a police uniform for the scene, blocks the action.
MUSIC: “THE CAR CHASE” — MARTIN PUEHRINGER
An actor comes out of a container firing. Josh leans out of the pickup with a silver revolver. Tommy takes the hit, blood blooming on his white T-shirt, and goes down in the dust.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.) (CONT’D)
Performing with Dutch was a lot of fun. It felt familiar to what we see in the movies, but at the same time detached from the reality of firearms in the real world.
ACTOR IN THE SCENE
(Dutch Merrick's action scene)
Yeah, I got all that Aussie blood on me, mate. That was a fair dinkum effort you did there.
The actor who played the shooter, in fake blood, tries an Australian accent.
DUTCH MERRICK
Well, I'm so glad you guys came all the way out here from Australia. I want to give you guys something to remember the occasion. Yeah, we got Prop Gun Set Safety hats for you.
DUTCH MERRICK
And when you talk to the regular shooters out there in America, you tell them you went to Hollywood, because "reel", R-E-E-L, "reel men shoot blanks."
MUSIC: “DESERT HIGHWAY” — BRADLEY PARKER
10. IN-N-OUT, THEN AUTUMN — LOS ANGELES
A silver pickup; the In-N-Out sign. Josh and Tommy at an outdoor table with burgers and shakes.
JOSH JANSSEN
(Director, co-host and narrator)
I reckon this completely removes any jet lag left. Did you get Diet Coke as well?
JOSH JANSSEN
I reckon I'm looking forward to having a reason to have conversations that normally I would just feel like I was being nosy. So because we have the cameras, I feel like maybe I don't feel so intrusive. Yeah.
A young man with blond hair walks up to the table. The sound recordist grins.
A plane over the In-N-Out sign. They lean on a fence and watch jets land. The sky goes grey over Santa Monica.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
Tomorrow is the seventh anniversary of the Las Vegas country music festival mass shooting. Autumn, a mum, wife and history teacher who attended the festival, agreed to meet us before we head to Las Vegas for the memorial.
A park bench. A woman in a beige jacket with two dogs, one a beagle.
AUTUMN BIGNAMI
Nice to meet you. So my husband and I were actually at the concert. We were at the Route 91 concert. It was our second year. We had gone the year before. Last performer, everyone's still hanging out, having fun, and then the shooting started.
SUPER: AUTUMN — SCHOOL TEACHER, MOTHER OF THREE AND SHOOTING SURVIVOR
AUTUMN BIGNAMI
We didn't know at first that that's what was going on. We heard the noises and thought maybe someone had fireworks. There was this, like, pop, pop, pop sound, and I was actually hit. So I was shot in the face. So I fell to the ground. The noise happened again, and I got shot again, for a second time, in the back. This one was just off my spine, and it came out the side. So it lacerated my liver, collapsed my lung, and I had this thought of, like, I'm never gonna see my babies again. Like, that was sort of what was going on in my head. Before we got to first aid, I was shot again in the hand, and finally made it into the first aid station, and they bandaged me all up. So I think that definitely helped. Saved my life that night.
MUSIC: “NO ONE IS OUT HERE” — YEHEZKEL RAZ
AUTUMN BIGNAMI
I woke up five days later. Now my brain has this thing. I'm sitting somewhere, like, it happened once at my daughter's school. I will picture what a shooting looks like right then, with everything that's around me.
A ROAD CLOSED sign. Children in costume walk a suburban street with their parents, up to a decorated porch.
AUTUMN BIGNAMI
It was Halloween time. They were doing the Halloween parade. And in my brain, I saw what a shooting would look like with the kids running in the Halloween costumes. And it was so intense that it levelled me. Like, I ran from where I was. I found a mom that I barely knew, and I collapsed into her arms, because I couldn't deal with the image that was going on. And that's the kind of thing that— the type of trauma that I went through does to your brain.
Yard decorations: Michael Myers, an alien with glowing eyes, The Nun.
11. ONE OCTOBER, SEVEN YEARS ON — LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
A radio on the drive in. A flag hung between the raised ladders of two fire trucks.
RADIO HOST
(97.1 The Point, Las Vegas (archive))
And today, of course, we remember seven years ago, the seventh remembrance of October 1st. And this morning, there will be a sunrise remembrance ceremony at 7:30 at the Clark County Government Center.
SUPER: LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
Sunrise at the Clark County Government Center. Blue shirts with surnames across the back. An Eagles jersey, number 58. People holding each other. Josh and Tommy stand in the crowd and say nothing.
SHERIFF KEVIN MCMAHILL
(Clark County Sheriff, at the 1 October remembrance)
Good morning. My name is Sheriff Kevin McMahill, and every year I'm humbled by the community outpouring of support on One October. It's been seven years since the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival, but it feels like yesterday to those of us who lost loved ones, those that survived, and those that responded that night in 2017. I can tell you why so many first responders are haunted by One October. It's because we could not help everyone that night. Fifty-eight people died. So many people were injured, physically and emotionally, and that's extremely painful for us to live with. This sunrise ceremony has become a source of comfort for all of us, but I especially want to acknowledge those of you who will never see your loved ones again. We grieve with you this morning, as we have every single day for the last seven years.
PRAYER LEADER
(1 October sunrise remembrance)
Lord, we thank you for the family and friends that are here today, representing loved ones that have been lost. Give us your peace, the peace that passes all understanding, and we ask this in your name.
12. THE BARBERSHOP — LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
A strip-mall barbershop. Josh is in the chair; Tommy waits in the next seat. The barber wears an LA cap and glasses.
JOSH JANSSEN
(Director, co-host and narrator)
Yeah, well, we were going to do a machine gun experience yesterday.
COREY ERNEST
My father worked as a security guard in UMC, which is an emergency center here in Las Vegas. So, like, the only trauma center that's closest to the Strip. So he called me in a panic and was like, "What are you doing?" I was like, "I'm sleeping, man. What's going on?" And then I go— I actually started looking at my phone and I see the news feed, and I'm like, "What the hell is going on?" I don't know. It's just a lot, and it's just a lot to take in, because it's, like, something that happened so close, you know? You know what they say? Guns don't kill people. People kill people.
COREY ERNEST
I feel like it's true, honestly, in my opinion. I mean, guns, weapons have always been there from the beginning of time. It's just the people that are using these weapons is what it really comes down to.
MUSIC: “SPIN THE WHEEL” — ANALOG ZOO
13. FIRST LIVE ROUNDS, WITH MIKE SODINI — NEVADA DESERT
Highway from the air. A hotel car park, the crew loading up. Mike Sodini's T-shirt reads: The intersection of guns and mental health.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
(Director, co-host and narrator)
The argument that it's people, not guns, that kill sort of makes sense. But should every person have the right to own a firearm? Michael Sodini, a Nevada local, grew up in the firearm business.
MIKE SODINI
(Founder, Walk the Talk America)
I'm gonna take you out to the desert. We're gonna go a little south down the 15.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.) (CONT’D)
He heard about our documentary and invited us to shoot in the desert with him.
Off the highway, across open desert, to a line of parked trucks.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
Michael founded a not-for-profit called Walk the Talk, specifically designed to address mental health and gun ownership.
At a tailgate, a bearded instructor in a Walk the Talk Academy shirt assembles a rifle.
MIKE SODINI
The AR-15 is just a plain Jane American M4. People think this is a silencer. This is a suppressor. Because of Hollywood, a lot of people think suppressors are used for assassins, but most people use suppressors so their hearing doesn't go. For the many reasons people shoot: sport shooting, therapy, right, things like that. Over time, your hearing gets bad just because it's so loud. You know, I understand that Hollywood, the stories that are told, the John Wicks, they all use firearms, right?
Someone fires, off camera. Both of them jump.
TOMMY JACKETT
In my mind, I think I'm not going to flinch. And then I just can't help it. It's, like, a— it is a natural response, right?
Electronic ear defenders go on.
JOSH JANSSEN
Oh, wow, it's got a microphone. Hello, testing, one, two, one, two. Hello. And you turn that off when we shoot?
MIKE SODINI
Nothing is loaded right now, but the gun can't hurt you unless you do something silly with it.
Josh steps up to the line with a pistol. Mike at his shoulder.
Tommy's turn. Two hands on the pistol, the instructor beside him.
Down at the target, a hand points to a tight cluster of holes, one dead centre.
MIKE SODINI
Why don't we just now kind of move up to some bigger calibers, so you can feel the difference, and see how comfortable you guys are now that you got your first shots out of the way.
MIKE SODINI
I'll tell you what, we're gonna start off with this. The gun companies now are starting to provide the WTTA free and anonymous mental health screenings. If you're ever feeling out of sorts, or even if you don't feel out of sorts, you can take a mental health screening to see where you are.
Mike holds up a small card: a mental health screening.
The instructor fires a rifle downrange.
MIKE SODINI
These companies are starting to change the way things are done. You would never saw that six years ago.
MIKE SODINI
My family owned one of the largest gun importers in the United States. I really didn't understand, like, the importance of the Second Amendment. I didn't understand some of the nuance of firearms culture. In my mind, I was always like, they do not do a good job of relating to the non-gun person. 2009, the president of my company took his own life with one of our firearms. He, uh, he went through crisis, went to our warehouse, took— got one of the firearms, went back to his house, and felt that that was his only way to get out. How do you work with the mental health community on the things you can agree upon, to get people help? And that was the lightbulb moment. You know, now here we are six years later, and we're completely changing our culture. You know, now gun owners are coming forward talking about mental health, you know, because we're bringing two worlds that notoriously blamed each other, stood on opposite sides, you know what I mean? Now we're coming together. Okay, what can we do? You know, how do we save lives? How do we get people help? You know, to me, that's what it's all about. Yeah, getting people help.
RANGE INSTRUCTOR
(Walk the Talk Academy, Nevada)
This is an AK-47, chambered in 7.62x39. It's a semi-automatic rifle. You're only going to fire one round for every time you pull the trigger.
Tommy fires the AK.
MUSIC: “GANYMEDE” — YEHEZKEL RAZ
Tommy with the shotgun, the instructor bracing his shoulder. The recoil walks him backwards.
Sunset. The three of them at the tailgate of a pickup.
MIKE SODINI
The Second Amendment means everything to me. You know, it represents freedom. I think the Second Amendment holds up the First Amendment, and all the amendments make this great country. Regardless, if you waved a magic wand and you got rid of every gun in the United States, we still have issues. We still have violence issues, and we're not getting to the root cause of violence, and that's what we got to do. I think people need to always keep in mind that you may be the biggest threat, and that's why responsible gun ownership is so important. You could take ten people that have schizophrenia, you could take ten people that have bipolar disorder, you can hand them a firearm and say, "This is yours," and they will go their whole life without hurting anybody, like, not a fly. I could come home and catch my wife in bed with my best friend and snap, right? That's not a mental illness. That's an emotional reaction. So we got to get rid of the stigma of mental health, and we got to get rid of the stigma of gun ownership, that all gun owners, you know, they can't go through mental health issues. We can. We're humans.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
As a firearms importer, Michael has a lot to gain from people buying guns. And as a filmmaker, I was skeptical that tackling mental health was simply a commercially driven endeavor. But as we spent more time with him, we felt a sincerity to his work. He is leaning into uncomfortable conversations, and wanting to see less harm caused from the guns his family sells. We left our time with Michael conflicted. On the one hand, we had a lot of fun, but there was no doubting that in the wrong hands, with the wrong intentions, real harm can be done.
Mike hugs Tommy. The truck pulls back onto the highway through the desert.
14. SIXTY PERCENT — INTERVIEW
A woman in a blazer, interviewed against a plain background.
KATHERINE SCHWEIT
(Former prosecutor and retired FBI special agent; led the FBI's Active Shooter Program)
The gun culture that we have has changed over time. When I started in the FBI, I was working counterintelligence and national security matters, but when the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting happened, then I was tagged to create what became the FBI's Active Shooter Program. My role was to create a team of people to train the 800,000 law enforcement to say, "What do you do when a shooting occurs?", to reduce the number of deaths if a shooting is underway. I think it's important to always step back and look at the facts. Sixty percent of the firearms deaths in the United States are suicides. It changes your perspective about the risk of having a firearm in your house.
SUPER: KATHERINE SCHWEIT — FORMER PROSECUTOR AND RETIRED FBI SPECIAL AGENT · LED THE FBI'S ACTIVE SHOOTER PROGRAM
A truck moves through a desert valley at dusk.
15. GINA AND RAY AT THE GUN SHOP — ST GEORGE, UTAH
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
(Director, co-host and narrator)
To understand why people buy guns, we decided to visit a gun shop on the border of Utah and Nevada. When we walked in, we didn't expect to see Gina at the counter.
SUPER: ST GEORGE, UTAH
A black, windowless shop. Stickers on the glass case: YOUR CHOICE! GUN OWNER / VICTIM. THESE COLORS DON'T RUN, THEY RELOAD. GUNS AND COFFEE. A woman with short grey hair, in pink, earplugs around her neck, unrolls a paper target on the counter with a young clerk in a grey shop shirt. Behind them, the owner: long grey beard, black cap.
GINA MCCOMB
(First-time gun buyer, St George, Utah)
Right, I shot the .380 and I shot the 9. I found recoil. Yeah, my hands prove it.
GUN SHOP CLERK
(Rowdy's Range, St George, Utah)
So we can help you find, like, a good middle ground. Yeah, so that way you can get something that not only works, but that you like shooting it, that's comfortable, and most importantly, reliable.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
It was striking to see someone decide to buy their first gun later in life. We were curious: why now?
GINA MCCOMB
The trigger point is the crime rate in the United States. It's getting out of hand. We all know why. I don't want to say it on camera, because people will get insulted, but, yeah, it's self-defense. Because even in a small town like here, it's gonna—
More stickers: CARRY WITH CONFIDENCE. TRUMP 2024. IN TRUMP WE TRUST. A man in a camo cap and a skulls T-shirt holds a camouflage rifle at the counter.
RAY ERICKSON
Well, me and my wife went up to take a picture at the Las— Welcome to Las Vegas sign, and some big guy got all upset for whatever reason and started attacking my wife, and I walked up to him. And he started to swing at me, so I pulled out my pistol. I said, "Another move, you're dead." And he started yelling and screaming, "Gun, gun, gun!" And everyone started clapping. He backed off. Put my gun away, and he got in his car and he left. So. But there are others like that. Haven't had to shoot anybody with it yet as a civilian, which is good. I'm trying to keep it that way. But I'm not going to be a victim, or my wife, or my grandkids. So everywhere I go, I carry.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
There was something endearing about Ray, even the way he told his story. But there was no doubt that what he was saying was actually frightening.
Ray types into a laptop at the counter: the background check. The bearded owner watches.
SHAWN WOOD
(Rowdy's Range, St George, Utah (owner))
We do get a lot of first-time gun buyers here, too, that want to purchase their first firearm and get trained with it, and that's our biggest focus right now. I don't want to just sell you a firearm. I want to train you with it. You know, that's our biggest goal here. Your turn. If anyone has any questions about his approval, all they have to do is look up that number right there, and it'll tell you all the information about it.
SHAWN WOOD
Just check it. Make sure it's not loaded. Pull the— there you go. The release is right there, of course. Push that straight down. There you go.
Ray's new handgun on a mat printed with a flag and rifle silhouettes.
RAY ERICKSON
Oh, what I do is, I pulled it out, because I carried it back here. I stepped back and told him, "Back off."
MUSIC: “WILD WEST” — ALTR
16. MYCHAEL WALLER: THREE TIMES — NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
The Rowdy's Range billboard. The truck out on a rural road, past houses and a cemetery, Josh driving.
NEWS AUDIO
(LiveNOW from FOX (archive))
Imagine this: you're at a bar and you're having a good time with your pals, and then all of a sudden two people come in and, uh, well, it's an armed robbery. So luckily, one patron had a gun himself. One offender was shot multiple times.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
(Director, co-host and narrator)
Many people talk about the importance of owning a firearm for their own personal safety. So we're on our way to Tennessee to meet with Mychael, someone who has become a poster boy for the Second Amendment after killing three people in self-defense.
TOMMY JACKETT
(Co-host)
His Instagram bio reads, "Son of the Most High, husband and father of four." And he says, "Self-defense shooting survivor times three." How do you get in three self-defense situations?
Josh holds up his phone: an Instagram profile.
SUPER: NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
Four men walk a path at a clay-shooting ground. A sign: CROSS CREEK CLAYS, THINK GUN SAFETY. An older instructor in a camo cap and a vest lettered CALABRACE. Mychael in a plaid shirt and sunglasses.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
Mychael was gracious enough to agree to meet us. We suggested we could go clay shooting to hear more about his story.
JOE CALABRACE
Now, once— when that comes out, I just want you to follow it right to get in front of it, pull the trigger. Okay? On your call.
He fires, and hits.
JOE CALABRACE
You're really good at this, but the thing you need to do is relax, okay? Because, you know, especially with guys that, you know, hit the gym a lot, you're like, "Okay, let me—" and you're so tight that you can't move fluidly. Everything's a jerk, okay?
MYCHAEL WALLER
So I'm used to, like, just training for, like, defensive shooting, so this is— I do clay shoot, but it's a little bit different, like you say.
JOSH JANSSEN
In a self-defense circumstance, do you ever, like, aim at the legs, or just try and disable them, rather than killing?
MYCHAEL WALLER
No. I shoot to stop them. So in both situations, I just shot to stop them. When they stop moving, I stop shooting.
JOE CALABRACE
You can't instinctively shoot and determine, "Well, I'm going to shoot him in the leg." No, you just shoot him to stop him. If I'm here, [unclear], and James is coming at me, guess what? He's getting the first one in the torso and the second one to the brain. I'm double-tapping his ass.
MYCHAEL WALLER
First one, I was walking with my five-year-old son. His name's MJ, Mychael Waller Jr. We were in Chicago, we lived at the time, and I was going home. And as I was walking with him, a Latino male approached me in the alley, around 3:40 in the afternoon, so it was broad daylight, kind of looked like this. And, you know, pulls out a gun, starts throwing up gang signs. And as he started approaching me, I then go to shield my son behind me, and I go for my firearm. And when he sees my firearm, he opened fire, misses, and I returned fire, hitting him. And we just are, at that point, we're just exchanging gunfire. We're in a gunfight. It feels like forever, but it's happening within seconds. He lifts his head up. When he lifts his head up, I take a shot at his head, and he goes down.
JOSH JANSSEN
And how did you sort of deal with the weeks and months after, especially with your son being around?
MYCHAEL WALLER
I think what helps me every time, every night I think about it, is just knowing that my son's okay. That kind of helps me get through, you know, those moments, you know. And now my wife and children, they really help me, you know, keep pushing through, because it gets hard at times, you know, taking life. But it was either our lives or his. So it was a pretty easy choice to make.
JOE CALABRACE
Oh my gosh, yeah. I guess the twenty years I spent in the military, everything, any emotion you had was stifled. That's what he's describing. It's just, look at our movies in America, okay? Well, how does the good guy save the good people? He shoots them, you know? But yet we take the gun and we turn it into this weapon of destruction. No, it saves lives. He'd be dead. Him and his son may be dead right now, you know, if he wasn't carrying, you know.
MUSIC: “AFTERNOON MIST” — YEHEZKEL RAZ
Mychael racks his shotgun. The law library again.
ADAM WINKLER
(Professor at UCLA, author of Gunfight: The Right to Bear Arms in America)
For most of American history, courts generally thought that the Second Amendment was about protecting militias, and didn't have much to do with an individual right to bear arms. But there was always a contesting view. There was always a dissenting view about the Second Amendment, that it did protect an individual right to bear arms. Over time, that view became more and more popular. In the 1970s, that view became paramount. It became almost exclusively about a right of personal self-defense.
17. DRAGONLAND — COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO
A silver Ram on a desert highway. A dirt road and hand-painted signs: WELCOME TO DRAGONLAND U.S.A. DRAGON GUNS & AMMO, CLASS 7 LICENSE DEALER.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
(Director, co-host and narrator)
There are many different reasons why people own firearms.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.) (CONT’D)
But for the most armed man in America, Mel Bernstein, aka Dragon Man, raises the question: can one individual own too many guns?
SUPER: DRAGONMANS, COLORADO SPRINGS
MUSIC: “CAN TRY” — YOTAM BEN-OR
Mel Bernstein, in a tank top, fires a belt-fed machine gun from the hip. Josh and Tommy plug their ears.
The store: a wall of guns, a flag made of gun parts, a sign on the door: DO NOT ENTER THIS STORE WITH A FIREARM.
MEL BERNSTEIN
Excuse me. Beep beep, beep beep, coming through. People say over 6,000 guns in my name. Everything's legal with the right paperwork.
MEL BERNSTEIN
Uh, well, my daughter does all the paperwork. I just buy everything. But, uh, being a Class 7 dealer— see, it goes from Class 1 to Class 7. Class 7 is the highest FFL license a citizen could obtain. So I reached that level.
MEL BERNSTEIN
It's everything. I could call up today and get ten cases of dynamite delivered tomorrow morning.
MEL BERNSTEIN
Very important. You know, if we lose that, we lose everything. You know, even when I was young, my dad used to take me upstate New York, you know, hunting and stuff. And I really don't like killing animals, you know, but, you know, we target practice and all that.
MELISSA FLANELL (O.S.)
(Co-owner of Dragonman's, Colorado Springs)
Was it going to be more about, like, mental health?
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
Off camera, we noticed Dragon Man's daughter Melissa getting frustrated with some of our questions.
MELISSA FLANELL
It just seems like the questions are leading, like, you know, you're trying to get him to say things, or something towards a certain type of political side. You could leave some things in there that he says. You could leave a lot of things out that he says.
MELISSA FLANELL
Just satisfying the beliefs of those people who think that we shouldn't have guns.
TOMMY JACKETT
Melissa, can I ask you a question? Do you think you can talk about guns without talking about politics?
MELISSA FLANELL
Uh, right now, no. In the '90s, you could. The media has made it a huge political thing.
The military museum. Mel leads a tour group through rooms of uniforms, vehicles and racked weapons.
MEL BERNSTEIN
How you doing there? Thanks for coming to see my military museum. I'm the Dragon Man. Probably going to take about two hours, so you guys are really going to get a lot of information, you know, if you listen up.
MEL BERNSTEIN
.58 caliber right here. Blunderbuss. And if that thing hits you, your head's coming off. This is the Enfield bolt-action. This is as close as you get to the gun that killed Lincoln.
MUSIC: “WAVE AFTER WAVE” — BRADSHAW
MEL BERNSTEIN
He died the next day, April 15th, 1865. Okay, guys, at least once a month, I like to tell people about Terry, my late wife. Uh, this is her memorial right here. In 2012, we were filming for the Discovery Channel. I was supposed to have my own show called Dragon Tales, you know, and the very last episode, all we had to do was hold the machine guns and walk through the smoke. And one of the smoke bombs took off and went right through her. She was right next to me, and she died right out here in the shooting range. And she really did a lot, you know, to get this museum going. So we don't want her to be forgotten. Her name was Terry Flanell. All right, thanks for listening. Okay, the next room here is World War I.
A memorial wall: framed photographs of a woman, flowers.
Outside, with Melissa.
TOMMY JACKETT
People grow up and their parents have businesses, and not everyone wants to go into the family business. What was that decision for you like?
MELISSA FLANELL
Um, I didn't have a choice. I mean, I had a choice. My mom passed away very abruptly, and my dad did not know how to do a lot of the paperwork side of things. So the reason why I stay is, I do love firearms. I could do this anywhere. It's the museum that keeps me here. There's so much history in that museum that people need to learn about. And if it's not here to be seen by people, it needs to go on to another museum, because there's history throughout the world that people need to remember.
MELISSA FLANELL
Every day. Yeah, so being here keeps me closer to her. And someone has to watch my dad. He's got—
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
Dragon Man and his daughter Melissa didn't need to open their doors to our cameras, but they did. Beyond the character of Dragon Man, we did get to see a side that is Mel Bernstein: that's kind, that's generous, and just so happens to have an obsession with guns.
MUSIC: “MISS LINDY” — LARRY AND THE LAMPLIGHTERS
18. THE SHERIFF IN THE DINER — WACO, TEXAS
A red roadside diner, Coca-Cola signs inside. Josh and Tommy at the counter.
SUPER: WACO, TEXAS
An older man in a cowboy hat at the jukebox, a pistol on his belt.
TOMMY JACKETT
That's the first person, like, person in public that we've seen with a gun on their hip. He looks like a real cowboy.
SHERIFF PARNELL MCNAMARA
I'm a big Second Amendment guy. Yeah, I think every honest citizen ought to be able to carry a firearm.
JOSH JANSSEN
Um, and so you're dealing with civilians with guns. Does that complicate what you have to do? How do you stay safe?
SHERIFF PARNELL MCNAMARA
Absolutely not. No. I'd like to see you, and you, and everybody in here that's law-abiding have a firearm.
SHERIFF PARNELL MCNAMARA
See that silver Ram out there? If you want to, I'll let you blow the siren.
Outside, the sheriff's silver Ram. The siren goes.
SHERIFF PARNELL MCNAMARA
You guys want to get some pictures of y'all with some Thompson submachine guns?
19. TWIN TOMMY GUNS, AND A LIVE ROUND — WACO, TEXAS
The McLennan County Sheriff's Office, 901 Washington. Inside, the sheriff opens a gun cabinet.
SHERIFF PARNELL MCNAMARA
(McLennan County, Texas)
These are twin Tommy guns, 1928 model. Thompson submachine guns. Look at that right there. Very rare. It is stamped "Tommy gun".
SHERIFF PARNELL MCNAMARA
Oh, yeah. I don't have any gun that I won't shoot. These are double-barrel 10-gauge Magnums. It has a very tranquilizing effect on the scumbags when you point it at them.
Tommy poses with a Tommy gun in each hand while someone takes a photo. The sheriff holds the shotgun. Then a scoped rifle comes out of the cabinet.
TOMMY JACKETT
We've been learning about firearms, and just how dry firing, right, is not good for the gun. Can I dry fire this, or—
Tommy works the bolt. A live brass cartridge sits in the chamber.
Tommy laughs. The office: a wooden flag, a bronze cowboy firing his pistol at the sky, framed photographs.
JOSH JANSSEN
Anyway, so I've heard there's a hog problem, and we're thinking about going hog hunting out of a helicopter. What do you think?
SHERIFF PARNELL MCNAMARA
Yeah, that's— by all means. We hate them. They multiply about every two months. They'll have twelve, fourteen, fifteen piglets, and then they just multiply like rats.
TOMMY JACKETT
And so, Sheriff, anyway, I've never taken a life with a gun before. Is there, you know, something I should feel bad about? I can't really work it out just yet.
MUSIC: “TWILIGHT RANCHER” — JENKINS MAHONEY POWELL
SHERIFF PARNELL MCNAMARA
You're doing everybody a service to get rid of a pig. No, do not feel guilty. Absolutely, you should feel wonderful when you kill that first pig. And I'm serious.
20. HOGS FROM A HELICOPTER — TEXAS
The truck on a road at dusk. A hangar door. Inside, a white Robinson R44, tail number N7195D, and a woman in purple.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
(Director, co-host and narrator)
When we started on this journey, we wanted to challenge our own preconceived ideas and beliefs. Hunting is a big part of American culture, but we've never killed an animal before.
GEORGIA TUCKER
Don't shoot the helicopter. Don't shoot the blades. Don't shoot the skids. The skid, what we land on and all that? Don't shoot those. Don't shoot your foot. If you're in the front seat, the pilot has controls right beside you, so try not to be all in his space, 'cause that'll affect how you're flying.
GEORGIA TUCKER
If you're in the back seat, just watch. Yeah. Watch, and don't shoot the front person.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.) (CONT’D)
All right. With that being said, we're scared shitless, and we're being entrusted to shoot pigs out of a moving helicopter.
Out to the helicopter. Tommy in the front seat beside the pilot, who wears a stars-and-stripes helmet; Josh in the back with a rifle and the camera.
DUSTIN JOHNSON
All right, up front, let's check yours. Are you ready? Put your mag in. Just don't slam it that hard again. In the go of things, you might get jammed. Right now you're fine. Yep. Okay, like that you're loaded, and like that you're loaded.
MUSIC: “RIDE OF THE VALKYRIES” — RICHARD WAGNER
Take-off. The helicopter climbs over green country and a muddy river as the sun comes up.
DUSTIN JOHNSON
Y'all just had the same music in your headsets I do. It makes it a lot more fun. I think there's a group of pigs over here.
DUSTIN JOHNSON
Yes, he just found one. Just breaking out into the field now. You're gonna need to get in position. We're fixing to shoot these. See, take it off safety. We'll shoot one, just so you know. Okay. Shoot one.
A boar runs across a ploughed field. Down the rifle sight. Dust kicks up where the rounds land.
DUSTIN JOHNSON
Just like that. All right, all right, all right, all right, all right. Hold on. If I say "all right", quit shooting, okay?
TOMMY JACKETT
Wow! Yeah! Beautiful! That was unbelievable! Yeah, this is wild. This is Texas, baby!
JOSH JANSSEN
Starting to feel a little motion sick. It's amazing you're able to text and fly at the same time. I always thought that helicopters naturally want to tip over.
The pilot texts with both thumbs while flying. Tommy, beside him, watches.
DUSTIN JOHNSON
I would definitely have to say freedom that we have. I guess we take it for granted. We can sleep with our doors unlocked last night if we wanted to. Nobody's going to come rob us. They're not going to come shoot us. What we can and can't do, and how safe America is compared to other countries. Well, hands down, I would say that has to be what I enjoy most about being here. Big-ass pig. Big-ass pig right here. Turning hard right.
DUSTIN JOHNSON
Even though I know I don't need it at night, it sure makes me sleep better knowing that I'm a fingerprint away from my pistol popping up. Hammer down. Kill him!
Coming in to land. On a shed by the hangar, a TRUMP 2024 flag and an Israeli flag.
DUSTIN JOHNSON
The Trump flag is really flagging. Now that will be ideal. That's America right there. Did you get it?
21. ARE WE BECOMING DESENSITISED? — TEXAS
Terry Black's Barbecue. A tray of ribs and sides. The two of them at an outdoor table.
JOSH JANSSEN
(Director, co-host and narrator)
Do you feel like we've become desensitized to the guns?
TOMMY JACKETT
(Co-host)
Yeah, I mean, that moment at the sheriff's office, the live bullet. Like, while it is— there is a bit of, "Oh, wow." Yeah, I'm definitely feeling like we're becoming a lot more desensitized.
JOSH JANSSEN
Think about when we started, and we were, like, worried about where the crew was. And I think about everyone that we've spoken to, I've completely trusted. We're assuming that they have our best interests at heart, that they're thinking about the safety element.
JOSH JANSSEN
We said at the start, "Oh, we don't really want to make a documentary that's filled with politics." Are we slowly becoming influenced to play into that exact narrative?
TOMMY JACKETT
Well, you see, you know, conversation with Melissa from Dragon Man. We didn't feel like we were being overly political.
MUSIC: “CYCLES” — LUKE ATENCIO
22. EVERY CORNER HAS A MURDERER — BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA; WASHINGTON, DC; THE TEXAS BORDER
The truck on an autumn road. Phone screens full of guns.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
(Director, co-host and narrator)
Everywhere we look, we see guns. Since being on this road trip, our social media algorithms have morphed into everyday carry videos, body cam footage and self-defense tips.
KATHERINE SCHWEIT
(Former prosecutor and retired FBI special agent; led the FBI's Active Shooter Program)
When I started as a print journalist, it was everybody read their local newspaper, but now everybody gets their news from social media.
Butler, Pennsylvania. A highway overpass with a Trump sign. On a phone, footage of the rally. A water tower over an autumn town. A woman with a copy of the Butler Eagle.
IRINA BUCUR
(Journalist, Butler Eagle)
First few gunshots rang out like fireworks, but when they continued, people in the crowd at the Butler Farm Show venue dropped to the ground. A mother and father told their children to crouch down. A young man hunched over in the grass. Behind him, a woman started to pray.
KATHERINE SCHWEIT
What occurred in the United States didn't go out all over the United States in social media, but now it does. So people now think that every corner has a murderer.
Street corners, one city after another.
MAN ON A CITY STREET
There was a shooting last night, right there. Saw a dude's head fucking blown off, like, two weeks ago.
DANIEL PATINKIN
(Chicago)
I don't care how many laws you pass, there's still going to be a ridiculous number of guns in this country.
KAMALA HARRIS
(Rally speech on a big screen (archive))
We're determined to live free from gun violence, and to protect our planet, and to shape the world they inherit.
A night crowd watching a rally speech on a big screen near a monument.
Three women in the crowd, one in an I AM AN AMERICAN T-shirt.
HER DAUGHTER
(At the rally)
I registered, and I went and got a gun. A weapon that's registered legally.
ADAM WINKLER
(Professor at UCLA, author of Gunfight: The Right to Bear Arms in America)
Today, people feel that the threat is very real, even though the data show that the threat is much less significant today than it has been in a long, long time.
JOSH JANSSEN
Right where we are now is really where Trump was. Over there, that was where the shooter was?
A field in Butler. Josh and Tommy stand with a local where the rally was.
MOTHER AT THE MEMORIAL
(World War II Memorial, Washington)
We try to shelter our kids a lot from news and media, so, sure, it's come up sometimes. For example, if you hear a gunshot in the neighborhood, right? It seems like it's close by.
Washington. A family at the World War II Memorial, the mother with a baby in a carrier.
MAN IN A BANDANA
(Washington)
I do. People that love access to guns would say that they feel safer having as many weapons as possible in their house.
TOMMY JACKETT
So you're saying that your staff over this side are being shot at from over there?
The Texas border. Two men by the Rio Grande, with an older man in a blue shirt and sunglasses.
SHERIFF ROY BOYD
(Goliad County, Texas)
Doesn't matter if you're in church or if you're in prison, the problem is the same. Human beings.
CHRIS CABRERA
(Border Patrol agent, Texas)
We've had gunfire back and forth. Something you train for, something you prepare for. You prepare for it, and you deal with it when it comes.
The border wall. An agent in black uniform.
JOSH JANSSEN
I remember when I first came to the US, and I went and saw a movie at the cinema, and as I sat down, I straight away looked for my exit, which I'd never do in Australia. But I was thinking about the news, and around mass shootings. When you go to a place like this, were guns on your mind?
MUSIC: “WHEN THE SUNRISE” — YEHEZKEL RAZ
23. HALLOWEEN WITH FAMILY — CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA
An autumn road from the air. A family on a porch under a TRICK OR TREAT sign; a school bus on a quiet street.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
(Director, co-host and narrator)
For the last month, all we've been talking about is guns, and we need time to collect our thoughts. With Halloween preparations underway, it's a good time for us and the crew to pause. My older brother James moved to the US for college and ended up marrying an American. They now live in North Carolina with my niece and nephew.
SUPER: CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA
Pumpkins on a table in the yard. Tommy carves in a cowboy hat and badge, Josh in a Buc-ee's beaver onesie, a young girl watching.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
It's the first time Tommy and I are carving pumpkins. It feels about as American as shooting guns for the first time.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.) (CONT’D)
I'm not sure if Americans feel this way, but whenever we do this sort of thing, we feel like we're in a movie.
JOSH JANSSEN (CONT’D)
That looks cool. Yeah, and so now I'll cut it out. It's fun. Yeah, you spent more time on yours.
Tommy holds up his phone: a video call home.
TOMMY JACKETT
[name]! Oh, I miss you, [name]. We're going trick-or-treating around the neighborhood here. Put it back.
TOMMY JACKETT
I can't wait to see you. I'll bring you home some candy. I love you, [name]. Love you, [name]. Love you, [name]. Love you.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.) (CONT’D)
This suburban bubble feels disconnected from everything we've been exploring, but we can't shake our experience in conversations. It had me reflecting on the world my niece and nephew are growing up in.
Dusk. A man in his front yard, in a plaid shirt.
NEIGHBOUR IN HIS FRONT YARD
I got a .38 snub. Everybody got a gun. It's America, man. You gotta have a gun.
TOMMY JACKETT
In Australia, in fact, when my family came, they were very afraid, because it was July 4th and all the firecrackers. They were like— she was afraid that somebody was shooting. So I know in Australia it's a little different.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
How does the American gun culture impact children? And what does the future of gun culture look like for the average American child?
Fog on a lawn. A pig mask, a chainsaw, Freddy Krueger. Yard horror for the trick-or-treaters.
MAN IN A PIG MASK
(Halloween, Charlotte)
So this would probably be, like, everybody's favorite. I don't know why. Like, even the little kids are super fascinated with body parts.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
In the well-needed downtime, Tommy and I were asking these questions, and doing our own research.
24. KIDS TO KINGS — ATLANTA, GEORGIA
On a phone, an Instagram video: boys on a range.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
(Director, co-host and narrator)
We'd heard about a program just outside Atlanta, Georgia, not far from North Carolina, called Kids to Kings. They happen to use firearms as part of their practice to empower young boys.
A man in a FREEDOM T-shirt at a table, a holstered pistol in front of him.
DEVIN PERKINS
(Kids to Kings)
Always one in the pipe. Yep, always. Um, it's just a, again, preparedness thing. Like, has this gun done anything during that amount of time that we've been sitting here talking?
DEVIN PERKINS
It's an inanimate object. It's not going to do anything unless someone removes it from this holster and then pulls the trigger. Anti-gunners blaming guns for situations, it literally makes no sense. And then on top of that, when something bad is done with a gun, do we not call people with guns to handle the person with a gun? So clearly it can't be the gun that's the problem. It's the person and their motives behind the gun that could be the problem. We got white kids shooting up schools. We got Black kids shooting up neighborhoods. We need to figure out why they're shooting at all, and stop that. And then we can get some real solutions and some more progress.
JOSH JANSSEN
We saw a video on Instagram of some kids shooting, and now we're speaking to you. Can you tell us the connection there?
DEVIN PERKINS
Oh, Kids to Kings. What we do is we mentor groups of boys in Atlanta, Georgia. They all come from Title I charter schools. So these are kids coming out of the worst areas of Atlanta, and we proactively teach them about guns the right way. I want you guys to go to Atlanta and see it, and y'all get to see firsthand the solution to anything that's going wrong in the Second Amendment community.
The dirt range from the start of the film: the berm, a tent, the bearded instructor in the PURPOSE OVER POPULARITY shirt, a line of boys in ear defenders.
SUPER: ATLANTA, GEORGIA
KEVIN DIXIE
These young men are part of the Kids to Kings program. It's a nonprofit organization meant at— aiming to help enrich the lives of young men.
A BOY
The thing— what I like about Kids to Kings program is that we have more, like, experience with being around firearms, and knowing what to do and what not to do, and, um, being around other people, other Black kids like us, and stuff like that. Yes.
KEVIN DIXIE
Black people in America with guns gets an extremely bad rep. We're able to take the information and knowledge we have and not only educate young men and help them out, but change the narrative at the same time.
RANGE INSTRUCTOR
(Kids to Kings, Atlanta)
Help him with his ears. Yeah, he look kind of crazy right now. You gotta, uh, pull them. Extend them.
Kevin, to camera, the boys behind him.
KEVIN DIXIE
You don't have to be what the world tells you that you're gonna be. I was supposed to be, by eighteen, either in prison or dead. That's what the environment said. And guns were a particular issue, because of the lack of knowledge and information and education around them. So, oddly enough, the first time I got with a gun by myself, I was around thirteen years old. And because of the different environmental factors, and a lot of mental health issues that were occurring at thirteen, which I didn't know about at the time— we didn't talk a lot about mental health 32, 33 years ago— first thing I wanted to do was kill myself. So I tried to commit suicide the first time I picked up a gun and was unmonitored by any adult. Just didn't know how to make the thing go off. I didn't know what the safety was, and it was on. I couldn't get the trigger to go back. And then two years later, I tried again with a lever-action gun, and I didn't understand how to get the lever to cock fully to get the gun in action. So after that, I realized that I was here for a purpose, and I was here for a reason. And the gun was the one thing that threatened me every day in my mind, that I thought was the way out, that was threatening my life and whatever God put me here to do. So I decided to take the power of the gun and turn it for good.
TOMMY JACKETT
These are pretty heavy conversations. I've got young children myself, and I, um— like, I hear you talk about suicide, and I've had some close friends commit suicide, and I find myself trying to shelter my kids from these things, these topics, and, like, you know, talking in front of these young guys, is that— are you finding this a benefit, them understanding the realities of this stuff, versus sheltering them from it?
KEVIN DIXIE
Absolutely, because they can hear me talk about it, and if they respect me, if I've built that kind of relationship, they feel comfortable saying, "This is a problem for me. I wanna talk about it now," where I didn't have that outlet. And I want them to know that they have opportunities vastly beyond what I've ever done.
On the line. A boy with a pistol, Kevin's hands at his shoulders.
RANGE INSTRUCTOR
All right, let's do it. Rack it. Slide it. Let's get one in there. All right, let's present.
RANGE INSTRUCTOR
Safety's off. Two to the— two to the middle stop sign and one to the top stop sign. Do it at your pace.
TOMMY JACKETT
It is a real sort of skill that you have to learn, to not sort of get excited and just grab one and put it in.
KEVIN DIXIE
I want you to actually keep mind of this. You know all these little .22 holes here?
Tommy and the boy fire together.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
When we started on this journey, we wanted to remain as neutral as possible.
25. MOON PIES — ALABAMA
A grocery store. Tommy sits in a shopping trolley; Josh pushes him down the juice aisle.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
(Director, co-host and narrator)
There is enough polarising media that we didn't want to add to the noise.
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
But it's hard to not question whether America can improve their relationship to guns.
26. THE AMMUNITION VENDING MACHINE — PELL CITY, ALABAMA
The checkout at Fresh Value. The cashier's name tag reads BLUE. By the registers, a white vending machine lettered AMERICAN ROUNDS.
BLUE
(Cashier, Fresh Value, Pell City, Alabama)
And it tastes— the chocolate ones taste just like s'mores.
BLUE
And then it asks you if you want your shotgun rounds, your rifle rounds, or your handgun rounds.
MUSIC: “SLOW DRIFT” — LABOZ SLOTT
BLUE
They said the shotgun rounds in there are cheaper than what they buy from the stores that they buy from.
Outside, a notice on a brick wall: NO FIREARMS OR WEAPONS PERMITTED ON THIS PROPERTY. Inside a school, a lockdown poster.
27. A SAFE PLACE WITHIN THE SAFE PLACE — ALABAMA
JOSH JANSSEN (V.O.)
(Director, co-host and narrator)
Is there a future that can see Americans safer, while honoring the freedom of gun owners and the Second Amendment? Outside of the obvious conversations we hear about gun control, what measures were actually being taken to keep people safe? A local entrepreneur in Alabama had invented a solution to help kids be safe in classrooms.
An elementary classroom: crayons, small chairs, THE WRITE STUFF on the wall. A man in a black polo takes hold of a handle on a white wall panel in the corner.
KEVIN THOMAS
(KT Security Solutions, inventor of the RASER safe room)
The RASER is what we have in here. It's called— that's an acronym for the Rapid Access Safe Room. The concept makes sense. We need to give them a safe place within their safe place, right? We will pull it, and it's just momentum.
The panel swings out and becomes a room. They step in. It goes dark.
KEVIN THOMAS
Walk inside. Close the door. When time's up, you put the key in, and then you would unlock it, and then you would open it back up. But there's ballistics in this door as well. This is US Embassy-grade level locking system and doors.
KEVIN THOMAS
I mean, this right here, you're not shooting through this. You're not shooting through this.
KEVIN THOMAS
In this classroom— it's an elementary classroom— the government square footage requirements is one square foot per child in an emergency situation, and that covers most of the national averages, which is 24 to 26 people per classroom. If you look at that right there, by the door, there is a list of thirteen things that you have to do in case of an active shooter. I'm not gonna ask my six-year-old grandson to engage anyone with a weapon.
MUSIC: “PERENNIAL” — TONY ANDERSON
KEVIN THOMAS
So our goal is to give them an opportunity to go home to dinner tonight with their family.
TOMMY JACKETT
I've got two children. I've got a seven-year-old who's at primary school like this. And I see this, and, like, I can't imagine as a parent what it would feel like to have to think about my son running into that.
KEVIN THOMAS
Unless you're going to homeschool your children, this is going to be the environment that they're going to be in. So we need to make it as safe as possible, and as friendly as possible. I'm gonna find out why we have to have these things, but I'm gonna figure out how we can reverse this trend. This right here needs to be obsolete in twenty years. The reason this whole deal really started, Uvalde, Texas happened, right? And I don't ever tell this story, 'cause I can't get through it. So there's this girl. Her name is Miah Cerrillo, and she was one of the survivors in that classroom that day. And she was the little girl that took the blood from her friends and wiped it on herself, and played dead on that floor. She, uh, went through that experience. They were interviewing her, and her little sister comes running in and says, "I found it." And they said, "Found what?" And they said, "I found what would have saved our friends." And when her little sister showed her that, Miah looked at the reporter and says, "I will never go back to school unless that is in my classroom. That is the only thing that will save me. That would have saved my friends." And it's working, slowly but surely. I mean, I didn't even know y'all were gonna be here today, and y'all are here now, and we're gonna make another opportunity to get the word out, to do the right thing. Because I wanna spread the message bigger than just protecting kids. I just would soon address the bigger problem, so this does become less and less used for nothing other than a dry erase board.
MUSIC: “FRACTURE” — ROARY FEAT. IDYLL
They hug him.
28. DRILLS, DATA AND THE CAPITAL — WASHINGTON, DC
In the car, then a living room: Katherine Schweit faces Josh and Tommy, who sit side by side in white chairs.
KATHERINE SCHWEIT
(Former prosecutor and retired FBI special agent; led the FBI's Active Shooter Program)
We're making progress. We have 25 years of data now. In the last two years, the number of these types of shootings has gone down two years in a row. And that's the first time in 25 years.
Home video: Tommy's children practising a fire drill.
TOMMY JACKETT
(Co-host)
I've got a seven-year-old and a three-year-old, and my son, um, the drill that he has to do would be for a fire. That's about it. But in this country, there's the active shooter drill. Is this something that is beneficial, or is it impacting the children's psychology?
KATHERINE SCHWEIT
You know, I wrote a nice long book, and the only opinion that I have in the book that I say straight up, "This is my opinion, it's not based on fact," is I don't think teachers should carry guns. I think teachers have a very important job to do, and that's not a job they should worry about. But a gun in a school, from a security standpoint, should be based on a lot of factors.
Pennsylvania Avenue. The Capitol through the windscreen.
JOSH JANSSEN
(Director, co-host and narrator)
Who are the people in the middle? Are there more Americans that are in the middle on this, when it comes to guns, or is there a clear divide?
TOMMY JACKETT
And you have Kevin in Alabama with the bulletproof whiteboards, which really, these, as Kevin said, were Band-Aid fixes to a problem. And maybe this town is where the real solution to the real problem happens.
KATHERINE SCHWEIT
When we first started doing active shooter drills in the United States, a lot of schools weren't doing them the right way, so to speak, and they were traumatizing people and adults. I think that now there's a recognition that even active shooter drills are really safety drills. Whether it's a fire, or a tornado, or a hurricane, or an earthquake, or a shooter, the five-year-old just needs to be trained to be quiet, to listen, to follow instructions. That's what the training should be. That's safety training.
29. WHAT A BULLET DOES — BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
Three men walk a Baltimore street into a café. Around a wooden table with mugs: a man with his surname stitched on his sleeve.
DR JOSEPH SAKRAN
(Shooting survivor and trauma surgeon, Johns Hopkins)
These bullets tearing tissue, pulverizing bones, liquefying organs, they're doing tremendous damage to the human body. If you're in a boat, do you know the wake that you see behind the boat? There's that primary injury that happens from, physically, the fragment, but then there's this blast effect that happens. The faster the boat goes, the larger the wake. That wake, or that blast effect, causes destruction to tissue. So imagine if you have a kid, right, who has a small— right, we know they have small abdominal cavities. And they're shot in the abdomen with an assault rifle. It pulverizes tissue. I mean, it can blow off limbs, but they're also causing trauma that persists for many years.
SUPER: DR JOSEPH SAKRAN — SHOOTING SURVIVOR · TRAUMA SURGEON, JOHNS HOPKINS
A long bridge over water at sunset, then the car, Josh driving.
JOSH JANSSEN
(Director, co-host and narrator)
There's two choices. One is that there is a positive future ahead, one that has hope. Or there's the second choice, which there is no hope.
MUSIC: “OBVIOUS (SLOWED)” — CHPTRS
30. REMAIN HOPEFUL — WASHINGTON, DC
Autumn by the Reflecting Pool at sunset, her beagle, Harry, beside her.
AUTUMN BIGNAMI
(School teacher, mother of three and shooting survivor)
I do struggle a lot with the choices that are being made about our future, and about what we're continuing to allow to happen.
YOUNG MAN IN WASHINGTON
(By the Reflecting Pool)
As soon as one bad thing happens, the next thing happens. So you're just— you don't know what to focus on next. So it kind of just takes away— there's so much bad going on that we never really focus on anything for too long. And it's very easy that the bigger issues get swept under the rug.
AUTUMN BIGNAMI
I do remain hopeful, and we have to be mature enough, and respect each other enough, to know that there's going to be some really intense differences that have to be able to be solved, in a way that doesn't involve more violence or more chaos.
The Washington Monument. A plane over the Lincoln Memorial.
31. THE ENDING
The film ends on the street where Josh and Tommy were staying. If you haven’t seen it yet, you may want to watch first.
31. A SHOOTING ON THEIR STREET — WASHINGTON, DC
Night. Josh and Tommy come down the stairs of a row house and out the front door onto a dark street. A Metropolitan Police car, lights turning. Officers with torches look at something on the ground.
JOSH JANSSEN
We're an Australian documentary crew. We're staying just there. And so the fact that there's literally been a shooting out the front of our place is pretty mind-blowing to us.
POLICE OFFICER
(Metropolitan Police, Washington)
I can't give any— those kind of official statements are way above my pay grade.
A neighbour, across the roof of a parked car.
NEIGHBOUR
(Washington)
Yeah, I did. It's tough. So it's tough for us, to living around here, but it's just almost fourth time now.
JOSH JANSSEN
The more time you spend in the US, the higher chance, I guess, of that you are directly impacted.
They stand in the dark. The lights keep turning. Black.
SUPER: IN GUNS WE TRUST
MUSIC: “ENTER THE COWBOY” — ALTR
32. END CREDITS
The credits roll: the full cast in order of appearance, the crew, the music, the thanks, and the title with ingunswetrustfilm.com. No more dialogue.
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Transcribed from the picture-locked centre mix and checked line by line against two independent transcriptions, then against the picture, October 2026. Speakers are identified from the picture and the film’s own name captions; where the film doesn’t name someone, they’re described, not guessed. Music is listed where each cue begins. Spotted a mistake? [email protected]