91% Filmmaker John Richie Coming To Asbury Park
Gun Violence Panel Discussion Follows 7 p.m. Tuesday Screening At The Showroom
In the wake of the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, a 2013 poll revealed 91 percent of Americans support comprehensive background checks.
The report, which did not translate into law, served as a catalyst for New Orleans-based filmmaker John Richie’s [at right] latest documentary – 91%: A Documentary About Guns in America, being screened 7 p.m. Tuesday at The ShowRoom on Cookman Avenue.
Hosted by Moms Demand Action and Gays Against Guns, the film will be screened to commemorate the Fifth Anniversary of the Sandy Hook mass shooting at the elementary school by Adam Lanza. Richie will be among the guest speakers participating in a post screening panel discussion.
The panel also features a former Sandy Hook resident, whose family was personally affected by the shooting; Carolyn Tuft, a gun violence prevention activist and survivor of a mass shooting that claimed the life of her teenage daughter; and representatives from Moms Demand Action and Gays Against Guns.
According to youth gun report by the Center for American Progress, 33,000 Americans are killed by guns annually, and those under the age of 25 die by gunfire every 70 minutes.
Richie, a New Orleans based filmmaker, launched Scrub Brush Productions in 2007. His work teaching public school teens about documentary filmmaking led to the 2013 release of Shell Shocked, an award winning film about youth and gun violence, and how their environment serves as a contributing factor.
In Asbury Park gun violence is on the decline but still plagues its youngest residents. According to a Uniform Crime Reporting data report, violent crime has reached its lowest point since 1979, when the report began.
During a November City Council meeting Mayor John Moor spoke out against the Concealed Carry Permit Reciprocity Act, a proposed bill that won support in the House this past week.
“This is totally inappropriate,” he said. “This could make New Jersey subject to other states’ laws that are much weaker than our laws.”
91% will be screened 7 p.m. Tuesday at ShowRoom Cinema, located at 707 Cookman Avenue. Tickets are $10 and the panel discussions immediately follows. For more information, click here.
[Photo courtesy of John Richie]
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