Katie Couric received criticism earlier this year for her portrayal of gun owners in her documentary, “Under the Gun.” Now, it’s coming back to haunt her.
Couric is now being sued for $12 million by the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a Second Amendment advocacy group.
A few months after it was released in January, the documentary came under fire due to a scene in which Couric appeared to stump gun rights advocates with the question: “If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorists from purchasing a gun?”
The question is followed by a solid 10 seconds of complete silence as members of the VCDL appear perplexed -- but that's not what really happened.
In the uncut footage, VCDL affiliates responded to Couric's question for nearly six minutes, as described in the complaint for the lawsuit. Daniel Hawes, one of the gun rights advocates suing Couric and a lawyer who deals with firearms cases, apparently responded to the question by saying:
“The fact is we do have statutes, both at the federal and state level that prohibit classes of people from being in possession of firearms. If you’re under 18, in Virginia, you can’t walk around with a gun. If you’re an illegal immigrant, if you’re a convicted felon, if you’ve been adjudicated insane, these things are already illegal. So, what we’re really asking about is a question of prior restraint. How can we prevent future crime by identifying bad guys before they do anything bad? And the simple answer is, you can’t.
And, particularly, under the legal system we have in the United States, there are a lot of Supreme Court opinions that say, ‘No, prior restraint is something that the government does not have the authority to do.’ Until there is an overt act that allows us to say, ‘That’s a bad guy,’ then you can’t punish him.”
Other members of the VCDL responded as well, but none of this is shown in the film. Instead, their edited silence is followed by a revolver being locked and loaded, indicating the discussion was over.
In fact, the 10 seconds of silence depicted in the film actually happened when Couric told the gun rights advocates to sit in silence while the camera crew calibrated the equipment.
“We were horrified to see how Couric and her team manipulated us and the video footage to make us look like fools who didn’t stand up for the Second Amendment,” VCDL President Philip Van Cleave stated.
Couric responded to the uproar saying, “I take responsibility for a decision that misrepresented an exchange I had with members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League.”
The VCDL is seeking $12 million in compensatory damages, as well as punitive damages of $350,000.