Kmart in Bowling for Columbine

Well I was shot

with a

Tech 9

9mm

Yes it was

I guess it was supposed

to be semi automatic

but it felt fully automatic

to me

From what I remember

This is Richard Costaldo

And this is Mark Taylor

Both of these boys

were shot the day

of the Columbine massacre

Richard is paralysed

for life and in a wheelchair

And Mark is barely standing

after numerous operations

The kids at Columbine

had to pay a penalty

We paid a penalty

that day

for this nation

the way we look at it

Mark and Richard were

disabled and suffering

from the 17 cent

K-mart bullets

still embedded in their bodies

As they showed me

the various entry points

for the bullets

I though of one way

we could recuce

the number of guns and bullets

laying around

I asked the boys

if they would like to go to Kmart

to return the merchandise

Ready

You go

Hi

Can you turn the camera off please?

We are here to see Mr Conway

The Chairman

Can you turn the camera off until we get
clearance?

Okay. Alright.

Okay turn it off now

Hello Michael

I am Mary Lou Rand

I am the Director of Media Relations

for K-Mart

How can I help you?

Well, I am here today

This is Richard Costaldo

Richard nice to meet you

This is Mark Taylor

Mark

They are students from

Columbine High School

They were shot

shot at Columbine

in the massacre

with bullets from K-Mart

You came a long way

Yeah.

Thinking since you stopped selling

all the hand guns

it makes sense to stop selling the bullets

Our request is that you

get rid of the 9mm

bullets

and that you don't sell them.

We do carry...

You probably are aware of K-Mart

hopefully you are shoppers

in our stores

we do only

carry sporting firearms

and the accessories

that go with hunting

And we certainly will take your message

to our Chairman

Chuck Conway.

He's not here today

He's not here today?

He's actually not here this whole week

Not at all during the week

Do you have a limit on

the number of bullets

ammunition that people can buy?

I can't answer these questions for you

I am not the mercandiser

who places these products

But I can get

answers to those questions

if you would like to leave your card

I don't want to leave a card

The reason why we came

is because Mark

he has a K-Mart bullet

just an inch away

from your aorta

In between my aorta

and spine

I am glad to see that you are

still able to stand

And I told him that somebody

here would listen

Somebody here would

take their request seriously

Not just a PR person

but somebody who has

some authority and can answer

the questions

that they want answered

K-Mart does care about this

but I can't go any further

right now

So until I make a call

I am going to go back to the office

and see

Mary went back upstairs

and 2 hours later

She brought down this guy

whose job it is to buy

the bullets for

K-Mart

We're not the ones in trouble guys

Mark thought he'd show him

bullet wounds

Those are from your bullets

That's where the K-Mart bullets

went in

Well take care

Is anyone else going to come down

Is that it

Okay. Thank you

We waited around

a couple more hours but

no-one else came down

As we left the building

Mark came up with

an idea

He suggested that we

go to the nearest K-Mart

and buy-out all

their bullets

Just take as many of those

as you can

What do we have here

I'll take them all

Take everything you got

So you're 17

Mark pretty much

cleared them out of

their ammunition

And the next day

decided to go back to K-Mart

with all the bullets

This time we

brought the press

Coming up here at 6 o'clock

a warning to everyone

to watch out for snakes

You'll hear from a Mom

who was bitten by a rattlesnake

And also news

about students who survided

the Columbine massacre

are in town

they are very angry with

K-Mart

We are here to see Chuck Conway

The Chairman of K-Mart

Hi! How are you?

They would like to see Mr Conway

Here's the 9 mm's

These are the bullets that are in

both Richard and in Mark's bodies

Move your group outside

and we'll have someone here in 5 minutes

Don't block the door

My name is Laurie McTavish

I am Vice-President for Communication

for K-Mart

I happy to deliver a statement

on behalf of the Company

What happened in Columbine, Colarado

was truely tragic

and touched every American

And we are sorry for the

disadvantage to this young man

K-Mart is phasing out the

sale of handgun ammunition

The business plan calls for

this to be complete

in the continental US

in the next 90 days

K-Mart representitives

met with Mr Moore and the students

from Columbine,Colarado

yesterday and

listened to their concerns

about the products carried in

K-Mart stores

The company committed at

the end of the meeting

that K-Mart would

have an answer for them

within a weeks time

Well the first thing we want to do

is thank you

for committing to

no longer selling handgun ammunition

in your stores

and within 90 days

The process will be phased out

within 90 days

And after 90 days

there will be no more selling of

ammunition for handguns or assault weapons

Firearm ammunition

we will not sell it after 90 days

Well we gratefully appreciate that

Thank you very much

Wow! That was more that what we asked for

That was remarkable

We were just getting ready to go to the
airport