I have been working on a documentary that has grown out of the Solidarity Movement in Poland — and the demise of The Berlin Wall. It is about the Polish Women’s contribution to the Solidarity Movement.

In researching the film, and doing interviews and viewing hours of archive footage of the 1970 Shipyard massacre, and Martial Law — there is a great lesson Americans can learn, and not overlook in our arguments for or against gun control.

First: Poland’s history is one of being overrun, partitioned, and occupied.

Second: The Poles are 98% Homogeneous. Pole raising arms against another Pole in light of their history, and cultural cohesiveness — one would assume this to be IMPOSSIBLE. Yet … when the shipyard workers (unarmed) went on strike in 1980, they were mowed down in cold blood by their own police.

in 1980, President Jaruzelski denied the Russians the opportunity to declare Martial Law on his own people, because he wanted to do it himself.

Many of Solidarity were arrested that night. They were told that they were being detained because there was a war. Who was at war? The police and army against the UNARMED PEOPLE.

I have thousands of feet of video showing the brave men and women of Gdansk battling tanks, helicopters, and automatic weapons with bricks, sticks, and stones.

I have the massacre of 1970 on audio tape, and the sounds are more horrifying than any video.

If anyone thinks that it’s a wise and safe thing to give up their guns to the “authorities”, they are very much mistaken. If there is even one person in the US that believes that nothing like Eastern Europe could happen here, they are just plain stupid.

The one and only reason why Martial Law cannot be declared on U.S. citizens, is precisely because we are armed. This doesn’t make us dangerous. It is just another safety check in the ‘Checks & Balances’ of our Democracy.

I do not own a gun. I have 5 boys — all grown but one. I know how to fire a gun, and I’m a very good marksman. I will defend anyone’s right to protect themselves and maintain their constitutional rights. The Right To Bear Arms is there for a reason.

There is so much more to this. I hope someday I can get this story out — even if it is just for the sake of illustrating how truly deadly gun control is, in the grand scheme of things.

Katherine Kenning