'Inside Amy Schumer' 'Welcome to the Gun Show' Episode Recap: An Election Year Message on Gun Safety Laws
Whereas it is not the first time Amy Schumer has spoken out against gun violence, the last episode of "Inside Amy Schumer" which aired Thursday may perhaps be the first time she did with her celebrity cloak on. In a caricature of the American gun culture, the show's episode "Welcome to the Gun Show" shot at how easy it is to get hold of a gun in the country.
It presented a sketch at the beginning of the episode where the actress appears as Amy, a host of a home shopping channel, along with her co-host Kyle, pitching gun sales to every manner of caller, extolling its virtues as "perfect stocking stuffers" and being "great for every age group." As the phone rings, the hosts go on a selling spree, explaining that anyone could buy a gun, including one with a violent criminal record as well as a terrorism suspect on the no-fly list.
To a felon with a history of violence, the affable host dismisses misgivings by saying, "Caller you bite your tongue you silly goose you can absolutely buy a gun... as long as you buy it on the internet or at a gun show."
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And to a suspected terrorist who wants to buy several guns, she tries being reassuring by telling him, "Oh you're fine sweet potato fries. No one has the right to tell you you can't buy a gun in this country you're trying to destroy!"
An alarm suddenly goes off, and the hosts explain with excitement that there had been a mass shooting and Amy quips, "Which means the government could be coming for your guns soon, which they never have, but always might."
It would be hilarious except that the "Saturday Night Live" approach hit too close to the sobering truth: Guns are used 11 times more likely in the murder of American women than those in other developed countries. Mass shootings in schools or theaters may be highly publicized, but the domestic violence against women is reported as a more common type of mass shooting.
An all-too-real picture, even the number displayed onscreen during the sketch was a live one which, when called, directed callers to the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety's message on "what to say to support gun control" while offering to connect them to their member of Congress.
The episode, which is the show's second one for season four, also takes up an interview of Brina Milikowsky, the chief strategy officer for Everytown for Gun Safety.
The actress' first brush with gun violence was the shooting of two women during a screening of her movie "Trainwreck." After the incident, Schumer joined New York senator Chuck Schumer, her cousin, in speaking out against gun violence. The episode came after an initial hesitation on her part to get involved in politics, her view in the past being that celebrities should not be involved in such causes. But, after meeting up with the families of those two young women who were fatally shot, she said she found out that people do listen to celebrities.
Schumer from then on worked to reduce gun violence and toward enactment of more strict gun control laws. The show's last episode was said to be "… a sketch that Amy personally felt really strongly about," according to the executive producer of "Inside Amy Schumer," Dan Powell. "The whole writers room piped in with jokes and ideas and things like that but ultimately, this was Amy's baby," he told EW.
The next episode on "Inside Amy Schumer," entitled "Brave," will air May 5, where Amy wins an Academy Award and find out how she can get what she wants.
