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A version of this story first appeared in the April 24 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.

Abigail Disney, 55, the New York-based philanthropist (and grand-niece ofWalt) who established herself as a prolific documentary producer withPray the Devil Back to Hellin 2008, wasn't looking to move into directing. "I didn't really have time to direct," she admits. But then the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting happened.

"I had wanted to do a project related to the gun culture in our country for a long time, but I thought I could wait until Sandy Hook said to me, 'You can't wait any longer.' That's what kicked me into motion," she explains. The challenge, though, was finding a particular focus for a film that could speak to both sides in what had become a deeply polarized debate.

"Gun films have a way of preaching to the choir," Disney says. "I think no single class of documentary does it more than films about guns because it's such an emotional, polarized subject; but I didn't want to be polarizing. I keep using gun metaphors it's a weird thing that happens when you talk about guns but one of the things that really triggered me was the perception out there that a Stand Your Ground law gives you the right to shoot a person in self-defense. You've actually always had that right. What's different about a Stand Your Ground law is that it relieves you of what has been called for centuries, since the Magna Carta, the 'duty to retreat' from that conflict if there is any opportunity to do so. That is the kind of moral discourse that we aren't having, which seems to be really important."

Determined to find someone in the pro-life world "who would put their weapons down, come to an armistice and be willing to talk in good faith," she discovered, after months of searching, Rev.RobSchenck, a prominent anti-abortion activist. "Rob was the first minister I talked with who had the courage to say, 'Wait a minute. This is a problem. And I need to step into it.'" Then, by accident, Disney says, she learned ofLucyMcBath, a pro-choice woman challenging Florida's Stand Your Ground law in the wake of her son's murder. The result is The Armor of Light,debuting at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 19, which traces the unlikely alliance that develops between Schenckand McBath.

After working on the film for two years, Disneysays she and Schenck "actually developed quite a strong friendship, which was a surprise to me and a really interesting part of the process." As for her hopes for the finished film, she says,"I didn't want to invite people to yet another wrestling match about guns. The goal was to make a film that respected evangelicals and respected their point of view. It's not like this film doesn't have a point of view about guns, a point of view about the NRA. I'm not pulling any punches. But I didn't want to be disrespectful. I didn't want to be snarky. I didn't want to trick anybody into an interview and make them look bad. I wanted everybody's point of view to stand on their own merits. And I wanted us to do the moral homework about gun control that this country hasn't done."

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Second Amendment activists are redefining the public sphere, and with it, American democracy.

Polls show that gun owners cite self-protection as the primary reason they are armed. Their intentions are generally good and admirable. The gun-rights movement has done a great job making the argument for individuals to be armed to protect themselves and their families in their own homes. What if you are faced with a menacing home intruder and police are far away? In that situation, it makes good sense to be armed.

But there is an unfortunate lesson playing out for those who have armed themselves to feel saferand for all of us, too. The gun-rights movement has worked hard to push an increasingly radical agenda that undermines both our personal safety and our civic fabric. To that extent, there is something almost tragic occurring here: The well-meaning citizens who arm themselves in droves, perhaps even in public, are in that very process threatening the peace and order they seek to preserve, and claim to uphold.

Stand Your Ground laws are a prime example. These laws, which the NRA has championed in almost two-dozen states, are a logical extension of gun rights from the private home into the public sphere. What good is it to carry a gun in public if you are not also legally protected when using it in self-defenseor perceived self-defense? How are guns supposed to deter criminals if gun owners are legally hindered from wielding their weapons? Stand Your Ground removes these legal barriers so that people can better protect themselves.

But this also has social consequences. Thanks to Stand Your Ground, citizens must now fear their armed neighbors in addition to prospective criminals. What if someone who spies you walking down the street thinks you look suspicious? What if you become a target for would-be George Zimmermans? Or what if the man you argue with, or potentially insult or offend, even unintentionally, is armed and irascibleand the argument escalates?

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The latter possibility was chillingly illustrated in a movie theater in Tampa last year, when retired police captain Curtis Reeves shot and killed Chad Oulson after the two had argued, and Oulson threw popcorn in Reeves face. Reeves initially invoked Stand Your Ground, claiming he did not know if Oulson meant him bodily harm. Floridas Stand Your Ground law protects gun owners if they so much as sense the threat of bodily harm. In the darkened movie theater, Reeves said he could not tell the nature of his assailants weaponhe didnt know that Oulson was only throwing popcorn. In a Stand Your Ground society, it makes sense to suspect your neighborand fear the worst.

The gun-rights movement claims it is a staunch defender of the peace, contributing to and bolstering law and order. As gun rights are currently advanced, nothing could be further from the truth.

Increasingly, gun-rights advocates like National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre offer dystopian warnings to make their case. In November, LaPierre wrote a letter to NRA membersfittingly entitled Is Chaos at our Door?outlining this vision. [T]he world that surrounds us is growing more dangerous all the time, he warned. Whether its enemy state actors, foreign terrorists, Mexican drug cartels or domestic criminals, the threats Americans face are massiveand growing. He invoked massive terrorist attacks like those in Mumbai in 2008 or Kenya in 2013, hordes of armed and violent gangs that are embedded coast to coast, and an influx of illegal immigrants with criminal backgrounds. LaPierre complained that the government had detained and then intentionally released 36,000 illegal aliens with criminal records. Where all these released criminals went, he wrote, no one knows. But you can bet on this: Theyre among us, embedded throughout our society. For all you know, you pass them in your car on your way to work.

LaPierres argument for being armed boils down to this: Americans are on the verge ofor already sinking intoa state of anarchy, where it is each man for himself. In that state, the government cantor wontprotect youOnly you can protect you, he warns.

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