Balance of Power

Charismatic young President Kerry Kilcannon and his fiance, television journalist Lara Costello, have at last decided to marry. The preparation for a discreet wedding quickly becomes a grander exercise in media, PR and politics. Among the guests is Lara's sister, who is recovering from an abusive relationship. Kerry and Lara are averse to the suggestion of live television coverage, but shortly before the wedding Kerry suffers his first legislative defeat: the rejection of a gun control law that Kerry was profoundly committed to. This feeds the position advanced by Kerry's advisors, that a televised wedding will erase the legislative setback and enhance Kerry's popularity. The wedding proceeds as planned. Meanwhile a lone man is watching the wedding preparations on television. His room is filled with magazines for gun fanatics, and the wedding seems to be stirring him into a personal rage. When it is decided that the reception will be open to the public, the man gets up and drives to the airport, taking a gun magazine with him. He goes to a gun show, and here he acquires the Liberty Predator Two, a 'fingerprint resistant' concealable handgun. The next day, as Kerry and Lara enjoy a brief honeymoon in Martha's Vineyard, Lara's mother, sister and niece are shot dead outside their home. Before she loses consciousness, six year old Maria recognises the gunman as her father. Now Kerry and Lara, devastated and enraged, must swallow their fear and pursue a dangerous campaign against arms possession and gun violence . . .