Sundance Developing NRA Drama 'Cold Dead Hands'

Oh boy. In a move that surely won't cause controversy, mass protests, or politically charged debate, Sundance Channel has announced the development of a new family drama set against the backdrop of the National Rifle Association.

According to a Deadline report, the project will be titled 'Cold Dead Hands,' an obvious play on the well known NRA slogan "I'll give you my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hands." The mantra goes back several decades, and experienced renewed popularity during the tenure of Hollywood legend Charlton Heston as NRA President.

'Cold Dead Hands' plot follows the (fictional) head of the NRA, Trip Thibodeaux, and the many pressures he deals with both professionally and personally. A husband and father, Trip must balance his status as America's leading gun rights advocate with his duties as a family man, all while struggling with his own crisis of faith in the cause.

With the gun rights debate at an all-time fever pitch, it's not at all surprising that a cable network like Sundance would decide to capitalize on the fervor in dramatic form. As decades of the 'Law & Order' franchise has taught us, few things captivate America more than "ripped from the headlines" stories.

That said, 'Cold Dead Hands' producers will have to walk a very fine line if they want to present this scenario in an at all evenhanded fashion, which is what series creators Tony Krantz and Scott Gold claim to want to do. Either way, I'd expect that the NRA will be unsatisfied with the final product.