...It has been decided. In the case of James Holmes, the jury reached the decision to charge the 28-year-old Colorado shooter with life in prison without the possibility of parole. Unexpectedly, Holmes has dodged the death penalty, ABC News reports. The decision was reached on Friday following three months of testimony from survivors and close relatives of the shooter. The entire case took almost three years until the final verdict was reached. However, on Friday, the jury only needed about 6.5 hours to render the verdict. According to NY Daily News, the defense team of Holmes argued constantly that he was mentally ill at the time of the killing spree and could not distinguish right from wrong. However, the jury refused to believe that. Initially,...
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...For years Colorado has been known for its beautiful landscape, ski resorts and even its relaxed gun laws. Recently however lawmakers in Colorado passed laws for stricter gun control. The laws include limiting magazines to a 15 round capacity and background checks before every gun purchase including private sales. These laws are ineffective, despite good intentions, they are very difficult to enforce and are too vague to support. Police officers serve and protect, and if these laws effect anyone more than the public that have to abide the laws its police officers who have to abide them and try to enforce them. “55 of the 62 sheriffs that serve in Colorado have outright refused to enforce the state’s new gun laws”. That’s nearly 89% of the sheriff’s in Colorado. Sheriffs serve and protect the residents of Colorado and the fact that so many have problems with these laws there must be something wrong. I doubt they would try to repeal the laws if they thought the laws would better the community in some way. They like many others believe the laws are too difficult to enforce and many believe that the laws go against the second amendment. I believe that the 15 round magazine capacity is over doing it a little. There is no way to effectively enforce it since larger magazines owned before the law passed are “grandfathered in” meaning they are exempt from the new laws. With stores right across the Colorado border selling the larger and illegal magazines for people that reside in Colorado...
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...grand festival for Batman fans, unfortunately, the tragedy happened. In the cinema of Aurora, Colorado, a man named James Holmes, who wore a gas mask and dressed up as the super villain in the movie, threw tear gas into the theater and shot at people during the showing of the film. Twelve people were killed and fifty-eight people were injured in the incident. As one of the most serious shooting cases in the U.S., the issue of gun control has once again attracted public attention, rushing people into pro and con camps. The controversy around the issue is whether it is better to strengthen the laws for gun control or not. Major media around the world have made extensive covers and reports of the Denver shooting case; they also joined the discussion of gun control because it has significant effects for people’s lives and safety. There are three articles from different media responses to the hot topic. The article titled “Gun-control, gun-rights groups’ ready for renewed debate after Colorado shooting” by Michael Martinez was published on CNN.COM. CNN is one of the most influential global media and authoritative news sites, which can be seen or read by over 100 million U.S households and viewers in over 212 countries. This article notes that both sides were engaged in a renewed debate about the issue of gun control in the aftermath of the shooting tragedy that happened at a Colorado movie theater. In this debate, an appeal is being continually made for placing strict restrictions on gun...
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...Gun control in America Some gun control laws should stay the same because gun related deaths have dropped, it is our Second Amendment right, but some state laws should change to keep guns out of schools. Barrett (2013) discusses that gun violence is declining in the U.S. Figures from the United States Bureau of Justice and that gun related deaths have dropped 39% since 1993 (Truman, P.H.D & Planty, Ph.D., 2013). The author also states that handguns are mostly responsible gun related deaths and injuries, which raises questions on the emphasis of assault weapons of some gun control supporters. According to Barrett (2013), he states the government says nonfatal gun crime has dropped in the last twenty years by 69%. It is good that the rates have dropped that much. Singh (1998) focuses on an essay written by Jeremy Putley in January 1997, which criticized the American system of government and the assumed deficiencies of its constitution, highlighting gun control in the United States. The topics include the amount of Americans who have died from gun-related deaths yearly during the 1990s, identification of the two gun control measures which were padded by the Democratic 103rd United States Congress, and explanation of the gun crisis in the United States. The United States Bill of Rights (Madison) states, “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” The Bill of Rights is...
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...more than 350 people have been killed and 450 people have been injured by military style weapons (Feinstein, 2013). The 1994 and the 2013 Assault Weapons Ban bans all rifles like AK-47’s and all shot guns like the IZHMASH Saga 12 types (Feinstein, 2013). What brought the gun debate to the tables of many families were the atrocious events that took place due to gun violence. The inhumane shootings in an elementary school in Connecticut and the movie theater shooting in Colorado have put the issue of gun control in the spotlight. These horrific events have spurned up the debate on how the government should go about decreasing the many innocent lives lost each year due to gun violence. Looking through the eyes of Dianne Feinstein, who is the Senator of the state of California, the ban of selling military style assault weapons and high captivity ammunition magazines is the solution to this problem (Feinstein, 2013).. This bill does not include anyone who already lawfully possessed a gun at the time of the bill being passed. The movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado was the main topic...
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...Aurora, Colorado (CNN) -- One year after a gunman killed 12 people in an Aurora movie theater, the city is marking its losses with solemn moments and a continuing debate over the place of guns in society. Tom Sullivan was part of an observance at a state park Friday, where volunteers read aloud thousands of names of victims of gun violence. His son, 27-year-old Alex Sullivan, died in the Century 16 theater on July 20, 2012. Pay tribute to the victims "A guy walked into a movie theater with a 100-round drum, and one second my son was watching a movie and the next second he was dead," Sullivan said. Aurora victims are getting married The ceremonial reading, which lasted more than 10 hours, ended at 12:28 a.m. Saturday, the moment when the shooting began one year earlier. The event was part of the "No More Names" bus tour, sponsored by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Carlee Soto came to mark the Aurora killings, although she lost her sister five months later. First-grade teacher Victoria Soto, 27, was killed in the elementary school massacre in Newton, Connecticut. "Every situation is different," Carlee Soto said. "From a movie theater to an elementary school to a church, it's all different. But we all carry the same grief, and we all share the wanting to change our gun laws." A handful of gun rights advocates peacefully protested the event Friday. One of them, Rob Blancken, said all Coloradans should remember...
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...Media in America Marco B. Avecilla COMM/215 August 13, 2012 Ruth Palumbo Media in America Mass shooting in Movie Theater causes mass chaos for a nation (DenverChannel News Team, 2012), and the media should quit over publicizing news. As an America, good and evil does exist. The bad always out shine the good in the Media and news. The Mass shooting in the Aurora, Colorado movie theater (DenverChannel News Team, 2012) has not only shown the evil that exists in the world but also the negative and not so good Media coverage that also exists in the world. The Mass shooting is a close runner-up to evil acts. Media coverage is out of control. On the other hand, it can be manipulative and exhausting to replay coverage of a certain horrifying event, when in fact, in just another state where barely any news coverage over deaths in a car crash that killed the same number of people. I believe as I write this paper I am almost ashamed and horrified as the person who murdered so many and claim the glorification in some way that perhaps the murderer were seeking. Is our country focusing on certain situations as massacres to somehow put out fear in our country for may be mind control or government moves beyond our understanding? I am not sure exactly what is going on, but the one thing I do know is that America's media coverage on many aspects of life is disheartening and depressing. Thus, almost always too focused on the negative when we can try to find more positive to give Americans...
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...Active Shooter Response 64 individuals killed by active shooters in all of the most horrific recent tragedies. In the years leading up to the Columbine shootings there were little to no training for the response forces to combat active shooter scenarios. Now that the nation has had more tragedies such as the theater shooting in Colorado, the New Haven, Connecticut massacre and most specifically is the shooting by an active duty US Army Major in Fort Hood, Texas. An active shooter is an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people, most often in populated areas. As these events in human history happen, leaders find a way to try and make life safer for the population. Although tragic in nature the shootings in columbine taught law enforcement that they had no plan of attack for active shooter scenarios. When the unfortunate events at Fort Hood took place, the military population specifically the Military Police had no idea how to respond (McCloskey, 2009). Now since the Fort Hood shooting there have been two more high profile cases where active shooter has taken lives in the civilian world. These most recent events the first, a shooting in a crowded theater in Colorado and the most tragic of all the shootings where 20 young elementary school students lost their lives at an elementary school in New Haven, Connecticut (Tuccitto & Sullo, 2012). Now that these events happened although tragic military leaders decided it was important to put together...
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...As stated on thinkprogress.org, ABC News reported thirty-one school shootings in the United States since Columbine in 1999, where thirteen innocent people were massacred. Allowing professionally trained security guards to possess the right to carry firearms will drastically reduce the amount of deaths in similar situations, including those of children and teenagers. With the use of their firearms, security guards have a higher probability of being able to offer protection for the students and faculty. Although many opposers argue that the current precautions (such as cameras and alert systems) are enough to protect students across the nation, these tactics will only offer the student awareness instead of safety, which will result in them being...
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...Republicans are eager to shut down this Colorado gun bill. Here’s why their dream could backfire big time. Will police support of the red flag bill in Colorado increase the odds of it passing? Maybe, but Republican leaders won’t approach the topic. Assistant minority house leader Cole Wist, among others, is wanted by liberals to stop talking about taking guns and changing gun laws in Colorado. Conservatives fear that any threats to change gun laws will boost strict gun regulations later down the road - not with Democrats, as some hope, but with Republicans. Everett tweeted recently: “Another vote in defense of our civil liberties. No on HB 18-1436. Twitter will only let me tag 10 of my colleagues, but many more joined me in defense of your...
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...Company Subject Terms: GUN control -- United States CONCEALED weapons AURORA shootings, Aurora, Colo., 2012 COLUMBINE High School Massacre, Littleton, Colo., 1999 MAUSER, Tom FIREARMS -- Law & legislation -- United States SCHOOL shootings -- Prevention Geographic Terms: UNITED States Abstract: The article discusses gun control in the U.S. and argues for a connection between increased access to guns among law-abiding citizens and the prevention of gun violence. The author looks at several shootings such as the 2012 movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado and the state's 1999 Columbine High School shooting. Topics include gun control advocate Tom Mauser whose son died in the Columbine shooting, laws related to U.S. gun shows and concealed weapons, as well as university policies. Document Information: Essay last updated: 20121204 Lexile: 1310 ISSN: 10727825 Accession Number: 83811665 Database: Literary Reference Center Translate Full Text: HTML Full Text ------------------------------------------------- THE CASE FOR MORE Guns (AND MORE GUN CONTROL) ListenSelect: THE CENTURY 16 CINEPLEX in Aurora, Colorado, stands desolate behind a temporary green fence, which was raised to protect the theater from prying eyes and mischief-makers. The parking lots that surround the multiplex are empty -- weeds are pushing through the asphalt -- and the only person at the theater when I visited a few weeks ago was an enervated Aurora police officer assigned to...
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...More Gun Control) HOW DO WE REDUCE GUN CRIME AND AURORA-STYLE MASS SHOOTINGS WHEN AMERICANS ALREADY OWN NEARLY 300 MILLION FIREARMS? MAYBE BY ALLOWING MORE PEOPLE TO CARRY THEM. By Jeffrey Goldberg The Century 16 Cineplex in Aurora, Colorado, stands desolate behind a temporary green fence, which was raised to protect the theater from prying eyes and mischief-makers. The parking lots that surround the multiplex are empty—weeds are pushing through the asphalt—and the only person at the theater when I visited a few weeks ago was an enervated Aurora police officer assigned to guard the site. I asked the officer whether the building, which has stood empty since the night of July 20, when a former graduate student named James E. Holmes is alleged to have killed 12 people and wounded 58 others at a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises, still drew the curious. “People drive by to look,” he said, but “not too many.” The Aurora massacre is noteworthy, even in the crowded field of mass shootings, as one of the more wretched and demoralizing in the recent history of American violence, and I was surprised that the scene of the crime did not attract more attention. “I guess people move on,” he said. I walked up a slight rise that provided an imperfect view of the back of Theater 9, where the massacre took place, and tried to imagine the precise emotions the victims felt as the gunfire erupted. “The shooting started at a quiet moment in the movie,” Stephen Barton told me...
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...Holmes vs Bencomo murder trial On July 20, 2012 more than 80 people were shot in an Aurora, Colorado movie theater. The shooter, James Holmes, left many people helpless and scared for their life as he opened fire on the crowd. Another murder case was the murder of Patricia Beard by Hector Bencomo. Bencomo raped and killed her in her own house in 1981. Both of these murder trials had forced entries. In the aurora shooting the suspects broke through the back doors and threw tear gas in and then started shooting. In the Beard case, Bencomo broke into Patricia Beard’s house by climbing up a pole and breaking the window. Also both of these murderers had violent backgrounds. James Holmes had tons of weapons and bombs in his house. In fact he had...
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...In 2012, there were a number of mass shootings in the United States including the theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Between these two mass shootings, thirty-nine individuals were killed but the whole country was affected (Ehrenfreund). Many feared for their lives and questioned their safety in public places, especially in schools. Following the shooting in Newtown, a nationwide debate took place about the possibility of stricter gun control laws (“U.S. Mass Shootings”). Gun control activists believe that removing or radically altering the 2nd amendment will solve America’s issue of gun violence, but doing so is not the answer. Citizens have the right to own guns, most...
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...Formal Essay #1 October 12 2013 Gun Control Debates involving gun control began in the early 1960s, since then many laws and regulations have been created (“Gun Control Time Line”). However, while crimes involving the use of guns start increasing, is changing the laws going to end the violence and make people feel safer? There have been many different media sources and political debates throughout our country questioning if increasing the laws will stop the crime or not. A problem in our society that we may all suffer from is in our amendment system. Our second amendment, established in 1791, states that “everyone is entitled to the right to bear arms.” (“Gun Control Time Line”) Recently, with everyone hearing and seeing gun violence on the rise has pushed the issues of changing our laws. With nearly all states considering all of the available options, many arguments concerning whether or not laws will reduce violence, need to be thought out to determine the best for society. Debates that support changing our laws within our country, feel as if our government is losing control as we all see crime rates rising. People argue that something needs to be done to stop gun violence. Many people have said that, guns do not kill; criminals who use them are the problem (“What the Public Really Thinks about Guns”). Individuals across the nation argue that current laws today are actually allowing criminals to get access to guns that are used for crimes. Those who are in favor of changing...
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