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 …show more content…
On July 20, 2102, in Aurora, Colorado, at the premiere of “The Dark Knight Rises,” James Holmes shot and killed twelve people, while seventy more were injured. Unfortunately, none of the individuals in the theater that day were armed (“U.S Mass Shootings”). In Newtown, Connecticut, at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Adam Lanza, a twenty-year old, opened fire and killed twenty-six people, including twenty children. He had previously shot his mother at their home and afterwards, he then shot himself at the crime scene. Once again, no one was armed inside the school. Just imagine how many lives could have possibly been saved if just one person would have had a gun for self defense in either of these places. Since Holmes bought his weapons legally, some say that if the guns were more difficult to acquire, incidents like this could be prevented. On the other hand, if any individual would have been allowed a gun, the outcome could have been completely different as well. Also, since both of these shootings occurred at two locations where guns were prohibited, one can evidently tell that laws and policies cannot prevent a criminal from an act of violence. A report written in 2012 cites an approximate 5,000 news reports from October 2003 to November 2011 involving gun usage for defense and protective purposes. Of the 5,000 incidents reported, there were 488 home burglaries and a total of 1,227 incidents where intruders fled when confronted by armed residents. There were thirty-four incidents where pizza delivery persons defended themselves and 172 incidents involved animal attacks. Incredibly, twenty-five attempted rapes were stopped by armed victims and 201 incidents included attacks where armed persons over the age of sixty-five stopped their attacker. Each day, law-abiding citizens use guns to defend themselves. They do so as many as 2.5