Shootings
Sandy Hook Shooting
On the morning of December 14, 2012 a gunman by the name of Adam Lantza shot twenty children and six adults, including the principle at Sandy Hook Elementary School (“Barron”). Before arriving at the school, Lantza shot his own mother (“Barron”). After the shooting of innocent children, Lantza took his own life (“Barron”). “The rampage, coming less than two weeks before Christmas, was the nation’s second-deadliest school shooting, exceeded only by the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, in which a gunman killed 32 people and then himself.” Said James Barron. This dreadful incident possibly could have been avoided if gun control was expanded. Mr. Barrack Obama sheds a tear while addressing the matter on national television (“Barron”). After the president’s heart goes out to the parents who had lost their children, he begs congress to put aside their differences to expand gun control (“Barron”).
Aurora Shooting
On July 20, 2012, there was a movie shooting at the midnight release of Batman the Dark Night rises in Aurora, Colorado (“New”). James Holmes was found guilty of killing twelve people and injuring seventy only moments into the movie (“New”). In 2010, James went to the University of California and graduated with highest honors (“New”). He then went to the University of Colorado Anschultz Medical Campus in 2011 as a doctoral candidate but dropped out in 2012 (“New”). Mr. Holmes purchased the guns legally at two sporting goods stores, then purchased more than 6,000 rounds of ammunition online (“New”). Holmes’ assembled a makeshift bomb in his apartment before he went to the movie that night (“New”). The explosives included more than thirty homemade grenades and ten gallons of gasoline (“New”). Fortunately, investigators disarmed the bombs safely without any further damage (“New”). During James Holmes trial, he pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity (“New”). The judge accepts Holmes plea of not guilty by reason of insanity (“New”). Holmes is then taken to the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo (“New”).
Virginia Tech Shooting
What is still known to be the deadliest shooting in American history, was the Virginia Tech shooting in April, 2007 (“Virginia”). “Twenty-three year old Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people on the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, before taking his own life” reports CNN. Seung-Hui Cho was an English major, finishing up his senior at Virginia Tech (“Virginia”). After making suicidal remarks to his roommate, Cho was ordered by a judge to seek outpatient care on December 13, 2005 (“Virginia”). Two years later, Cho orders a p-22 pistol online and a 9mm Glock pistol with 50 rounds of ammunition from Roanoke Firearms (“Virginia”). On April 16, 2007 at 7:15 am police were notified that there had been a shooting in one of the coed halls on campus (“Virginia”). At 9:45 am police hear reports of another shooting on campus in classrooms where thirty two students and faculty are killed (“Virginia”). Because Virginia Tech was slow to report the first shooting to its students, Cho was able to go to class with his gun for round two (“Virginia”). Obviously, something needs to be done to protect all of these innocent victims, but nobody can seem to agree on a solution.