Incidents like this certainly lend credence to either side of the gun control debate. Would someone with a small-caliber handgun have done anything to stop the Aurora shooter? Probably not, given his SWAT get-up. Maybe a well-aimed bullet would have put him down, but let's be honest, more bullets flying would have meant even more people killed. Or maybe it would have scared the killer off? It's hard to say.
Likewise, if there were tighter regulations on assault weapons, body armour, and ammunition would the gunmen have been able to acquire his weapons elsewhere? It's hard to say. Probably not for the almost ridiculously low prices that he paid for them on the internet.
The real issue is psychological safety. Mass shootings like Aurora have a huge impact on psychic well-being. They are random, most likely driven by deep-seated, and untreated psychological or neurological disorders. They also strike in places where we are supposed to feel safe. They are senseless. Most of all, they are evil. The gunmen inflict enormous amounts of pain for no real emotion, political, or social purpose. They just kill. Victims have to wait to be saved, and there is something demeaning about that.
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