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Health & Fitness

A Tragedy in Colorado

Another mass homicide. More calls for gun control. More calls for conceal and carry.

This time, its a mass shooting in an Aurora Colorado movie theater. It could have been at a college or high school or a fast food restaurant. We've seen it before, and, unfortunately, we'll probably see it again.

 

 This time, its a PhD candidate. It could have been a bullied student or recent divorcee. Invariably, there are calls from the left for more gun control and calls from the right calling for conceal and carry. We heard it after Columbine; we've heard it after Virginia Tech. If only...

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 If only those people in the theater could have fired back on the gunman and killed him before he could kill anyone else.

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 If only James Holmes was unable to get a gun so easily.

 

 Let's be honest, people who do these kinds of crimes are twisted in ways that we can't even begin to imagine. Those who want to kill on such a large scale will do whatever in necessary to pull it off. Guns are everywhere and criminals never seem to have a problem getting their hands on one. No amount of legislation will make those guns disappear. Someone who is intent on committing mass murder is not going to worry about whether his guns are properly registered any more than someone who is willing to chug a fifth of Jack Daniels before speeding down the street is going to worry about an expired drivers license.

 

 Having a theater full of armed vigilantes wouldn't help either. Like most mass murderers, Holmes had the element of surprise. By the time any of the other patrons could have gotten out their guns and figured out who to aim at, it would have been too late. We'd all like to think that we could go Rambo on a guy like Holmes, how many of us would really be able to react like that? What if there were multiple people shooting back? How many would be heroes would be killed by other would be heroes? 

 

There are no easy answers to this. I don't blame people on either side for their arguments. Regardless of what you think of any of those options, deep down you know that any of those options are better than doing nothing.

 

 Better than knowing that this could happen again to anyone at any time.An idea you may not agree with is still better than no idea. And right now, we have no idea.

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