The school shooting that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT has begun new discussions about gun legislation and mental health policy in the US.
Twenty elementary school students and six of their teachers were fatally shot at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut on Dec 14.
The shooter, 20-year-old Newtown resident Adam Lanza, then took his own life.
The shooting has been memorialized and seen a wide array of response from around the country.
The Newtown shooting is the 31st mass shooting in the US since the Columbine School Shootings in 1999. It is the 16th shooting since President Obama took office in 2008.
“That was the worst day of my presidency and it’s not something I want to see repeated,” Obama told David Gregory on Meet The Press last Sunday. Obama has already spoken several times on the subject of gun legislation reform since the tragedy.
“Something has to work,” Obama said. “It is not enough for us to say ‘this is too hard, so we’re not going to try.’”
Differences of opinion on the regulation of firearms and how to change current gun legislation vary widely. “I am for more strict gun reform,” said Sophomore Communication student Erica Baldwin. “There is no reason for a civilian to have a military grade rifle, anything that holds enough rounds to clear a room doesn’t need to be available.”
Many fear that the president whishes to enact legislation that targets Assault Rifles and high round magazines.
“These criminals are going to hurt people regardless of how they acquire the weapon,” said Luke Crawford, a Freshman who has been working on starting a chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus at KSU. “The Oklahoma City bombing was done with items you can get at the hardware store.”
“All of these [school] shootings happened in places where guns were not allowed,” said Crawford. “Getting rid of these gun free zones would get rid of places where these evil people can go without opposition.”
Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy has already set a two-month deadline for a commission to address Connecticut’s gun laws, mental health policies and public security issues.
