Boulder Shooting Proves Need for Stronger Gun Control
The mass shooting in Boulder on March 22, is just one event in the long history of tragic shootings in Colorado. The state has become notorious for holding one of the highest rates of mass shootings, ranking 5th in the country despite being only 21st in population.
As a Coloradan, I’m deeply saddened to see yet another mass shooting rock my home state, at a supermarket only 45 minutes away from my childhood home. The King Soopers in Boulder, the site of the latest mass shooting, is a place where I used to get late night snacks with my friends and coffee the next morning. But now it’s another graveyard in the place I call home.
Source: Fibonacci Blue, Creative Commons
On the afternoon of March 22, the shooter entered the busy grocery store killing 10 people, including employee Denny Stong, 20, and responding officer Eric Talley, father of seven. The Denver Post chronicled the shooting as “58 minutes of terror,” describing stories from survivors who desperately hid themselves away and texted their loved ones to say goodbye.
A friend of mine is an employee at the King Soopers, who was luckily not working the day of the shooting. He declined to comment on the tragedy because it was too painful while he mourned the loss of his friend, Rikki Olds.
Both the Biden administration and Colorado officials were quick to acknowledge the tragedy and use it as an opportunity to push more comprehensive gun control laws.
"I don't need to wait another minute, let alone an hour, to take common sense steps that will save lives in the future," Biden said. He then advocated for actions to improve the background check system prior to gun purchases and ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
The shooting happened only 10 days after a Colorado court blocked a ban on assault weapons, which the city of Boulder had enacted in 2018. The court struck the ban down after being challenged by gun advocates and the Colorado State Shooting Association, who received support from the NRA.
Though the Biden administration seems to recognize the severity of gun violence in America, I have doubts that the administration will follow through on their promises for gun reform. According to The Washington Post, Biden called on Congress to reinstate a ban on assault weapons and pass two background-check bills previously approved by the House, but yet he still dedicates his time to promoting his new stimulus package and infrastructure plans.
Thoughts, prayers, and empty promises are not enough anymore. The Biden administration needs to put greater focus on passing federal gun reform legislation. His infrastructure package isn’t in danger — people’s lives are.
The lack of federal gun control creates even greater struggles for state and local governments to regulate firearms. Without uniform gun control laws throughout the country, too many loopholes exist. Anyone can drive a few hours to another state to purchase an assault weapon and take it back over state lines. Biden still wouldn’t commit to pursuing gun control measures, even as the White House flag still hung at half mast from the recent mass shooting in Georgia, less than a week before the tragedy in Boulder.
The question is simple: How many more people have to die before something changes? How much longer do Americans have to live in fear of becoming the next victim? When is enough, enough?
As an American and a Coloradan — I’m tired. My brother was a baby when 13 people were murdered in the Columbine shooting. My mother told me how she cried and never wanted her children to go to high school because she was afraid. I was 11 years old when a gunman killed 12 people in a movie theater in Aurora. I was scared to see a movie with my friends for months. I was a senior in high school when a woman obsessed with the Columbine shooters flew nearly 2,000 miles on the 20th anniversary of the shooting and purchased a gun with the apparent intention of repeating the tragedy. Authorities lost track of her when she was hours away from my home. I begged my friends not to go to school that day.
We are tired.
It’s time for the federal government to make saving American lives a priority. We have waited too long and have seen too many deaths while public officials skirt around the issue without actually passing the comprehensive gun control this country needs. The victims in Boulder didn’t have time to wait for the government to make their safety and their lives a priority. The time for waiting is over.