On Monday March 22, 2021 a supermarket in Boulder Colorado was targeted by an active shooter. 10 innocent people were killed at King Soopers including Police Officer Eric Talley who was the first Officer who responded to the call. Another victim among the 10 was a store manager who worked at the Supermarket, Ricky Olds and the other 8 passed were between the ages of 20-65.
Officer Talley was with the Boulder Police Department since 2010 and was 51 years old at the time of his death. He was extremely respected in Boulder, the head of Boulder’s Police Department said Talley had a special way of connecting with people. Officer Talley is survived by his wife and seven children and will be remembered for his heroics.
The man responsible for this crime is a 21 year old man and reports showed that he purchased the assault rifle he used in the attack earlier that week. Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa is now in custody after getting into a shootout with police officers and was taken to the hospital to treat his injuries. Investigators have yet to find a motive for the shooting however they think it may be related to the gun ban that was just put in place.
When police arrived on scene, they announced over a loudspeaker that the building was surrounded and there was nowhere for the suspect to go. As they entered the supermarket shots were exchanged between the suspect and police, the suspect was hit in the leg and taken to the hospital after he was detained.
The shooting took place 10 days after a judge blocked a ban on Assault Rifles which was passed in Boulder in 2018. This ban was passed in 2018 after the Parkland Shooting earlier that year. The suspects family told police that they believe Alissa was struggling with some sort of mental illness including delusions which they said could have contributed to the violence. This attack was the 7th mass shooting in 2021, because of the pandemic 2020 had the fewest attacks in over a decade.
Following this awful event on Tuesday March 23, 2021 President Biden called upon the senate to pass the two background check bills that have already been approved by the House and for Congress to reenact the assault weapons ban.
What are your thoughts on the ban for assault weapons that President Biden is promoting following the events in Boulder?
Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/colorado-king-soopers-shooting/h_d97fb015748f2d53174cc11698a12cfb
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/23/boulder-shooting-live-updates/
https://www.denverpost.com/2021/03/22/police-active-shooter-shooting-king-soopers-boulder/
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/23/us/boulder-shooting-what-we-know.html
https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/23/us/victims-of-boulder-shooting/index.html
4 comments:
I think a ban on assault weapons is a long time coming. While there are responsible individuals out there who own automatic weapons and don't cause problems, the overall issues that they have caused our society outweigh personal freedom in my opinion. However, while I do support a ban on specifically assault weapons, I do not believe it would do what it is meant to do. Many of the individuals who commit mass shootings or hate crimes would likely still be able to get their automatic weapons from the black market or other sources that the government would not be able to restrict, meaning that many of those individuals that cause the problem would still be able to cause the problem, just with a tiny bit more difficulty. Mass shootings are awful things where innocent lives are taken for no real reason other than hate, but sadly these issues relating to them are not very easy to solve, and more often than not the angry and violent individuals who do said crimes will find a way around. Thank you for sharing!
There should definitely be ban on weapons however I feel like if there's a ban on something that's just calling for the underground to make more money. This problem is a really weird one because in this world if someone wants something they will get it. I think the problem lies in taking care of the people. As the blog mentioned the man had a mental illness I think what should be done is getting help to where it's needed and funding that. But Biden's ban is a step which could do some help just to try to keep these guns out of the streets.
Just ten days before this shooting an assault weapons ban for lifted in Colorado (https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/23/guns-boulder-shooting-assault-weapons-ban/). I think bans definitely help to and the track record of mass shootings in other countries post bans definitely advocates for that (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/03/23/mass-shootings-response-other-countries-gun-laws/). Countries such as New Zealand took action fast and saw effective results.
I get what Steve and Ben point out that if laws are made to make access to guns stricter the ways to get guns will be increase and people will still find one way or another. Even though I think that is very much possible, I think a ban on guns will still be effective to an extent because it won't be "easy" to purchase a riffle. However there has to be change overall, in the attitude of our society not just in the books.
I do think that there should be some type of ban on guns, to prevent more tragic incidents like this from happening, and to create a safer environment for people. But, I do agree with what Steve said, that it will only prompt people to buy these things another way. I do not think this ban will prevent gun usage because people are always going to find a way to these weapons, which will not solve any problems. I do however think that certain bans do help prevent certain things from happening, but it will not solve this problem completely.
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