Just hours after Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper offered specific proposals on gun control in an interview with CBS’ Denver affiliate, gun violence claimed more lives in Aurora — the town that played host to James Holmes’ movie theater massacre in July.
According to the AP:
Four people, including an armed suspect, died after an hours-long police standoff Saturday at a Colorado townhome, authorities said.
Police Sgt. Cassidee Carlson said a SWAT team was called after gunshots were heard at the Aurora, Colo., home at about 3 a.m. Investigators said three victims, all of them adults, appeared to have been killed before officers arrived.
Carlson said the suspect shot at officers at about 8:15 a.m. and was killed during a gunfight about 45 minutes later when police entered the home. It remained unclear if officers shot the suspect or if he shot himself.
If more murder-by-firearm in this symbolic Denver suburb doesn’t add to Hicknelooper’s newfound post-Sandy Hook determination to pass gun control, perhaps news analysis in today’s New York Times will. Elisabeth Rosenthal drew on her experience in Latin America to debunk the N.R.A.’s shambolic “only good guys with guns can stop bad guys with guns” industry shilling:
Despite the ubiquitous presence of “good guys” with guns, countries like Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Colombia and Venezuela have some of the highest homicide rates in the world.
“A society that is relying on guys with guns to stop violence is a sign of a society where institutions have broken down,” said Rebecca Peters, former director of the International Action Network on Small Arms. “It’s shocking to hear anyone in the United States considering a solution that would make it seem more like Colombia.”
As guns proliferate, legally and illegally, innocent people often seem more terrorized than protected.
