Dark Knight Rises

One summer night, July 20, 2012, a gathering of joyful people pile into a Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, waiting in anticipation to watch the midnight screening of the film The Dark Knight Rises. Half-an-hour into to the movie, an intense gun-fighting scene comes onto the screen, and a man dressed in tactical clothing walks in front. Smoke starts to rise and spread through the theater. The audience members soon have burning eyes and itching throats. For the slightest moment for some, it was thought to be special effects or a prank, until a horrific blaze of gunshots sound throughout the theater, the smoke-like substance soon recognized as tear gas, and the man as a sinister killer . Round after round, the twisted man fired into the audience as the people rushed out to evacuate the building. In the end, the horrific outcome had twelve people killed and seventy others injured. In instances like these, the U.S is reminded of the danger of guns, and how their availability to even the most mentally unstable of people can be dangerous. “The U.S. has the highest rate of gun ownership in the world, according to data compiled by The Guardian, with around 88 guns for every 100 people” (Eaton). All but 14 states in the U.S do not require a license for a gun, and there are many holes in
In recurring instances of police brutality, the common element is the presence of guns themselves. Understandably, police officers are often living in fear of their lives, especially as: “officers are three times more likely to be murdered in high gun ownership states”(Diwan). With this statistic police officers are more often on edge, and the likelihood of an innocent, mentally unstable, or unarmed person being shot is much higher. A more strict use of gun control laws can help reduce the number of deaths, and keep police officers along with every-day civilians