Gun Control and Protecting Ourselves

Approximately 700 people were inside the school that fateful day. Lanza literally shot the door open. When the principal, vice principal, and school psychologists went to check out the noise, only the vice principal returned alive, but wounded. Lanza went into one room; shot all fourteen kids and the substitute teacher. Then he went into another, shooting six students and the teacher, Victoria Soto, 27. The gunman took his own life, police said. He took out a handgun and shot himself in a classroom as law enforcement officers approached, officials said (Sandy Hook). In the shooting, twenty students, ages 6 and 7, and six adults were killed at the school (Sandy Hook). .
             Although it was a hard and difficult time for the families of their lost ones, policy makers took this rare opportunity to gather public support. State and lawmakers introduced many gun violence prevention policy proposals, and the public agreed. Daniel W. Webster, a Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he serves as Director of the Center for Gun Policy and Research. Dr. Webster is currently leading studies evaluating the effects of various efforts to reduce violence, including state gun and alcohol policies, policing strategies focused on deterring gun violence, a community gun violence prevention initiative (Faculty and Staff). Dr. Webster conducted a national public opinion survey about to gauge Americans' support for many of the gun policies introduced by legislators across the country. According to the survey, large majorities of Americans- including gun owners and Republicans- supported a wide range of gun policies, including policies to enhance the background check system for gun sales, to prohibit certain dangerous persons (e.g., those convicted of a serious juvenile crime) from having guns, to institute greater oversight of gun dealers, and to prevent people with mental illness from having guns (Webster 666-668).