Should the United States reform its gun laws?
Introduction to the media issue
Video clip at right: On May 26, 2022, ABC News televised a report on the Robb Elementary School massacre and the gun law debate that has sprung up around it.What they said...
'The idea that an 18-year-old can walk into a gun store and buy two assault weapons is just wrong. What in God's name do you need an assault weapon for, except to kill someone?'
United States President, Joe Biden
'People that are shooting people - that are killing kids - they're not following gun laws... I'd much rather have law-abiding citizens armed and trained...who can respond when something like this happens'
Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton
The issue at a glance
On May 24, 2022, an 18-year-old student from the local high school fatally shot nineteen students and two teachers and wounded seventeen other people at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Earlier that day, he had shot his grandmother in the forehead, severely wounding her.
The intruder entered Robb Elementary School, armed with an AR-15-style rifle, through an open side entrance door. He locked himself inside a classroom, in which he killed 21 people, and remained there for about one hour before being killed by a United States Border Patrol tactical team.
This is the third-deadliest American school shooting and has provoked widespread calls for stricter gun control, including from United States president, Joe Biden.
Opponents of gun control argue there are other methods that would be more effective, including arming teachers and school administrators.