Argumentative Essay: Guns Save Lives

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James Overton Professor O’Donnell English 101 2 May 2014 Argumentative Essay: Guns Save Lives I want everyone to close his or her eyes for a minute. Imagine it’s date night. You and your spouse have gotten a babysitter for the night and have decided to go catch a movie. It’s a particularly busy night at the movie theater because the new Batman movie, Dark Knight Rises, is opening. Your spouse and you file in to theater for what will hopefully be another blockbuster movie, after grabbing some refreshments. It seems to be a perfectly normal night. About 30 minutes in to the movie, you notice a lone individual, dressed in what appears to be some sort of tactical gear, entering the theater from one of the front fire exits carrying a rifle. At first, you aren’t sure if it is some sort of publicity stunt or if your mind is playing tricks on you. Then, everything goes in to slow motion as the man tosses a tear gas grenade in to the crowd, and fires wildly in to the air. Now, open your eyes. I think it’s a safe bet to assume that everyone knows how the story goes from here. James Holmes goes on a shooting spree, armed with an assault rifle, shotgun, and two pistols, ultimately killing 12 people, and injuring 70 before being apprehended by police outside the theater. Nine minutes goes by before the first 911 call is received, and police respond in 90 seconds. Over ten minutes elapsed from the time the first shot rings out, until the first armed responders arrive at the chaotic scene. To put things in perspective, most firefights I experienced in Iraq and Afghanistan lasted less than three minutes. The movie theater had been deemed a “gun-free zone” so no one there had the ability to defend themselves. Okay… now everyone close their eyes again. Go back to the moment where you notice the lone individual entering the theater clad in tactical gear

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