HOME / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Calls for Joe Biden to enforce stricter gun control after Boulder supermarket shooting: 'Stop the NRA'

The detained gunman killed 10 people, including a police officer, following an hours-long stand-off at King Soopers market in Colorado

In the wake of the Boulder shooting in Colorado that saw the death of ten people, including a police officer, on Monday, calls to have stricter gun control in the US have risen again. The attack ended with police detaining an injured, shirtless suspect at the King Soopers market, and the shooting was live-streamed by witnesses and broadcast on YouTube.

The aftermath saw netizens take to social media and share their views on gun control. Some of them even remembered the 2012 Aurora movie theatre shooting in Colorado that killed 12. They called for strict rules to be enforced so as to prevent another devastating event from taking place.

RELATED ARTICLES

Should AR-15s be issued to civilians? It's a 'weapon of war' and shouldn't 'belong to citizens', Internet says

Who is Maris Herold? Boulder police chief's 'empathy' lauded for emotional press meet on King Soopers shooting

"Nowhere in the world is gun control more controversial than in the United States, where gun possession is constitutionally protected but where murders (including mass murders) committed with guns are extremely common; the United States has by far the highest homicide-by-firearm rate among developed countries," says a Britannica article.

It adds: "Proponents of increased gun control in the United States argue that limiting access to guns will save lives and reduce crime; opponents insist that it would actually do the opposite by preventing law-abiding citizens from defending themselves against armed criminals."

"We know this feeling too well in Colorado. We felt it during Columbine. We felt it during the Aurora Mall. We felt it during the Thornton Walmart. We felt it during the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood. We feel it now today for Boulder. WE NEED GUN CONTROL NOW," read one of the tweets. "The shooting in Boulder today is the 11th to happen in my lifetime just miles from where I was born in Denver. The others include Columbine and the Aurora Theater shooting. Our broken system breeds random violence. We must unite for revolutionary change," one user wrote.

"We need heavy police reform in the US otherwise gun control here is going to remain a failure. We’ve seen too many excuses vs logic and reasoning when it comes to responsible gun ownership, the next excuse will be “protection from the police," one of the comments said. "512 people were killed in mass shootings in 2020 alone, yet politicians still haven't come to an agreement on gun control. ensuring the safety of a nation's people should be the government's top priority. period," another seconded.

There were calls for President Joe Biden to take control. "Stop the NRA. We need gun control President Biden. It is now or never. We trust you, we believe in you. Stop the profits, stop the corruption, stop the NRA ownership of public officials!" Another opined: "Guns will annihilate all of us if we don’t act now. President Biden should make gun control his highest priority"

While most of the netizens hoped Biden would make gun control top priority, there was a different viewpoint from some sections. One of the people said shootings were back again during the new POTUS' tenure.

"Obama wanted gun control, tons of false flag shootings. Trump no possibility of gun control, it basically stopped. Now Biden wants gun control, shootings are back on," a tweet said.