Shooting at Connecticut School has Americans Re-Examining Gun Laws

December 21, 2012

NRA Flexes Political Muscle in Gun Control Fight

From VOA Learning English, this is IN THE NEWS in Special English.

This week, families and friends buried victims of the second worst attack on a school in the United States. A gunman killed 20 young children and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut last Friday. Police believe 20 year old Adam Lanza killed his mother at home then took some of her guns with him to the school. They say he used a military-style assault rifle to carry out the shooting spree. Such weapons can fire ammunition quickly, without the shooter having to reload.

The attack shocked Americans whose opinions on gun laws have changed in the past week. A recent survey found that 52 percent of Americans questioned said they supported “major restrictions on guns or making them illegal.”

President Obama says he recognizes the need for change. He has called on Congress to reestablish an assault weapons ban that ended in 2004.

"We may never know all the reasons why this tragedy happened. We do know that every day since more Americans have died of gun violence. We know such violence has terrible consequences for our society. And if there is even one thing that we can do to prevent any of these events, we have a deep obligation, all of us, to try."