On September 16, 2013, Aaron Alexis, a former member of the Navy, killed 12 and injured 8 people at the Washington Navy Yard. Aaron had been employed at the base by a military subcontractor, was killed in a shootout with police. It was believed that he gained access to the secure facility from the ID of a 50 year-old former Navy Yard employee, however he was also working as an IT company worker that was upgrading the Navy’s computer systems. D.C. authorities did not suspect terrorism, but his motive still remains a mystery. At first, officials believed that two people were involved in the shooting, Aaron Alexis and a white man in a tan outfit. Later they found out that the man they believed to have been involved, was identified and was no longer a suspect. Not all of the 8 people that were injured were shot, some were just injured when fleeing the scene. Some say this will bring back the discussion of gun laws and how we should make them a national matter.

The issue of gun violence in the U.S. has caused the strengthening of gun laws. Mayor Vincent Gray of Washington D.C., joined President Barack Obama in the fight to tighten gun laws due to the recent shootings. Many people think Obama is to blame for the shootings and that these shootings could have been prevented if we didn’t have such weak gun laws. Others say that we need national gun laws. I agree with those people because obviously local gun laws will not work when you could just go to another jurisdiction to buy a gun. If we had national gun laws, maybe this shooting, along with others could have been prevented. For example, after a mass murder in Australia, the Australian government passed strict gun laws. Since then, there has not been another mass murder. In the U.S., we have one shooting after another. Will they ever end?

~Alyssa