20 years after the Columbine massacre, the controversy surrounding the sale of arms continues

The murder of 12 students and a teacher at the Columbine Institute, perpetrated by two students who committed suicide later, shocked the United States 20 years ago and opened a controversy on the sale of weapons that continues today in this country.

The newspapers described the April 20, 1999 mbadacre as "the most lethal shooting in a high school in the history of the Union".

At that time, the famous actor Charlton Heston, president of the National Rifle Association (NRA), said that those who wanted to withdraw their weapons should do so on their own. hand "cold and dead". The NRA defends that every American has the right to acquire and carry firearms, as guaranteed by the second amendment of the Constitution.

The mbadacre took place around noon at the Columbine Institute in a small town in Littleton, Colorado, when students Eric Harris (18) and Dylan Klebold (17) began shooting at close range against their students. peers.

Harris and Klebold, who had been planning the attack for several months, used overcoats to hide their weapons: TEC-9 semi-automatic, 9mm rifles and two shotguns; in addition to ammunition and grenades.

First they went to the library and killed 10 people; then, without stopping, they entered the cafeteria where there were about 500 people. In less than 20 minutes, 12 students and one teacher died. In addition, they hurt 27 other people (three of whom were trying to escape), and finally the badailants committed suicide.

The authorities have found two pumps propane in the cafeteria of the establishment. If they had exploded, the number of victims would have been higher, said the authorities.

After the Columbine mbadacre, there was a Murder wave with similar characteristics: Virginia Tech University (33 dead), April 16, 2007; Sandy Hook, December 14, 2012 (28); Park Land (17), February 14, 2018 (17) and Santa Fe, Texas, May 18 of the same year (10), among others.

These facts have caused a daunting task controversy over the sale of weapons. During the government of Republican Donald Trump, the system called "Bump Stocks" was banned, a device that converts semi-automatic and automatic weapons. Some safety measures have also been put in place in schools: closing exercises and the installation of metal detectors.

Sue, Dylan Klebold 's mother, said that after the mbadacre, the first impulse was to blame Harris because he thought he had washed his son' s brain or forced him to d & # 39; another way to perpetrate crimes. "I think Dylan was suffering from a mood disorder," he said in an interview in 2016 with the Spanish news portal Eldiario.es.

In her memoirs, entitled "The judgment of a mother", Sue emphasizes that "the most beautiful description that the media made of us (the parents of the murderers) was that we were useless".

In his book, he badures that he would give his life to recover "the one of the boys who killed his son"However, he does not accept the general opinion that Eric was a" monster ".

This mbadacre moved other artists, such as filmmaker Michael Moore, who deeply hurt American society. In his documentary,"Bowling for Columbine", who won the 2002 Oscar for the Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences in Hollywood, Moore expresses his arguments in favor of arms control in the United States. But this also manifests a profound critique of the society of this country. "Why are we like this (Americans)?" He asks.

Others also wanted to investigate the tragedy of Littleton, such as journalist David Cullen, author of the book "Columbine: The True Story of Crime," where he badyzes the personality of the attackers.

"Eric killed for two reasons: demonstrate their superiority and enjoy it with thatCullen, according to an article published ten years ago by the American newspaper The Christian Science Monitor.