In the wake of last weekend’s mass shooting at a crowded movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, the question of “Why Colorado?” is once again being raised.
For the third time in 13 years, mass murder has found its way into Colorado. From the 1999 massacre at Columbine to the 2007 New Life Church shootings, the most recent tragedy has both Coloradans and the nation wondering why this happened again.
Almost immediately, the shooting rampage renewed debates about gun control. While gun laws in Colorado are weak and there is no ban on assault rifles, statistically Colorado ranks in the bottom third of the nation in terms of gun violence. According to Dr. Delbert Elliott, Founding Director of the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence at the Institute of Behavioral Science at the University of Colorado-Boulder, even though Colorado ranks in the lower third of the nation, Colorado is an anomaly when it comes to mass shootings. “But the particular form of this violence—shooting with massive amounts of death—we do seem to have more of that,” he says. He also notes that although these types of events are disturbing, “…they look like an anomaly—terrible but within the realm of random events.”
Could this anomaly be the result of the easy availability and number of weapons in Colorado? Elliott says that “I’ve heard arguments about the number of guns in Colorado and the perspective we have on them. But these events seem very carefully planned, so that the availability of guns is almost irrelevant. Anyone with that level of intent is going to find weapons, legally or illegally.” The movie theater suspect purchased all his weapons and ammunition legally.
So these types of mass shootings are random, but planned. There’s no way to predict them, or is there? Foxnews.com reports that the accused shooter supposedly sent a notebook to a psychiatrist at the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, detailing the shooting. There is controversy surrounding if and when a package was delivered, with one source saying a package was delivered on July 12, but sat unopened. Officially, university spokeswoman Jacque Montgomery confirmed that a suspicious package was delivered to the campus mail room, but it was on July 23, noting that it was “immediately investigated and turned over to authorities within hours.”
There were other possible signs. The accused gunman in the movie shootings was highly intelligent, but a loner. He was a recent transplant from California, and in May had failed a series of oral exams. Perhaps that combination of emotional isolation and failure were enough to send him over the edge. Perhaps, too, there’s just something about Colorado—something that suggests “extreme.”
Colorado is a state full of extremes, beginning with the topography, which varies from High Plains and deserts to heavily forested mountains. It is the only state in the nation that lies entirely above 3,300 feet in elevation (Rocky Mountain High). And with those extremes in topography come great extremes in weather.
Extreme weather in Colorado is common: Massive droughts and wildfires, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes, major snowstorms, and some of the worst flash flooding (Big Thompson in 1976) and hailstorms in North America—Colorado weather can change abruptly. The summer of 2012 has been particularly harsh on Colorado, with the state recording its two worst wildfires ever, destroying more than 600 homes and killing three people. Temperatures can also be extreme, with a record high of 118 degrees Fahrenheit recorded in 1888 contrasting with a record low of -61 degrees Fahrenheit in 1985.
Colorado extremes don’t end with the topography or weather. Most of the population of Colorado resides along the I-25 corridor of the Front Range, which runs north from Fort Collins down through Denver, Colorado Springs, to Pueblo. Only one-third of Colorado is in public ownership, and 68% of Colorado’s forests are federally owned.
There are major lifestyle differences as well. It’s the Old West meets the New West. Every year thousands of people move to Colorado seeking employment or hoping to find a better way of life or just to be part of the beauty. There is a myth that if you come to Colorado, you can reinvent yourself and find happiness. But there is a flipside, and for those who are already social misfits, they can react in extreme ways.
“It does seem that this state has an image that people are happy here,” says Dr. Patricia Limerick, Faculty Director and Chair of the Board of the Center of the American West at the University of Colorado-Boulder. “But if you’re unhappy and wildly so, that’s a way to contrast yourself with the rest of the world and withdraw.”
Already a loner, coupled with recent failings in school, perhaps the alleged gunman decided to contrast himself in an extreme way against the openness and friendliness of others around him. Maybe we’ll never really understand, but in the end, it’s another extreme for Colorado—a state full of extremes.
Link to Article as It Appeared in Print: http://www.gcnlive.com/wp/2012/07/27/barb-adams-why-colorado/
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