It’s easy to have a knee-jerk reaction to an event like what took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

The easy response is to say that guns, specifically semi-automatic assault rifles, should be further regulated, if not banned. There is a logical place in the debate for those who argue that such weapons have no place in today’s society.

That’s not to say that those who argue that such weapons should be abolished are right; it just means their voices should be heard.

Much like those, who say weapons are not to blame, but those who choose to use them inappropriately are at fault, should have an equal voice in the debate.

Ultimately, the debate should have to do with whether certain weapons should be made illegal and what drives those who are mentally imbalanced to obtain and use them.

Guns have been available for centuries. The relatively recent trend of using guns to slaughter the unsuspecting innocent calls for a meaningful debate regarding their place in today’s society.

Many will argue that the founding fathers intended to protect a citizen’s right to own firearms for defending himself from a tyrannical government. Others will say the founding fathers could not have conceived today’s world and would’ve never approved such weapons being made readily available.

No one knows what Jefferson and others would have truly thought given the state of gun violence in today’s society.

We can only assume that the founders would have given more considerate thought to both sides of the argument than today’s legislators.