You said:
Today is why regular citizens of America need to be able to carry firearms.
And then you admitted:
It seems unfortunate to me that even though most of Colorado citizens are privileged to have the legal right to carry firearms, (most people in the world don't have that right) none of the ones at the scene availed themselves of the opportunity to be able to defend themselves or others...
I'm not seeing this as demonstrating how lenient gun laws are the solution.
I find the statistics below interesting. A google search returned this result:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/01/11/20-deadliest-gun-states-from-mississippi-to-arizona.html#1, Mississippi
Gun deaths per 100,000: 18.3
Permissive gun laws: 4th out of 50
#2, Arizona
Gun deaths per 100,000: 15
Permissive gun laws: 1st out of 50
#3, Alaska
Gun deaths per 100,000: 17.6
Permissive gun laws: 11th out of 50
#4, Arkansas
Gun deaths per 100,000: 15.1
Permissive gun laws: 7th out of 50
#5, Louisiana
Gun deaths per 100,000: 19.9
Permissive gun laws: 23rd out of 50
#6, New Mexico
Gun deaths per 100,000: 15
Permissive gun laws: 6th out of 50
#7, Alabama
Gun deaths per 100,000: 17.6
Permissive gun laws: 27th out of 50
#8, Nevada
Gun deaths per 100,000: 16.2
Permissive gun laws: 22nd out of 50
#9, Montana
Gun deaths per 100,000: 14.5
Permissive gun laws: 10th out of 50
#10, Wyoming
Gun deaths per 100,000: 14.5
Permissive gun laws: 8th out of 50
#11, Kentucky
Gun deaths per 100,000: 14.4
Permissive gun laws: 5th out of 50
#12, West Virginia
Gun deaths per 100,000: 14.8
Permissive gun laws: 25th out of 50
#13, Tennessee
Gun deaths per 100,000: 15
Permissive gun laws: 31st out of 50
#14, Oklahoma
Gun deaths per 100,000: 13.4
Permissive gun laws: 17th out of 50
#15, Idaho
Gun deaths per 100,000: 12.5
Permissive gun laws: 2nd out of 50
#16, Georgia
Gun deaths per 100,000: 13.1
Permissive gun laws: 13th out of 50
#17, Missouri
Gun deaths per 100,000: 12.9
Permissive gun laws: 12th out of 50
#18, South Carolina
Gun deaths per 100,000: 13.4
Permissive gun laws: 20th out of 50
#19, North Carolina
Gun deaths per 100,000: 12.3
Permissive gun laws: 28th out of 50
#20, Florida
Gun deaths per 100,000: 12.5
Permissive gun laws: 41st out of 50
#21, Kansas
Gun deaths per 100,000: 10.5
Permissive gun laws: 14th out of 50
#22, Indiana
Gun deaths per 100,000: 10.6
Permissive gun laws: 21st out of 50
#23, Texas
Gun deaths per 100,000: 10.7
Permissive gun laws: 32nd out of 50
#24, Michigan
Gun deaths per 100,000: 10.9
Permissive gun laws: 39th out of 50
#25, Maryland
Gun deaths per 100,000: 12.1
Permissive gun laws: 44th out of 50
#26, Colorado
Gun deaths per 100,000: 10.4
Permissive gun laws: 24rd out of 50
#27, Pennsylvania
Gun deaths per 100,000: 10.7
Permissive gun laws: 40th out of 50
#28, Virginia
Gun deaths per 100,000: 10.7
Permissive gun laws: 35th out of 50
#29, Utah
Gun deaths per 100,000: 9.5
Permissive gun laws: 18th out of 50
#30, Vermont
Gun deaths per 100,000: 8.4
Permissive gun laws: 3rd out of 50
#31, Oregon
Gun deaths per 100,000: 10.4
Permissive gun laws: 30th out of 50
#32, North Dakota
Gun deaths per 100,000: 8.9
Permissive gun laws: 15th out of 50
#33, Ohio
Gun deaths per 100,000: 9.6
Permissive gun laws: 29th out of 50
#34, Maine
Gun deaths per 100,000: 8.1
Permissive gun laws: 9th out of 50
#35, Delaware
Gun deaths per 100,000: 9.2
Permissive gun laws: 33rd out of 50
#36, Wisconsin
Gun deaths per 100,000: 8.7
Permissive gun laws: 34th out of 50
#37, Nebraska
Gun deaths per 100,000: 8
Permissive gun laws: 19th out of 50
#38, South Dakota
Gun deaths per 100,000: 6.5
Permissive gun laws: 16th out of 50
#39, Washington
Gun deaths per 100,000: 8.5
Permissive gun laws: 37th out of 50
#40, California
Gun deaths per 100,000: 9
Permissive gun laws: 50th out of 50
#41, New Hampshire
Gun deaths per 100,000: 5.9
Permissive gun laws: 26th out of 50
#42, Minnesota
Gun deaths per 100,000: 6.6
Permissive gun laws: 36th out of 50
#43, Illinois
Gun deaths per 100,000: 8
Permissive gun laws: 45th out of 50
#44, Iowa
Gun deaths per 100,000: 5.3
Permissive gun laws: 38th out of 50
#45, New York
Gun deaths per 100,000: 5.1
Permissive gun laws: 43rd out of 50
#46, New Jersey
Gun deaths per 100,000: 5.2
Permissive gun laws: 49th out of 50
#47, Connecticut
Gun deaths per 100,000: 4.3
Permissive gun laws: 46th out of 50
#48, Rhode Island
Gun deaths per 100,000: 3.5
Permissive gun laws: 42nd out of 50
#49, Massachusetts
Gun deaths per 100,000: 3.6
Permissive gun laws: 48th out of 50
#50, Hawaii
Gun deaths per 100,000: 2.8
Permissive gun laws: 47th out of 50