Colorado theater shooting sparked her interest
A woman from the Ahwatukee Foothills section of Phoenix is the driving force behind an online petition that has already gathered over 83,000 signatures aimed at reinstating the nationwide ban on private purchase of semi-automatic assault rifles and high-capacity ammunition magazines.
Ellen Davis, who describes herself as "an attorney and a mom," says she decided to seek reinstatement of the 1994 federal assault weapons ban after the shooting rampage that killed 12 people and wounded 58 others at the premiere of the new Batman movie at a theater in Aurora, Colorado. "I have a 21-year-old son," she tells KFYI News. "He's at ASU. And I thought that could have been my son because that's what he and his friends do. They go to Batman movie premieres and things like that. That's an important part of his social life. I don't want him exposed to that level of violence."
She says it especially hit home for her because her son graduated from the same high school as 24-year-old Alex Teves, who had just completed his master's degree at the University of Denver days before he was shot and killed in the Aurora movie shootings.
The ban on private purchase of such firearms expired in 2004.
Davis insists she's not trying to ban private ownership of guns: "Every single law is a balance between individual freedom and public safety. And I think this pendulum has swung too far."
The petition is available at www.signon.org . Davis plans to eventually forward the petition to members of Congress.
