Hurricane Katrina 863Downtown New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
suicide. The shooting spree at Norris lasted less
than ten minutes: He shot over sixty people, killing
thirty-three.
The massacre at Virginia Tech was the worst
mass killing in recent American history. But each
year, about 14,000 Americans are killed with guns.
The spate of shootings reignited a heated debate.
Proponents of gun control deplored the easy access
to such lethal weapons. The National Rifle
Association and other defenders of the right to bear
arms, affirmed by the Second Amendment to the
Constitution, blamed criminals for the mayhem.
They insisted that law-abiding citizens needed guns
to defend themselves from such evildoers. In 2010
the Supreme Court struck down municipal laws ban-
ning handguns in Chicago and the District of
Columbia (McDonald v. Chicago).
Hurricane Katrina
The Bush presidency was largely shadowed by two
events over which he initially had little control: the
terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, and Hurricane
Katrina, which swept across Florida and into the
warm waters of the Gulf Coast in August 2005. On
the morning of August 28, the National Weather
Service released so dire a warning about Katrina—
“devastating damage,” “most of the area will be unin-
habitable for weeks”—that some broadcasters refused
to read it, thinking it might be a hoax. State and fed-
eral officials ordered mandatory evacuation of the
Louisiana coastline.
Millions fled in their cars, clogging the highways.
But of the half million residents of New Orleans,
100,000 remained, many of them poor African
Americans who lacked access to automobiles. As rain
started to fall that evening, some 10,000 took refuge
in the New Orleans Superdome stadium.
Early the next morning Katrina crashed ashore.
Within minutes, it destroyed nearly every building in
Plaquemines Parish. Winds approaching 150 miles per
hour ripped two holes in the Superdome. By after-
noon, the hurricane had moved north, dumping more
water along the way, swelling the rivers, streams, and
canals that emptied into the Gulf. Within hours, rising
waters spilled over the banks and collapsed canals.