Once again, a gun-free zone is the scene of a potentially horrific mass shooting at a Colorado school. It has been reported that the gunman intended to kill a number of people and only decided to turn the gun on himself when he realized the armed officer in the school was on his way to the scene. It's very likely that having an armed individual within the school prevented further senseless loss of life.

It was also not widely reported that after killing two people in a Portland, Ore., mall in December 2012, an armed shooter turned the gun on himself after seeing a legally armed citizen pointing his gun at him. Had there been an armed officer or staff member at Sandy Hook Elementary School one year ago, we may not have had one of the most tragic and senseless mass shootings in this country's history.

In a country that enjoys the freedoms we do, there will always be evil people who will exploit this freedom to do evil things. These people are cowards who, in many cases, will either abandon their plans or turn the gun on themselves in the face of an armed individual with the ability to defend himself or others.

This is why law-abiding citizens who legally carry a firearm do so. All they want is the ability to defend themselves, their loved ones and others faced with evil.

Terry Costakis

Bluffton