The Capitol Visitor Center is basically meant to stop shooters before they get farther into the complex
The U.S. Capitol went under lockdown Monday afternoon after gunshots were reported at the Capitol Visitor Center. The shooter is reportedly in custody.
The center was apparently built specifically for situations like this one, The Washington Post reports. In July 1998, a shooter fatally shot two police officers as he made his way through the Capitol, prompting talk of establishing a new center:
Of course, creating the center didn't solve everything, as then-Rep. James T. Walsh (R-N.Y.) had warned.
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"It's not a cure-all," he said. "If there had been a visitors center, he probably would have killed someone in the visitors center. No matter where you stop an angry person with a gun, someone is going to get hurt."
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Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.
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