When a lone gunman killed 12 people and injured 58 more inside a crowded Colorado movie theater on July 20th, Americans were horrified by the news. In a matter of days, the event reinvigorated the highly contentious debate surrounding the issue of gun control and the Second Amendment. The increase was obvious on social media, where there was a drastic increase in Twitter mentions from politicians and thousands of related tweets sent to politicians.

The media began connecting politicians and gun control in a profound way. Measuring news articles that use the term “gun control” in connection to state and federal legislators, we see a sudden spike immediately following the incident in Aurora, CO.

Similarly. many congressional representatives from both the House and the Senate took the opportunity to participate in a Twitter dialogue about guns after the shooting. OhMyGov analytics found that the number of gun-related tweets sent by congressmen in July was more than double the amount sent during any previous month this year.

Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez, both from New Jersey, and Illinois Representative Mike Quigley, all Democrats, sent the highest volume of gun-related tweets. As is traditional for the Democratic platform, all three favored measures to limit firearms sales, criticizing the powerful National Rifle Association lobby and the scant mention of gun control during the past two sessions of congress.

While representatives were quick to tweet about firearms after the tragedy, individual citizens were even more vocal. The volume of tweets directed (either as @mentions or by name) to congress by personal Twitter accounts was staggering. OhMyGov reviewed the number of mentions from the first of July through Wednesday, August 8th, and discovered a profound leap in the days after the shooting.

Most interesting, however, is the fact that of the top five Twitter users talking about guns, four were self-identified conservatives lobbying in favor of the Second Amendment and against measures to limit overall sales or weapon types.

Though many users did take the shooting as an opportunity to call for increased gun control, the most persistent voices were in direct opposition to that goal.It seems that the United Nations' Arms Trade Treaty, which was debated throughout July at a global UN conference, may have fueled some of the fervor behind these users' posts.

Among less prolific Twitter users, the debate appeared to be more balanced.

Michael McGurk tweeted to Senator Marco Rubio, “Maybe politicians will tighten gun control laws so maniacs can't get their hands on weapons so easily. Or is that a pipe dream?” while another constituent, Jstance, wrote, “Senator the president will try and use this to ban guns. Please do not let him do that.”

Many of the tweets calling for gun control mentioned Representative Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, chair of the Democratic National Committee. Twitter user Cdoolz13 wrote, “Maybe this will spark new talks on sustainable, sensible gun control. Maybe @DWStweets could lead the charge?”

Another individual said simply, “@DWStweets please react by introducing strict gun control legislation.”

Strangely, although the shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin led to a small increase in gun-related posts, it was mild compared to the on-going dialogue generated by the Colorado shooting.