"ground zero" = ?

[Nathaniel Sharpe]

In the years following the Columbine shootings, "ground zero for gun
control" was a common phrase, appearing frequently in connection with
the state of Colorado.  The intended sense of "ground zero" seems to be
"the central point in an area of fast change or intense activity."

March 01, 2000 FreeColorado.com
Originally, the Million Mom March was supposed to take place in
Washington, D.C. Now, it looks like they may focus on Denver. As The
Rocky Mountain News reports (March 1):

     [T]he local chapter announced this week that its efforts are now
focused on a Denver march.

     "Colorado has become ground zero," said state coordinator Kathleen
Hopkins. "If we send 14 people to national instead of 14,000 that's
fine. We need 75,000 here."
http://www.freecolorado.com/1999/01/shorts.html

March 07, 2000 - LA Times
To many in Colorado--viewed by some groups around the nation as the
current Ground Zero for gun control issues--the shared stage was a
hopeful sign that in the wake of last April's Columbine High School
shootings the issue of gun violence would be seriously addressed.
http://articles.latimes.com/2000/mar/07/news/mn-6272

May 15, 2000 New York Times
"You may have heard that Colorado is ground zero in the gun debate," Mr.
Mauser declared. "You bet it is. And we're going to show the rest of the
nation how you respond to it."
http://partners.nytimes.com/library/national/051500moms-guns.html


On 3/5/2013 7:38 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society<ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter<wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      "ground zero" = ?
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>  From Yahoo! News. The meaning, please:
> "Background checks may be ground zero for gun control.
> "An expanded background check system may be the one major gun control measure
> with a chance of passing through Congress, but its fate seems tenuous at
> best."
>
> JL
>
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
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