The trial of James Holmes, which is scheduled begin today, has surprisingly not brought about the fierce gun control debate after the man was allegedly accused of killing 12 people and injuring 70 when opening fire in a crowded movie theater in Colorado in July 2012.

At first, the debate over gun control had been fiercely revived when Holmes opened fire on that fateful day, and the debate gained intensity when five months later another gunman killed 20 children and 6 adults at Newton Elementary School in Connecticut, but with Holmes trial set to begin today, the two sides seem to be at a stalemate, according to an Associated Press report.

Democrats attempted to use the tragedies to push through new laws in 2013 that would require universal background checks and to ban magazines that could hold more than 15 rounds, feeling that they had finally found a way to push through such a law in a typically libertarian state.

However, what ended up happening was a sort of gridlock, according to the report.

Pro-gun state senators were voted out of office in elections last year, and Democratic Gov. John Hicklenhooper fought off a challenge despite signing new gun control laws in the conservative state.

Republicans tried to get new gun laws repealed but failed to do so because they only control one of the two houses.

In New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has begun his own effort to fight the rising tide of guns by spending $50 million on his anti-gun campaign. And in Oregon, the legislature could approval universal background checks, something that is also on the ballot in Nevada.