Its a little to late and immaterial about mentioning his age.

Isn't this one of the laws of "unintended consequences"? Sure, she kept guns around to "protect" her and her family. The problem is, one never knows who is going to get hold of these guns, and what is going to be their state of mind at the time. Regardless of anything the NRA or its apologists say, guns make it easy for one person to kill a multitude of other people. Just like this incident. Point and click. Bang your dead. And you. And you. And you. Etc.

So what about the car he drove to the school? He wouldn't have committed this tragedy without the car.

Combined with the case of the judge in Minnesota who last week shot and killed his granddaughter outside his own home because he thought she was "an intruder," today's situation is yet another example of why possessing guns in the home "for self defense" is just plain looney.

I don't own any guns and I would support strict limits on who can own automatic weapons. But, I agree with some of the other posters. The core issue is the mental health of people not guns. I think people, particularly those who have no experience with guns, jump to banning guns because it is a much simpler action than addressing the weaknesses in getting people with mental health the help they need.

yesterday 100 people were killed by cars, today 100 will die via car, tomorrow 100 will die by car. 40,000 a year die while sitting in a car. Thats with seat belt laws, age restrictions, driving tests, driver's education, vehicle inspections, airbags, roll over safety cages, side curtain airbags, frontal impact crash tests, insurance companies and all their research, etc, etc, etc, etc

Where is the logic with the anti-gun lobby? Are they saying people killed in auto crashes deserve to die?

I have pepper spray - a 3 second, a 7 second and a 15 second - for self defense. No, it won't stop everyone in every situation from inflicting harm, but NEITHER WILL A GUN. I took 3 gun safety classes with every intention of getting a gun for protection after a divorce. I had 32 hours classroom time, and 45 hours range time. Yes, I learned a lot about respect, laws, justifiable homicide, shooting in various positions, gun care, etc.. I also learned that it isn't for me, and all of the people who "NEED" a gun are ridiculous. There are other types of self defense - classes (I can kick a$s if I need to), pepper spray (have 3 in different locations), and simple awareness of my surroundings (this has already gotten me out of a few dangerous situations since I work in a bad part of a city). Will they all work? No. Will a gun always work? No. Does a gun add risk that I just don't need in my life? Yes - risk including someone else getting a hold of it and shooting me or someone else. And, I am so sick of the hero mentality - "if I was there, I would have stopped him". BS - that happens so ridiculously rarely, that it's not even worth mentioning. The opposite happens far more often - why do you think cops (who are armed) get shot!?!?! Shut up tough guys. You couldn't have stopped this. That GUN OWNER (the mother) could have prevented it (by NOT leaving her weapons where a POS could get his hands on them)... or she could have just not had that gun in the first place... maybe that extra hurdle for this POS to jump over would have made the difference. The more hurdles to get weapons, the less weapon-related crime. Period.

Wonder if his mother was one of those "I have a right to own a gun to protect my property/family, etc." people that makes me see red. I don't know how many times I've asked the question of a bunch of people who have used that argument, "how many times in your life have you had to use a gun to do so?" I'm 70 years old. In my lifetime I know of not one of my family members who has had to use a gun for protection, same for my husband's family and my friends. Needless to say, I've yet to get an answer from anyone. Pretty pathetic, if you ask me! In this case the brother says the shooter had mental issues. Then why, in God's name, have a gun easily accessible to him??? With mental issues he shouldn't have even been allowed to know there were guns in the house!

This guy was determined to "get back" at his mom for some reason. If he didn't have guns at hand, I'm sure he would have found other means of doing his dirty deed, which may have resulted in even more deaths. Ever notice there is more gun violence in the states with the strictest gun laws? Obviously, the mentally sick/criminal type will stop at nothing. Also, there is so much violence occurring on a daily basis we never hear about---only something like this gets national attention, especially if it involves guns. A semi-automatic only fires as fast as you can pull the trigger each time, just like a revolver, until it runs out of ammo, and there are many types of guns with many different carrying capacities. Same goes for an "assault" rifle, unless it has been unlawfully modified to full auto. This guy must have had extra clips or something in order to kill that many with only two guns, as each one only holds 10-15... I find it hard to believe he was an expert marksman with each shot.... Total sicko and I'm glad he's dead. Bless the victims and their families!

First and foremost my heart goes out to all of the victims and their families.

I hope that this tragedy will bring the gun issue to the forefront of national and local politics. There needs to be an overhaul of our federal gun laws, starting with the ridiculous "gun free zone".

What is the most target rich environment with the lowest probability of someone returning fire; a gun free zone. Proscribed by law and only adhered to by law-abiding citizens. You can't stop crazy by passing laws or by taking everybody's guns away because someone who wants to inflict pain and anguish will do so, no matter the consequences.

I legally carry a gun daily and I can tell you that I hope I’m never put in to the position that I have to stop someone from committing an horrific act of violence, but I am grateful to the men and women before me who had the sense to vote for and support our rights to defend ourselves and others from harm.

I chose not to be a victim. Will you?

Orb1943 This is not the NRA this is people who buy weapons but don't keep them locked away where the people in the house hold have head problems.. Or they steal them or they can buy them from the back of cars so don't blame NRA Blame the people who don't know how to control Guns,They buy from the nut cases!!!!!!

GET RID OF AND/OR BAN HANDGUNS AND ASSAULT STYLED WEAPONS.

And for the hunters, make them jump through lots of hoops to get their rifles to make them appreciate and protect their right to hunt.

CONTROL AND AMEND.

I think we naturally try to categorize or assign blame if the face of such a tragedy in order to try to even comprehend something so heinous.

I do think, we as a society, have stopped being a community quite some time ago, and we have lost our ability to care for each other on a day to day basis. I realize that I'm clearly generalizing since I live in a great small community where everyone know everyone. But could this happen any where? Yes, I believe so. So, the natural question we all ask is why? What drives the level of rage and hate? Why innocent children?

Some argue it from a cultural perspective, others from a religious viewpoint. yet others from a morality view, but the bottom line is we have lost something in our society. Are we simply aware of what always existed due to 24 x 7 news, paying attention more, or have we become something less than we once were.

I am not a religious person (never been to church - mostly because I hate being told what to do - for those wondering) but for the first time I stopped to think about what the benefits could provide to those that may need it the most. Honestly, I was shocked the thought even entered my head, and I'm sure my friends would say the same.

Second, how do you rationalize or explain insanity? As with most issues, the discussion exceeds the superficial gun control, this group/that group is to blame, level of discussion. I don't have the answers, but I do know that the current petty arguments are just that: petty.

Murdering 28 people was illegal, but that didn't stop him - did it?

>Under Connecticut law, people under 21 are prohibited from purchasing or carrying handguns. Lanza was 20.

So he was in illegal possession of the firearms. If he had been banned from carrying a handgun because of his mental problems perhaps he would not have carried out this evil deed...or wait....that wouldn't have made a difference because he didn't respect the law to begin with. What gun control measure would have prevented this if the existing one couldn't??

Schools, like home, should be a safe haven for all children.

This is an absolutely horrific tragedy – I pray for the victims, their families, friends, and relatives and for the safety of everyone involved.

Give your family an extra hug this evening and try to help those in their time of need this season.
_____________________________
Firearms are used far more often by law-abiding citizens for personal defense than for the horrible murders committed by deranged criminals. (Although this fact is rarely (if ever) reported by the MSM)

Guns act as “force equalizers” for all men, women, and children enabling defense from stronger, or more able, violent attackers that would otherwise not be possible.

Please add this site to the list of those attempting to highlight the defensive use of firearms typically reported by local media:

Why were the guns not locked up?? To prevent this "child" under the age of 21 from having access. Why did shot not have a gun safe. My guns are locked up and in a safe, except when I am wearing one or at the shooting range. Only myself and wife know how to get to them.

How about banning, outlawing and destroying all violent video games that glamorize, romanticize, glorify, justify , violence, carnage, and murder.

As more facts become known we see the futility of trying to prevent the recurrence of this tragedy by treating it as a gun control issue. She purchased the guns, he didn't. The one rifle which theoretically would have been covered by an assault weapons ban apparently wasn't used. We don't know how she stored them or if she was aware that her son had mental problems. So what new reasonable restrictions would have prevented this?

But that's always been the case with these events. They don't fit neatly into a pattern. Therefore, the gun control groups want to try one restriction and when that doesn't work they say we need another restriction and then another and so on until we effectively have no rights left.

That is essentially what goes on in DC with its myriad restrictions. They'll claim that you have rights to own firearms but the hurdles are so high and numerous that your rights are nonexistent. Of course, they also have one of the highest rates of gun crime in the country so that shows you how well their restrictions work.

Mass shootings are becoming more and more common. Like it or not, at some point something will have to be done. Just like cell phone usage has been limited due to careless drivers.

As for gun rights, some of you really amuse me. If the government wants to shut down guns, they'll just have every store pull ammo off the shelves. Yes, a very limited percentage of people will have large stockpiles, but that won't stretch very far. Most of you are just more concerned with being able to shoot a deer rather than a child being shot to death.

News is reporting that the gun used was a .223 rifle, not just the 9mm. That is why there is not many or any survivors that were shot. Those kind of guns have no business being legal. You dont hunt with .223, its a killing gun. And for anyone that start calling me names, I personally own 2 pistols, and 6 rifles. I do hunt. And I am getting my concealed license.

No new laws would have helped here or in other mass shootings. If a disturbed person is set on doing something they will find a way. This person was 20, unable under present law to own or have a handgun. These guns were bought and owned by his mother who he lived with. He got control of them and killed her then took them to where she worked and killed her class?? Facts unclear.. Schools are suppose to be gun free zones, so he ignored this too.

Maybe all schools should have a School Ressource officer who is trained do deal with threats such active shooters and has immediate access to an AR type riffle. In this case a faster response may have saved some lives. This person was obviously set on causing mayhem much like suicide bombers.

Gun laws should not be the focus, why more people are hell bent on commiting acts like this should be. Is the TV / Movie / Video game violence being glorified. Is is mental issues from all these synthetic drugs. There are some really unstable people out there.

If a gun wasn't used something else would have been. What do you think the body count would have been if this kid went into this school with a bomb?? Oddly enough today a guy in china did about the same thing in a school there with a knife, they reported 30 slashed with 20 some dead.

SO IS AMERICA FINALLY WIDE WAKE AND PAYING ATTENTION.

ARE THE DEATHS OF 31 LITTLE CHILDREN ENOUGH TO FINALLY WAKE YOU APATHETIC DUMB@ZZ UP?

No one NEEDS auto and semi auto weapons. Weapons that are designed to do ONE thing. KILL LOTS OF PEOPLE; as is being constantly demonstrated in our schools. These are just the youngest victims.

Are we finally ready to call out the Republicans and the NRA on this issue once and for all. The Republicans who take money to consistently keep legislation from even getting voted on that would remove these weapons from the hands of the most dangerous among us.

And the NRA who consistently support the rights of terrorists, criminals, and wackos to have access to these weapons.

They care nothing for these deaths and, likely as not, one of them will say something about how with more guns this would have turned out all right. Maybe it'll be that hillbilly prick and people will finally start ignoring him.

The NRA needs to be BLACKLISTED as a supporter of International Terrorism (which they actually have been for at least the past 30 years) and EVERY SINGLE MEMBER OF CONGRESS, HOUSE AND SENATE, needs to be present at all of the funerals about to take place in Connecticut.

Dont let this be swept away like ALL the other school shootings have been. YES it is a sad and horrible thing that has happened and EVERY SINGLE AMERICAN has a PERSONAL duty to make certain it never happens again.

The Second Amendment provides a "right to keep and bear arms." No problem. There are already 2.6 guns in this country for every man, woman, and child, and no conceivable way to take them out of circulation. But there is no constitutional right to possess tons of ammunition. Pass a federal law limiting an individual to 3 rounds for the firearm of his choice. Provide 90 days for everyone to turn in the ammunition in excess of that number, and from the 91st day, make it a capital offense to exceed 3 rounds in possession, if not a policeman or active duty military member. Provide that any armed citizen may use one of his three rounds to shoot any other citizen he/she sees with more than 3 rounds, without penalty.

If you go hunting and use your 3, turn in the empties and be allowed to buy 3 more. If you want to practice shooting at a range operated by a licensed federal firearms dealer, you can take the empties to the counter and then return to the bench and shoot 3 more for as long as you want to stay.

When the Second Amendment was ratified, there was no such thing as a "repeating" firearm. Guns don't kill people...BULLETS kill people. Get all the absurd amounts of ammunition out of circulation, and there will still be mass killings, but a lot less children will be killed. And the law-abiding citizen will learn how to shoot, since accuracy will be at a premium, and far fewer people with guns will want to use them for fear of running out of ammo before the other guy's accomplice appears with HIS three shots.

Then all of us sane folks have to do is lay in a couple weeks' supply of food, and stay home for the 91st through 104th day while the gun problem solves itself.

It looks like mommy dearest is a contributing cause by having firearms in her home where her lunitic son lived. What the hell was she thinking?

"Two 9mm handguns, one made by Glock and the other by Sig Sauer, were recovered inside the school. An AR-15-type " ...not real sure " Mom" would have bought these for her personal use....but Mom is responsible if she bought these, they were not secured and she did not use due diligence raising a psychopathic sociopath like her idiot son...perfect example why the principal and maybe a staff member or two should have been armed...I'm sure the criminal who sees the cute little placard with the slash across the hand gun is just too elated to rob that place or shoot people...when will all you anti-gun retards ever learn!