agreed. somethings wrong with that pic....we will hear more as this plays out.

Exactly. Why on earth would a woman living in one of the safest suburban communities in the country feel the need to have multiple firearms in her house when she has a child who has a long history of mental illness? I cannot imagine that rationale at all.

I grew up in a house full of guns - my father was a hunter and we lived in a rural area. I can see both sides of the argument on gun control. But this idea that you are safer in the house if you have a gun is pure fantasy in most cases. Why do we read in the papers about people scaring intruders or assailants off with guns? Because it's NEWS - it happens so rarely that it makes headlines. Unless you live in a terrible neighborhood, or out in the middle of nowhere, a gun is more likely to be a major liability. Home invasions are NOT common in most areas. Violent crime is at historic lows in this country. If you want to protect yourself and your family, invest in some decent security doors, an alarm and a big friendly dog that barks when anyone comes around.

The real problem with guns is that too many idiots own them. In my version of gun control, people would take rigorous classes and training before owning one or receiving any kind of permit to carry (current standards are mostly a joke). Too many people treat them like toys, store them improperly, handle them carelessly and respond inappropriately when they feel threatened. And yet, in many states, gun ownership requires less testing and training than driving a car. That's insane.

The NRA can fight every attempt at regulation if it wants, but a few more cases like this and all they will succeed in doing is uniting the majority of the public against guns entirely.

I agree with just about everything you said. What I wonder about is how many more of these events we have to have to unite the majority of the public against guns? Or at least against unrestricted, unregulated gun ownership? What does the body count have to be?

JRzWrld- You may want to take a look at the gun laws in Norway. Didn't seem to help all those dead kids.
You need to look at the real issue. The shooters in Arizona, Colorado and this one all seem to have a common issue. Mental Health issues. Not sure about the last mall shooters mental health but it sure sounds like he had some thing going on.
The left want to blame the guns and not the person with the Mental health issues.

Maybe we ought to place the same regs in place for guns as the govt did with medical marijuana. High surveillance, acces to the business owners nank records, audits, etc. Yes this will put a lot of businesses out of nusiness, but thoses are also not playing the game. One 410 shotgun with a good dog is all you need to protect your house. Anymore than this is overkill, no pun intended. Ban handguns and assualt weapons and recognize there is a major illness in America and it is mentel illness!!!! The two do not go togehter very well. I also have to ask why five guns in a safe neigborhood with a child with history of mental illness? REALLY!?

GCK, do you have anyone living in your home with mental health issues? No? Then I'm not worried about you having guns.

This is the prime example of people trying to blame inanimate Object! I got an idea for the people who like to blame the gun while were trying to make gun ownership illegal we should try to make Cocaine, Crack and other bad drugs illegal as well! Ohhhh Wait we already did! Yet its so plenty available, the same kinda people that can get ahold of illegal guns can purchase almost any kind of drug they want on a daily basis. What i cant believe is that so many people are so blind to whats going on around them that they have no clue whats going on.

The real issue should be How can a person walk right up to a school full of children and enter so easily? RThats what i want to know. How can Our house of represenatives (The House that is and has been Republican Majority ruled sit there spend trillions on wars that they never found the weapons of mass destructions they started them for in the first place), Sit there destroying and rebuilding other countries while they cut funding for our federal education system, knowing full damn well whats been going on in the past 15 or so years. Why is does everyone focus on an Inanimate object when our attentiopn should be doing something that actually protects the children. Maybe our represenatives should stop giving 100s of millions in tax breaks to the Big oil companies and use some of the money to make a federal law to put guards at our schools. While the house sits there and refuses to work to help its own people and send our soldiers off to fight wars only to protect the Big oil profits, Americas kids pay with the tax cuts by staring down the barrel of a Gun! people try to say this has nothing to dow ith politics? It sure as Hell does, the politcis are the ones cutting the funding so the schools cant even afford to give the kids a pencil and paper needed to provide the education the government claims everyone has the right too! We all know that Gun wills always been gotten anytime a person wants even if its obtained illegally, i hate to tell ya this but Illegal guns are on the streets just like the drugs that have been illegal for many years! The only way to protect the kids is to get the funding out of other countries for once and put it back in the places it belongs. The Bushs family War Vendette is over, lets start taking care of our own!

wait and see... in the competative world of crazy...their will be another school shooting...these nut's like the media hype...seem's like every time this happens some dummy...does his worst to top the other guy...kind'a wish they would down play the story...

we have serveral guns more then 5 and the are of different calibers gages whatever his father gave him his when he died and my husband had some of his own the 410 I use for my protection if needed no aim needed just shoot. the 22 is for shooting small type hunting squirrels snakes etc. 306 my husband uses to hunt deer. the pistols are to carry around when you can't carry a rifle or shotgun maybe if some idiot thought a person had a gun on them they wouldn't be so out to rob or try to kill them. Maybe the guns belonged to her grandfather and father who gave them to her to give to her sons who knows and who is going to abide the gun ban, law biding citizens the others will get the guns any way they can they already do. banning guns isn't the answer You can not take that right away from everyone I don't know what will stop this kind of killings maybe banning these games that allow kids to think it s okay to walk into a place and kill people maybe locks that go on all kinds of guns and gun cabinets that are affordable to buy. Banning the rights to own a gun won't do it people wake up this world is "all about me" parents pass it to their kids and when its no longer about them then there is problems you don't have to respect your parents or anyone else People wanted God out of everything and now kids don't think theres anyone to answer to for what the do. This world is in a bad place where there is no turning back til it is over........

We definitely need limits. There are a lot of people in America with mental issues, who don't get help or are on meds that are mind-altering. There's simply no way of knowing who is going to reach their limit of tolerance, or how they may react.

I see absolutely no reason for the average citizen to have an assault weapon or anything more than the six bullets a regular handgun holds in its chamer. There should be trigger locks on ALL guns when children are present or may be present (eg., grandchildren, nephews, nieces, etc.) Kids have little concept of death and that it is the ending of life. There have been several stories of kids killing themselves and others, also. Way too many.

Short of having armed security forces at each and every school, roaming the grounds and metal detectors in ALL schools, I don't know of any other answer to this kind of violence, except to homeschool, which brings about all kinds of other issues.

The TODAY show also mentioned this morning about "bars being set" in these types of mass killings. Once these start to occur, you're going to have other sickos thinking, "Oh, well I can top that one." It doesn't matter whether that type of person dies committing this type of murder, as they already aren't thinking correctly. All they are thinking about are their own selfish reasons for "martyrdom".

It's rather telling that we know the name of the murderer here, but nothing about the victims. No names, nothing. I know this will come out eventually, but already, the murderer is "famous" (infamous).

Let's get some real perspective, People! Guns don't shoot themselves, and, tougher gun laws will only remove guns from law abiding citizens, leaving honest citizen's at the mercy of people like this... Be realistic, Cops and the Military can't be everywhere to protect everyone, which is why we have the Constitutional Amendment to "Bear Arms". (and before you ask, the definition "Bear" is more than just a furry animal!) Don't be so willing to throw away a Constitutional Right that has kept this country safe from foreign assault for centuries.. Everyone knows one country may be able to overpower another countries military; but, it is impossible to capture a nation that is citizen armed.

If someone wants to go on a shooting spree, they can find guns on line, in street black market sales, at gun shops and just about anyplace they want. There is no way to remove ALL THE GUNS.... What we need is tougher accountability laws... Make the punishment sooo bad, people won't want to use the guns on others..... And make these crimes ineligible for appeal if convicted. Maybe America should take a look at tougher countries courts... If convicted for a heinous crime like this, the guilty are executed within a timely manner... They don't sit in a jail cell for years, being fed, clothed, watching videos and using the computer, like a jailed hotel.. You can't have it both ways People.... You can't ask for legal accountability for the crime; and then worry more about the criminals civil rights, than the victims rights for justice....

As for this guy, well, tougher gun laws wouldn't have made a difference. He already massacred his parents and planned to kill himself as well.. Like it or not, he is already receiving his eternal judgement; which is far worse than anything the courts could do on earth... The only consolation to all this... If you believe in God and read your bible.. one of the biggest abominations in God's eyes is the slaughter of the innocents.. There is nothing more innocent than small children, before they reach the age of accountability... Judgement has been rendered and this guy is warming his backside the hard way....

You all seem to forget, or just not realize that millions of Americans own guns. There are vastly more responsible gun owners than people like the man who caused this tragedy.

You may not live in rural areas, but the do still exist. Many people still use guns as a means of providing food for their family. You may find this backwards, but I promise you I'll never go hungry nor will my family.

Many young women, like myself, carry concealed. Why? What am I so afraid of you ask? Not much, but I do recognize the potential to be a victim of violent crime. What can I do to protect myself from a man who wants to hurt me? I am not big, that fast, or very strong. But I can defend myself with my firearm.

Guns are useful tools. Those of us who have grown up around them know that you can teach gun safety and respect to young kids. To anyone. The sport is fun, I enjoy shooting different guns. That's why I have more than one.

Please don't advocate taking away my means of putting food on the table or protecting myself and my family. Please don't advocate the complete destruction of my privacy with surveillance. Don't take away my rights because you are scared of something you don't understand.

Also, 2nd Amendment is to protect you from your government, not for the government to protect you.

Putting a ban on guns will do nothing to stop nut jobs from getting guns. If they want them they will get them one way or another. Drugs are banned but people still do not have any trouble getting those.

GCK...this is not about you! That's the trouble with NRA types, always selfish, always twisting things. 20 kids are dead. Knock off the spiel about your freaking guns.

But nuts8, you just argued against yourself. Of course drugs are banned, yet of course criminals still get them. You still try and fight them. Your argument is so dumb, and repeated over and over mindlessly. Brainwashed.

I am sickened by the pictures or interviews with the victims especially the children. Shame on the journalists and the broadcast companies for using these images. Having to answer questions or see these images can be traumatizing to the victims. Has the need to "get the scoop" numbed any sense of sensitiving or compassion. Obviously this gunman (as others in the past)struggled with mental illness. None of us understands how this media attention might encourage a disturbed mind. When are we going to come to our senses and use the media to support this community with out sensationalism and provide information that could perhaps disuade these acts in thr future. We have to hold ourselves accountable for doing what we can to change the attention/focus of these news stories not just gun laws.

I have often wondered why people feel the need to have a whole bag full of gulf clubs and sometimes multiple bags of gulf clubs I just don't understand.

We'll worry about that the next time some disturbed person gets hold of a bag of golf clubs and kills 20 five-year-olds with it.

Why did the news have to say "This massacre beats the Columbine massacre" Idiots!

I would say, EO that if texas up there can't tell the difference between a gun and a golf club, he shouldn't be trusted with either...

Mr. President, I have heard it said that you are a smart man, if this is true then you know more gun laws will serve no purpose. We already have laws that prohibit the purchase of weapons by convicted felons and the mentally ill and military type weapons. The problem is not with guns, and you know that Mr. President. Either you have another reason for taking away Americans right to bear arms or you are not as smart as I took you to be. You also know that a criminal can get a weapon anytime they want. There is nothing that could have been done about what happen at this school. This young man was mentally disturbed and the only other possible people who knew this, was his mother and his brother and possibly his father. If there is fault to be put anywhere it might be on the mother as she could have had the weapons under lock and key, but that probally still would not have stopped this man as he would have forced her to get them for him. Also if his intent was to kill, then he would have found away. Mr. President if you were to look at this and see that the only way this could have been minimized would actually have been if all the personel in the office had been armed. I believe that had this been the case and these people had been trained in the use of their weapons, one of them would have taken this guy out. Thank You Mr. President for your heart felt sympathy for these children and their teachers and loved ones. I to as a grown man cannot stop crying about this. May God bless all the family's and give them strength to go on.

I am so sick and tired of gun activists hiding behind the 2nd amendment....The 2nd amendment was included in the Constitution to permit people to bear arms against the British who wanted to suppress us when we declared our independance...

The only people who should be permitted to have guns are law enforcement, the military and people who have to hunt for food (not sport).

Yes, its not the guns, but insane people who do these things, but its even more insane to allow people to amass an arsenal. Think of all the violence that would be eliminated if the only people with guns were law enforcement and the military. We wouldn't hear of kids shooting themselves by accident, people going into theatres and schools and massacring dozens, or driveby shootings or people shooting their families.....Contrary to any argument, the world would be a safer place. Its much more difficult for someone to do damage with a knife or a club than it is to blow your head off with one shot.

Sorry, but all those that think mental illness is behind all gun violence...guess again.

Yes, it takes a mentally ill person to shoot up a school or theatre full of people...but how much gun violence occurs one on one....make your arguement to the inner city kids who cant play outside because the drug dealers on the street can open fire at any moment...or to the person who had a gun put to the back of their head as someone demands their wallet. Alot of criminals (and others) are far from crazy...theyre just acting out of desperation.

Once again, the focus on this tragedy is misguided.

Of course, the parochial reaction is to blame the guns that took the lives of these children and teachers. It's the easy way out. Just throw the blame on the guns for being misused. If the guns weren't there none of this would have happened.

Maybe, maybe not.

Maybe not yesterday, maybe not today, but someday it would have happened. Creating more laws, rules, regulations and inconveniences has never worked. No law has ever prevented a crime. We have tens of thousands of laws, rules and regulations to make motor vehicles safer yet we still had more than 34,000 people killed last year by motor vehicles. We have thousands of laws, rules and regulations for alcohol and drug abuse and we still had over 40,000 and 26,000 deaths last year respectively from them.

Last year there were 11,101 homicides by discharge of firearms. But there were also 4,852 homicides by unspecified means. Almost 1/3 of the homicides were by means other than firearms.

As we have seen, the "wars" on drugs, crime, poverty and illiteracy have been abject failures. What makes us think we can control guns any better than we control drugs, alcohol, poverty or illiteracy? We can't. The only thing we can do is to educate ourselves and our children as well as possible to be familiar with the warning signs that usually precede these tragedies.

This horrific event wasn't due to guns, or access to them, it was due to evil.

Evil walked into Sandyhook elementary school yesterday and uncaringly murdered innocent children and teachers. This was a very sick individual. Something horrible happened to a 20 year old man in Newtown and he couldn't control himself any longer. If he didn't get the guns from his mothers home he would have gotten them some other way. Just like we think we control the effects of drugs and alcohol, we don't.

Hundreds of similar scenarios like this happen every day. They're not as sensational as this, but they do happen. Drugs and alcohol kill dozens of people every day, often young children are involved. They kill by overdoses or being impaired behind the wheel of a car. They kill themselves and innocent people they never knew.

Adam Lanza was obviously mentally ill. There are millions of Americans who have mental illnesses. The vast majority of these mentally ill people do not go on murderous rampages. Historically all these tragedies end up being by unstable individuals. From Virginia Tech to Columbine to Aurora and others these were crimes of questionable sanity.

Why did Adam Lanza turn into this monster? We will probably never know. There will be analysis, theories and conjecture but chances are we'll never know. He came from what seems to be a reasonably educated family, the fact that they didn't notice any impending problems shows the difficulty with mental illness. Even some of the subtle signs would probably never alarm anyone. Perhaps he left a note or some sign of his rage that consumed him. Time will tell.

For those demanding psychiatric evaluations to purchase or own a firearm, this is wishful thinking. Who evaluates you? What criteria are necessary to own a firearm? Who is responsible if someone is cleared to own a gun and 2 years later he/she snaps and murders innocent people? Is it the killers fault? Is it the psychiatrist/psychologist who evaluated them fault? Is it the gun dealers fault?

There are 311 million people in America, along with over 6.7 billion other people on the planet. Every single person has a different personality. Yes, we can bunch most people as "normal" but many aren't. These atrocities will continue, the best we can do is make sure we educate ourselves and those around us to be aware of possible mental handicaps. Unfortunately this requires us to have a functional education system, we don't. Even then there is no one single solution to madness or evil at this level.

The one law we are all familiar with should be a good starting point,,,,

Thou shalt not kill.

We all cry for these innocent victims, this should never have happened, but it did. We will heal, just as we did from Ted Bundy, Timothy McVeigh, The Zodiac Killer, Ted Kaczinski, Jared Loughner, the Westside Middle School massacre of 1998 and others. Hopefully we learn from this tragedy and minimize the possibility of future tragedies.

Condolences to the families and friends of those lost and injured. As a nation our thoughts and prayers are with you.

Gina-

because the media always wants to one up anything and therefore draw attention to itself. I would not be surprised if news anchormen/women aren't masturbating under the desk while reporting things like this.

I loved that they made the media wait in the cold for over an hour this morning (Saturday) before starting the press conference

Nobody says we should blame the guns. Nobody I know is saying we should take all guns away from everybody.

What some ARE saying is we need to find a better way to keep guns out of the hands of people with mental problems. You don't ban cars when someone kills others in a drunk driving wreck, but you DO take steps to keep the drunk drivers from getting behind the wheel. We probably need to do more in that area also.

Owning a firearm should come with some responsibility, and presently we do not have enough accountability in this area.

My heart goes out to those that are touched by this tragedy.

Good thing he did not have Molotov cocktails or pipe bombs.

Conn. has the most restrictive gun laws in the nation;

what was his motive, simple he was crazy as a bed bug, no motive necessary;

take his body to the town square, hang it up, pour gasoline all over it, and watch it burn, then take the ashes and put them in a garbage dump.

Wayne, that is far too intelligent a reply for the gun fetishists to fathom. To the, any attempt to control the internal arms trade is an attempt to take all guns away. Wayne LaPierre has done his job well with those sheeple...

In her home, Adam's mother had stockpiled multiple guns. This makes one think that she was reacting to the violence outside of her neigborhood. Ms. Lanza responded to what she saw on tv and read in the newspapers. By being armed, she thought she was protecting herself. Sadly, Adam's mother conjured up violence that did not exist in her community...until her son grabbed her guns and killed these young children. This crime is unbelievable and truly horrific. It really makes you wonder what goes on in people's minds.

Rob, 'dja ever stop to think he didn't have molotov cocktails or pipe bombs because they're harder to get?...

Wayne,

Like the analogies of most leftists yours fails as well. A drunk driver is arrested and incarcerated, then adjudicated. His punishment follows the illegal act. What you want is for restrictions (we already have tens of thousands of laws and regulations) to stop a possible future bad act. So what is the law or restriction which stops the drunk driver in the first place? I doubt you will get the point but I hope I'm wrong.

To all,

Stop with this silly argument about the guns. Why she had them I don't know, and I'm not sure I care unless the reason was nefarious. We don't know the killer has a long history of mental illness, at least not yet. All we know is that his brother says so. But a former classmate says the killer was happy and smart, maybe even a genius. Maybe, I say with great facetiousness, being smart is the key! Maybe we need more stupid people since smarts is correlative to violence!

If you can't see how utterly stupid such comments are, then perhaps you are not in any way a risk for committing such violence yourself.

His mother having the guns didn't cause the crime to occur. He shot his own mother in the face. Speculation alert...This shows great rage against her. He then went to a school he attended and targeted a specific grade level. Speculation alert...this hints at motive. Maybe something terrible happened to him in 1st grade? Maybe he was tired of hearing his mother speak about how wonderful all those little kids are and how they are so much smarter and work harder than her own pitiful son? We just don't know.

What we do know are lots of people are hurting and lots of innocent lives were snuffed out. Please direct your wasted efforts over gun control to root causes, and if nothing else just send your best wishes to those still alive who will grieve for the rest of their lives. In other words, quit trying to find blame where none exists while ignoring everything that does matter.

People, protection of one's property and family is the reason to own guns. Calls to 911 all the time of intruders trying to break into your home. By the time police arrive the intruder has already gone and done their damage.

Conjuring Cat,

A pipe bomb isn't harder to get, it is harder to make. A Molotov Cocktail, as you apparently have no idea what one is, is easy to make. A bottle filled with gasoline with a rag stuffed into the opening lit on fire, then thrown at an object so it breaks. Simple. Flames spray out, following the flying gasoline, and ignite all in the way.

Maybe where you live glass bottles and gasoline and rags are illegal, but not in Realityville.

how many more of these events we have to have to unite the majority of the public against guns

Wrong again, How many of these events do we have to go through till this country takes a real look at Mental illness. Along with that the need to medicate everything so when a person and not saying this one is not on their meds they can't cope.

We also have a society where many think abortion is OK. I'm on the fence on this as what happans when a small child hears about someones abortion and is told that it was a mistake then in their minds if something is or goes wrong then it is ok to take a life or life to be. The number of abortions in this generation is appalling.

Shouldn't this be Gunmen? When this thing started they showed another man in the woods firing into the School. People on the ground said a Second Gunman was firing from the woods..... I even saw on either CNN or MSNBC shots being fired from the woods... The Police brought a man out of the Woods.

What happened to the second Gunman?

And those speaking out about guns and how much easier it is to kill with then. Well how many died on 9/11...no guns, how many did McViegh kill on April 19, 1995...168 and no gun. It is much easier to kill many with a bomb which for many is very easy to make or get. .00001% goes nuts so everyone else must be restricted due to them, makes no sense.

How many times have you folks even hugged your kids everyday and told them you love them? Then do you punish them because someone in their class was bad and they were not?

You Reap what you Sow America!

America is the most violent society in the history of mankind, bar none.

America attacks other nations, robbing those nations resources, using force to attempt to form those nations to our likeness, killing innoncents, calling such "collateral damage".

America survives on "making and creating" wars. America locks up more of their own than any other "modern civilization", breeding violence.

America's TV shows, video games, are all basically based on killing.

The youth of today are desensitized to killing and life.

You reap what you sow America.

Fishman,

A dangerous example to talk about, but your larger point that our culture has been coarsened by our turn from a belief in life as being intrinsically valuable and towards life having only a utilitarian value is spot on. If it's okay, say modern leftists, to decide for yourself who should pay your way and without their consent, or if you can decide for yourself alone whether the most innocent of future beings should be allowed to live, then why should we be shocked when people take these ideas to their absurd ends?

MtMike,

I know what you mean. I just bought my little girl "Dance Fever 4" for Christmas but I fear it may turn her into a maniacal killer. Or possibly even a twit who makes inane comments on a story.

We are not the most violent nation on earth, ever. I doubt we even make the Top 100. Which isn't to say there is no violence, or that whatever level exists is fine with me. Just that hyperbole is of no use in discussing real issues. I expect this kind of thoughtless drama from 5th grade girls.

This may sound cold & callous to some folks, but it has to be said.

Sometimes bad things happen, it really sucks, but that is life. And there is nothing we can do to keep bad things from happening. We can point fingers and blame all we want, but things like this will happen.

My heart goes out to the survivors and the families of those lost this week.

But to be honest, I have to accept that sometimes there isn't an answer to the question of "Why?"

So, cry, pray, be charitable, do whatever you have to do to mourn. I believe all we can do to attempt to prevent this kind of tragedy is to be more loving, compassionate and tolerant of our brothers & sisters. Perhaps the necessary action isn't more laws or restrictions, but just plain simple hugs.

Why does a woman need these many guns the first or second person asked above.

We will never know the true reason why since the person who can answer that best is now dead.

With that being said you can question why any person needs so many guns ?

Why do people have so many fishing poles, knives, Sword, rocks, butterflies and any other collection you can think of.

A person has every right to own a gun and have as many as they want.

Gun control isnt a solution. Even if you were to change the ammendment ( which you wont ) to ban guns all together in the USA, criminals will still get guns some how, then you leave society defenseless.

You cant prevent stuff like this from happening. Even if you took away guns, people will still find a way to kill other people. Someone could go on a killing spree with swords, knives, harpoon guns, bow and arrows, crossbows what ever.. You cant predict what people will do.

Gabriel is right. The police didn't arrive on the scene of this shooting for TEN minutes. A crazy guy with a sword could do immense damage in ten minutes. What a shame that no one in the office had a concealed weapon--having weapons at a school is illegal, you know, unless apparently your goal is to wipe out little kids, in which case it's still illegal but it isn't preventative. Maybe the end result would've been identical had someone or several someones at the school been armed, but we will never know because that path is the one this society has decided to not walk down.

Could it have been worse though had someone at the school been armed? I mean besides the killer. I'm sure leftists will immediately, and perhaps correctly, note that a gunfight might kill even more people. But just as my ponder is supposition and guesswork, so must theirs be the same.

Guns are not an issue because if this guy didn't have a gun, he could have use a rock to bash 28 people to death, unstopped in a relatively short amount of time, then bash his own head with the rock till he ended his life to escape prosecution.

/Sarc

EDIT: A guy with a sword could have done immense damage in ten minutes if people just stood there and let him have them. And he would have required a far higher level of skill, physical consitioning and musculature to do it effectively. With a gun, people could have run and he still could have shoot them in the back as they fled. Swords are not on the same level of magnitude as a gun--PERIOD.

Pete,

It was right to say it too.

Just one part of the problem but a major one

A client of mine who teaches psychology at an advanced level has referred to the
media as "Social Terrorists." Here is her reasoning in a nutshell. Beginning
immediately after 9/11, "the media beat the violence of the day and the wars in
Iraq and Afganistan, to a froth." you couldn't turn on the Radio and
particularly the TV without having every nuance of the day's events dissected
repeatedly. She is convinced that a generation of kids, now adults or
approaching adulthood, have been numbed into thinking this way of life is the
norm. Remember world of warcraft earlier? They haven't been bombed or shot at
but the pictures of such no longer have any shock factor hence the term, "Social
Terrorists."

I don't know about other parts of the country but tonight,
the news of the day was being reported, analyzed, editorialized, dissected,
dramatic questions asked, dramatic questions asked as answers to the previous
questions, all of the previous was constantly interrupted by some news 'flash'
from the next somebody with something to say and then repeated. Some of what was
reported earlier in the day has now been shown to be false. All manner of public
figures have been interviewed with their take on how to prevent a future
occurance. Some elected officials interviewed stated they had bills already
prepared for introduction and it goes on and on.

Would someone please
explain to me when and where responsible reporting of news starts and ends. And
where irresponsible 'reporting' begins? They are apparently at liberty to report
as they please with no fear of consequences. To me, this makes them the American
Taliban. Their behavior and thinking is almost identical to the Afgan Taliban.
Why are they not accountable for their capriciousness? As an individual, what
would happen if one were to falsely yell fire in a public place? Where is that
accountability for the media?

you people clearly don't understand why we have the 2nd amendment.. it wasn't because of the british and it wasn't so we can hunt... its so that if our constitutional republic ever devolved into a monarchy or totalitarian state, we would be armed and would be able to revolt and institute a new government.

the founding fathers saw that the british and many other countries citizens were not allowed to bear arms which meant they could not revolt against their government.

please don't misconstrue the use of the 2nd amendment. all of you liberals that like to see dictators being overthrown need to realize that it only happens when our government arms their citizens.

It isn't even about the guns. It is about the moral and physical decline of our society. The joblessness, the hopelessness, and stresses of life. Think back to times when life was much more simple. All worked hard, kids could find summer jobs, and the future was something to look forward to.

It is not that way anymore. Not only can't kids find summer jobs to fill the summer, but most of their parents don't have jobs either. Things that we once took for granite, like food on the table, a nice fire in the fireplace, and quiet evenings had home with the family. This is no longer the scenario for many.

People continuing to give birth with no ability, or thought, of how they will support and take care of them. Most of the time the fathers of these babies are not actually involved in the mother's life. It was a passing moment. And the cycle repeats itself, over and over.

Hope is coming. But it will not be earthly. Man has shown he can not govern himself.

"gun control" is not about banning guns. It's not about taking them away. It's about making sure that people are responsible with them.

Some moron wrote "

Well I have 4 guns just in by bedroom. A .20 gauge shotgun, .308 thompson contender pistol, .243 remington rifle, and a .357 pistol. I am also a 21 year old white male. I don't plan on going on a killing spree.

Let's leave the assumptions and speculation to the "sensational" media."
Are those guns in a LOCKED case? Are they under a cobination lock, or could someone get their hands on the key? If your cousin comes over and brings a buddy, do you do a background check before they come into your home? No, you don't. But if someone takes those guns out of your hosue and uses them to commit a crime, YOU are just as responsible as the shooter. THATS what this is about. Everyone says "well, I'm not crazy, so I can have guns." But how do you safeguard your guns so they don't fall into the wrong hands?

Had the mother of the shooter in Newtown had her guns in a safe, and the son did not have the combination, then maybe we wouldnt be having this conversation right now.

Brendan...

Your confusing the ENGLISH bill of rights with the AMERICAN bill of rights. Our second ammendmant was instituted because most of our early colonies were still controlled by the British, who tried to supress us into submission when we declared our Independance.. The English bill of rights protected the Protestants against tyranical Kings (i.e King James II) who disarmed them because he feared they were outnumbering his army. Although your premise is correct, it wasnt a revolt against OUR government...it was a revolt against THEIRS.

While NBC goes out of its way to note that the guns were legally purchased (if purchased for herself and not somebody else), what they fail to mention was that Adam Lanza illegally possessed the guns. The guns were in fact stolen from his mother who he had murdered.

For those of you crying for stricter gun laws, there is no evidence that it helps. In fact there is plenty of evidence to the contrary. Chicago -- a city that has probably the most restrictive gun laws in the US -- has a rampant epidemic of gun-related violence on its hands and leads the nation in gun violence. The same goes with other cities like Camden and Newark, New Jersey and Baltimore, Maryland. These cities and states have more restrictive gun laws, yet the end result shows that this hasn't helped at even one bit.

In other news, 22 kids were wounded by an individual wielding a knife in China.

China is now looking into outlawing all knives.

Oh wait.....

If I owned the gun shop where this guy tried to buy a gun and he did not want to endure the "waiting period", would I be violating his rights by reporting suspicious behavior to the "crime stoppers program" in the community?? I think this called "nip it in the bud" procedure.

Hi Vision Storm,

Not surprisingly you entirely missed the point. Whatever the weapon used, so long as the cops are ten minutes away, massive damage can be inflicted. Maybe we need more cops, or cops stationed at schools, or some other way to get cops there more quickly if needed, but so long as the response time is that long then all of our hand wringing over these dastardly guns is for our benefit, not for protecting future unknown victims. What a shame.

Hi Robin,

It fascinates me that so many people, perhaps you are one, have favored for decades various laws and policies which have degraded our culture who then, when the nefarious fruits are harvested, suggest we need yet more laws which do not go after the causes but instead punish the innocent. And we wonder why we can do nothing to stop these things.

Hi Renee,

Very good points, but something else must be at work here. During the depression era this kind of criminality didn't accelerate (presuming it is accelerating now). There was more violence but it was tied more to Prohibition and the criminal element that grew out of that. Very often the vest of all intentions, as in my point to Robin, result in exactly what we didn't intend.

I think Pete has it about right. Bad things will happen, and will always happen. It doesn't mean we should submit to it, but it does mean we can't in every case, or even many cases, do all that much to prevent it. This killer, apparently, stole a rifle. While it wasn't used in the crime that theft surely must imply that even if his mother didn't have the pistols he did use that he was still determined to do great violence. So leftists, like Robin, think that if your gun is stolen that you should be held criminally responsible, but she claims to not want to confiscate all weapons (I think). Yet her idea would, essentially, have the same effect. Her disingenuity to me means she doesn't actually want to solve the problem, but instead wants to forward her own political position. Shame.

The gold club comment above was clearly not meant to say people who own multiple golf clubs are going to go killing people. His point was people who do not own guns, have never been taught responsible gun use, and probably havn't even touched a gun saying "why would someone own five guns?!," would be like someone who has no idea about golf saying "why do you own more than one golf club?!"

If any of you want to help here is a place to start

http://www.crowdrise.com/SHSRelief/fundraiser/ryankraft

All funds go to the Sandy Hook PTSA so they will be used to directly benefits those affected by this tragedy.

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• "...gunman turned down for rifle" oh that makes everybody feel better I'm sure....
• It's the stupid gun culture the NRA has given us that made the mother(or whoever) buy the small arsenal she had. If she had been limited to one handgun, perhaps some of those kids would be alive today!!
• No doubt the shooter also got several of the large ammunition clips for killing 100 people... Just insane.... Are people really this stupid to allow this??
• Mothers, women, and concerned citizens are a much larger and influential voting block than the NRA. Use your power for GOOD!!!!

Hello folks, as you have heard a million times, guns don't kill people, idiots pulling the trigger kill people. If you eliminate our 2nd amendment constitutional right only criminals/government will have guns. I had a close loved one shot to death and the murderer was legally banned from having weapons and that didn't stop him from getting a gun. I would still rather face the dangers then lose my civil rights.

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote."

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty."

Benjamin Franklin

Gun enthusiasts. I don't want to take your guns away, just please tell me, someone, what are you doing to make America safer from gun violence?

Logical, remember the shooter is Norway was a right-wing racist neoNazi, opposed to immigration, who shot up that kids camp because it was sponsored by a left-wing political party. Who knows how he got his weapons, considering who he kept company with?

Besides, though it was a horrific event, it happened ONE TIME, once. Correct me if I am wrong, but I saw a list of mass shootings over the past 40 years - and almost all of them were in the USA. So Norway had one, Germany had the one crazy guy who shot up his old school. England, 1 or 2. I in Quebec.

I saw none listed for Italy, Spain, France, Sweden or Japan. But America? Dozens -- increasing in frequency too. We're gone from once a year to monthly to weekly now. Did we not just have a shootout at a shopping mall in Oregon last week?

So IT IS OFFICIAL; Nancy Lanza purchased and registered All 4 of the 9MM SemiAuto Handguns and let Adam, her son, have TOTAL Access to those weapons and the Bullets Even Though Adam, had A HISTORY OF MENTAL ILLNESS. There is always a guilt syndrome for parents over a divorce and what it will do to their children BUT being coerced by constant badgering and guilt, in this case, to buy instruments of death IS NO SOLUTION to the problem of family breakup. The Next Piece in the Puzzle??? Did Adam Lanza play and interact with violent video games and/or movies. There is NO protection for children who want to play those type video games at home in their players, which doting parents gave them. A reoccuring situation is at hand in our society because the Three Essential Ingredients; Mental and/or Emotional Dysfunction, Very Violent video games and easy access to parents firearms is not corrected. Banning All guns in The United States IS NO Solution as MILLIONS of Military Grade weapons of choice are made ALL OVER THE WORLD and the Bad Guys WILL ALWAYS Get Guns.

"The gunman in the Newtown massacre tried unsuccessfully to buy a rifle three days before..."

So the existing "gun regulations" worked; they kept the shooter from purchasing a gun as the waiting period would have caused him to possibly get over his "anger" from the altercation, except...........

MtMike: True dat. The USA is a military nation and we love our violence on TV and movies.

Why don't you braniacs look at the historical context of
"2nd amendment constitutional right"

• It doesn't mean stockpiling weapons of mass destruction or whatever you've twisted the intention into. It didn't insure that chaos permeates society, genius...
• Keep your handgun to protect your home. Keep your hunting rifle for hunting.
• IT's all the other stuff on top of this to allow MASS Killings.
• Not rocket science, einstein!!!

F**ck military nation. I'd fight to keep america NOT a military nation...

Hal

Thanks to the news media even a retard now knows that every school in our nation is defenseless. That they can walk into a school and open fire without any expectation of return fire. There were 600 children and teachers with not a single weapon to defend them with. Our schools have a responsibility to protect our children, the parents should sue the school. NO DEFENSE, NOT ONE GUN, NOT ONE SECURITY GUARD, TOTAL DISREGARD FOR OUR CHILDRENS SAFETY. What if a rabid dog got into school and was killing children??? Call animal control?? It would take as long as it took the police to respond, WHEN IT WAS OVER!!!!!! DO SOMETHING REAL ABOUT PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN, NOT JUST BLAH BLAH BLAH.

These types of events are in the hands of Hollywood. They glorify these types of actions. Ban the violence from Hollywood.

God Bless the USA, and God Bless our Troops.

Phantombeast: How do you know the Mom let her son have TOTAL access to her guns? Perhaps she had them locked up and after he killed her he took them. She may have had them to protect herself from him and couldn't get to them in time to save herself.

People focus on the guns in the home. This guy proved that even someone who doesn't own a gun and who may not even be able to purchase a gun legally, can still get their hands on guns - if not his mother's guns, I'm certain he may know someone else who had some. I'm still waiting to hear exactly what kind of mental disorders this shooter had, they don't seem to want to tell us this and try and put up a smoke screen to distract us. I'm betting on this guy having one of those attention problems throughout school where they force the parents to make their kids take those drugs or their kids aren't allowed in school. It shouldn't be surprising, it'd be about the 12th time a mass shooting like this has happened and it was done buy someone who used to be on those drugs. You realize, once they are out of school, they are no longer on those behavioral and mind altering drugs, right? Through all of these shootings, people focus on the guns and no one seems to connect that these drugs may be the cause. These types of shootings pretty much began several years after these drugs became mandatory for kids with attention problems, just long enough for the kids taking them to reach their late teens or so. There were no shootings like this when I was a kid going to school and the gun laws were less restrictive back then too. But, you know what? There is so much money (money Money MONEY!!!!) being made off of these drugs and so much money (money Money MONEY) being made off the sale of guns - do you really expect anything to change?! I own gun and there were guns in my home while I was growing up. From the time I was around 13/14, I had a .22 rifle of my own in my own bedroom along with ammo. But I never killed anyone with it or even thought of pointing it at anyone even when I knew it was empty. I wasn't raised to think of guns as toys. Another thing I didn't have growing up - violent video games or violent R-rated movies and a DVD player or even a VHS player for me to watch those movies on while no one was around. Even on regular TV the violence and language are getting out of hand. If you believe all of this has no effect on children growing up today, well then, stay under your rock. So imagine all of these kids forced to take some behavioral altering drug from age 6 - 18 or so and watching all these violent shows and playing all these violent games. Then suddenly "OUT OF SCHOOL" and no more behavioral drugs! What is a bored kid who relied on drugs to correct his behavior so has no skills of his own to control it himself supposed to do?!

These drugs CONTROL their behavior while they are gong to school. They finish school and they are NO LONGER required to take these drugs. They have NEVER LEARNED the SKILLS necessary to CONTROL their BEHAVIOR.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize this is a recipe for disaster!

Just wondering...Did he try and do this on Thursday and get turned away? If he was just on school grounds and had words with school officials and came back to "settle the score" on Friday how did he know to buy guns on Tuesday?

All of the appropriate gun control laws were followed. Dick's turned him away because he didn't want to follow the rules. Which is why we have the background check and the waiting period. His mother had legally purchased and registered the guns she had. He may have killed her to get ahold of her weapons. Yet she followed the laws. So the laws that are in place to prevent this sort of thing worked. The person that was hell-bent on destruction found away around them. What do you do now?

Jeanette, She might not have owned them all. I doubt she owed the .223. They are still investigating. At first they believed he only had two pistols, and now they know he had four.

@haggisbingo. Well said. Why does the mother needs to have 3 weapons in the house. There is no need for this!!!

@Brendan: The thought behind the 2nd amendment is accurate, but at the time, a cannon was about the most serious artillery known to mankind. In order to keep with the times, i.e., the modern era, we need drones and nuclear bombs to have parity with the government. Do you think it is appropriate for the average US citizen to own these weapons?

My answer to the question is "No", no one should be able to own these types of weapons, especially without training in their use and capabilities. That's why we have a standing Military, so they can use them for us. Which brings up the second part of my question: what makes you think we as a nation could EVER "... revolt and institute a new government.", should a totalitarian or etc government emerge? The US military would belong to them, and resistance, as is said, would be futile.

My point is this; the 2nd amendment is no longer viable as it stands now. It needs an overhaul. Handguns, automatics, and stock-piling need to be eliminated. And I doubt that any overhaul is going to include letting the gun nuts own drones, either.

I agree. the 2nd amendment is outdated. We have advanced technologically to the point that weapons nowadays are more effective at killing. They need to redo that amendment and advance it for today's standards. The right to bear arms has been taken out of context today and has been used to the point it has been abused by the US citizens. I know we are a free country, but some things should be regulated for the sake of the safety of individuals.

@lying democrats. Liberals don't need guns: "The pen is mightier than the sword".

"The pen is mightier than the sword".

Very well said, Leria!

Keep on writing!!

This is not the first time a deranged person has shot a classroom full of kindergartners. In 1996 at Dunblane Primary School in Scotland, a man burst into a room full of 5 and 6 year-olds and killed sixteen small children and their teacher.

Following this massacre, handguns were banned in the United Kingdom, and now the UK has one of the lowest rates of gun homicides in the world.

Now is the time, America, for us to stand up and say NO to the gun advocates and start enforcing stricter gun laws.

Take a look at this link of the children and their teacher killed in Scotland, and think of the children and teachers killed yesterday.

http://fareehaali.com/2011/09/18/september11/

DON'T LET THE NRA BULLY US ANYMORE!

I want to note that most post in here today are pretty level headed. No one has gotten to crazy and gone after someone that has a different way of thinking. You know we can make some changes that will not hurt anyone but the gun makers. I say any assault rifles and the mac 10 and the like should be banned outright. Then we must go after the Clips that hold more then the gun was made to hold witch is 9 I think. Make the gun makers these guns so they can't be so easily made to be automatic. And make it harder to buy. We have to learn to drive before we get a license. Why not do the same before you can buy a gun. Right now all you have to do is be a friend of the Local police Captain and you can get a CCW. But a big thanks for everyone talking and not getting so crazy today.

Restricting guns, banning guns, whatever is treating the symptom and not the disease. That's how we do in America though. We are a culture of violence accepted through our indifference and we are all to blame. Blaming the gun is too easy. We're better than that aren't we?

There are numerous errors conducted here. When I was in the army we kept the ammo locked up and only one person have access to it

That will work....

"Excuse me Mr. Burglar, give me one second to get my ammo out of the safe, then you can continue to invade my home".

Even a strict gun law there did nothing. Gun control will not stop them. One thing is for certain though. Hell has a special place reserved for this murderer.

STUPIDSTUPIDSTUPID!!!!! Why does each and every issue that comes down the pipes have to do ones political/religious/sexual/racial leaning or orientation?

Children died! Educators died! Everything else is Unimportant.

here we go again...

she had five guns because its her RIGHT to have as many guns as she wants

do you judge people because they have 3 or 4 cars?

Cars and guns don't kill people

People kill people .. get it through your thick libtard skulls

People who want to use guns will get them if they are legal or not so trying to ban guns will solve nothing except punish those responsible people who want to protect themselves or just shoot for recreation

don't you people realize he chose a gun because it was easiest .. if guns were not available he would have used explosives .. you cannot stop these crazy people from doing things like this .. if they want to do it .. they will find a way

blaming guns is immature

Guns don't kill people?

People kill people?

How about ... people with guns kill people!

What do Adam Lanza( Conn. Shooter) , Derek Klebold, Erik Harris( Columbine Shooters) and the shooter from Colorado Holmes have in common?

WE either need to round up and get rid of the guns, legally purchased or not....or we need to purchased body armor for ourselves and children and stop engaging in risky activities such as going to the movies, going to a mall, attending church (or temple) and sending kids to school..... Which option makes more sense? (although I realize common sense is a very rare commodity these days) The "right to bear arms" came about at a times when guns were necessary for the survival of the majority of the population; now days they are used to pretty much just to reduce the size of the population. Some places where people live in the "wild", they may still depend on guns for hunting or getting rid of dangerous animals, but most people have them for "show", there is the third group who use them to intimidate or kill others.

Ask yourselves is the "right" to have guns more important than the lives of innocents humans like these children?

@Bryan-2475629

"blaming guns is immature" Really?

"...get it through your thick libtard skulls..." Now THAT'S immature.

This is a tragic event that can't even be put into words.

People wonder how something like this can happen? You need to look no farther than this thread. Half of the posts are from people calling the other half stupid, morons..etc.....

Welcome to the new "its all about me" world and if you disagree with people they will insult you....

...or worse.

And all the laws and gun controls in the world won't help.

People have the right to own as many weapons as they want. She may have had a need for the weapons or they may have been left to her and had sentimental value. You never know. Just as you will never know what sent him off on this rampage. But one thing is certain he did not have access to the guns or he would not have been trying to buy one prior to using her guns. People he KILLED HER. That is when he gained access to the guns. Gun bans will not help this. Crazy people will find a means to aquire guns, just as they aquire and sell illegal drugs to our kids. That is killing more kids everyday than guns have ever killed! If the school would have had a right to have a firearm they could have protected the kids from this crazy person. You people that blame the gun are in need of some serious help. If we cannot have guns we are left wide open to all the crazies and killers of the US. GUNS DO NOT KILL, PEOPLE DO and these people will find a way. My family have had guns all my life and My family now own guns. We were taught as children that guns would kill and how to handle them, and we now teach our children and grandchildren. All of which respect the gun. It is the killers that do not respect the gun and that will kill you if you do not have the means to protect yourself. And this is what the 2nd amendment is about, the right to bear arms, and gun owners do not hide behind it, they are proud that they have that right. I own guns and would never use them unless I had to protect my family, or to hunt. Just as you don't know what set him off, you never know when the situation might rise for you to need a gun. I believe the ban on guns at this school has these kids on them.

Banning handguns in the United Kingdom worked to lower their homicide rate after the Dunblane massacre, so why won't it work in America?

The answer is ... it would.

You don't even have to disagree with someone. I just read a few posts down that this woman COULD TELL he was a sleezball, scumbag, psycho because of how he looked in his picture.

And again, people wonder how things like this happen.....

I am confused why a single educated woman with a mentally challenged mature son would have 5 firearms in her home. I can see having 1 gun for protection if she felt that was needed, but multiple guns is a red flag to me.

Those advocating fewer guns out there should hand in their weapons to law enforcement today to reduce the count. So don't be that stat of gun owners if you think owning a gun is the problem.

Hollywood is quick to want stricter gun laws, but most movies made today are often violent if not gruesome.

Some years ago, a deranged doctor lived across the street from us. He tried to drown his wife one Xmas night and then tried to shoot my neighbor. When the police came and took him away, we found guns everywhere in the house. Too many to count. The police would not allow us to get rid of the guns, and so when he was eventually released from a mental hospital, he came back to all those guns. We moved.

Maybe the problem today is that many of our laws make no sense at all. The man was crazy, but he got to keep his guns and his job at the VA.

There was a lack of common sense in this tragedy as well.

So if I'm not mistaken, she had 5 guns which were in reach of her mentally ill son? She couldn't even think to invest for a safe or something? I'm pretty sure he gave other signs of violence before it building up to this...

TrustVerify:

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty."

Benjamin Franklin

No truer words were spoken.

This is a tradegy to be sure, a sad day. That being said we as a country move on as we must. The liberals yelling for gun control simply don't have any common sense at all and no ability to rationalize or care about anything other than their agendas and not wasting an opportunity to push it. My wife and I are older and just this week had our house broken into while she was in the shower and I was sleeping. Our two #140 dogs let us konw someone had gotten into the house but all they would do other than bark would be to lick someone to death. These thieves knew my wife had just let the dogs back into the house and all of our lights were blazing but they came in anyway. This time luckily a dog bark scared them away, Guns at strategic locations throughout my house and video surviellance will secure my life and belongings should it come to more the next time it happens and it will happen again. Just how far were they prepared to go? Was it me yelling at my dogs barking that scared them away? What if my wife was alone? The police are for crime follow-up 99% of the time so don't rely on them when they have no way of knowing until after. It is those people that are robbing, raping and murdering who are the problem not law abiding gun owners like myself who hunt, shoot, collect. It is my right to own as many guns and as much ammo as I could imagine. Stop inciminating people who have done nothing wrong with your biased attempts at supressing freedom, criminals don't care about gun laws. Guns are not the problem here it is people that are the problem.

At this point, we don't know his reasons for committing this heinous act, but from his photograph, he looks like a potential Manchurian Candidate/hybrid alien.

If you do not like Guns, or the second amendment then just do a google search and look for countries that do not allow them and then make the next search "how do I move to another country".

I am a teacher and I hate that you can not carry your firearm into a school becuse of this very reason. It make syou helpless.....it is important to rememeber that a shooter has to reload and an armed teacher could have ended this all.

After the shooting at VT I began brining mine because I will take my chance being tried by 12 rather than carried by 6.

Yet again, we see people with little to no logical thinking skills blaming an object for the actions of a person.

Guns are not the problem....PEOPLE are the problem. The large shooting episodes seem to be being committed by people with mental illnesses...and KNOWN to have mental illnesses. The problem is not guns but how we deal with people with mental illness.

In a country where we have hundreds of millions of people, we are bound to have to poor specimens. Advocating taking away the constitutional rights of the citizenry to arm themselves because a handful of mentally disturbed people commit acts of insanity is simply the wrong answer.

The mentally ill used to be sequestered from society and in treatment and somewhere along the line the idea of "mainstreaming" them became the preferred method for dealing with them. Mainstreaming the mentally ill is going to have it's bad days.

The reason we have a right to arm ourselves is to keep the government from becoming intolerable. We know from history that the most important thing tyrants do is disarm the people they aim to oppress.

You gun lovers there just make me sick. Here we have 20 children - really babies dead and all you are worried about is losing your dam guns. I dont think anyone is saying guns should be banned - I believe people are saying that their should be stricter laws regarding owning guns and they should be enforced. This is a complex situation and means several things need to be looked at and fixed as best they can. It isnt just the guns - it has to do with mental illness, laws that arent being inforced, why people who may detect their son isnt quite right reaching out for help and not sitting there in denial cause it would embarrass their family if they went public with it and got their kid help. I believe it is the same there as it is here - if you suspect that someone might harm others or himself there is a 72 hours hold that they (medical centres) can enforce and they wont be cured in 72 hours but in this case he may not have been in the mind set to kill following being held and treatment started. We here in Canada have very strict gun laws. I heard a person on TV last night that had the statistics and we have 150 shootings a year here. Doesnt that say something. Why do you not need a license to purchase a gun - you need one to drive a car. You arent going to find the mentally ill if you cannot not do a background check on the person. We fingerprint the people and they take intensive training on gun use. We dont ban them cause we dont need to. In my 65 years on this earth I have never known one person that owned hand guns or the kind of weapons used in combat. We have hunting rifles and they are locked in a cabinet and then put in a closet and that is locked too. We dont have tons of ammunition readily available to us. We arent so paranoid that we dont feel safe without a gun in the house. That is what I cant wrap my head around. Why are people so paranoid that they dont feel safe in their own homes or on the street. Where does that mentality come from. I saw ads not so long ago that if you bought a diamond ring you got a free gun and in Walmart apparently it is the same. This is ludicrous. I just think people need to wake up and at least push for SOMETHING - ANYTHING to be done. Dont wait until the governments try and brush things under the rug again. What is next - someone going into a Daycare and killing those babies. It has to stop NOW.

As tragic as this is and it is tragic, for those who propose to ban or further limit gun ownership or make it so expensive or difficult to own, I propose we charge you a thousand dollars for your gallon of beer and for your drivers license renewal. Your ideas are irrational and further don't work, a person has the right to self defense and hunting and flat out sporting ownership. We saw prohibition didn't work and laws like this never do, your answers lie elsewhere start putting your efforts into rational thought and stop giving away your freedom and being opportunists over a tragedy.

Guns don't kill people,people kill people. Yeah, very profound. Okay, I believe a large part of why people kill people is because of the violence on television and the violence of the video gaming world. I believe that is where some of the ideas are coming from. Are these "genius type" of individuals being challenged today with worthwhile projects or are they consumed with video games and television.

I like the idea that a previous person submitted about requiring a person to have a training course plus getting a license, as in driving, prior to being able to legally obtain a firearm.

Also I do not beieve there is any reason for any individual to have any type of automatice weapon.

Republicans must be proud of the people like this in their party.

What morons quoting a law from the 1700's. Time to be proactive and jail all republicans. They are clearly diseased.

Robert you should be put in an institution for mental disease as you are quite clueless to the realities of life.

Arnie this wasn't an automatic weapon, do you not know these terms and what they mean? Or is it that you read into media hype and drink the koolaide... automatic weapons are illegal except for a select few and law enforcement, semi auto however is a different story. Comments such as yours add to the misleading of Americans and cause people like Robert to comment from a point of view that is uneducated. Sad you brainless people let the media inform you, you should of just stayed home from school and watched tv all day instead of doing your own homework. This is why we are where we are today, the regurgitation of media mass hype and scare tactics and a corrupt political system and quite possibly mental illness and depression that caused this tragedy.

I have no faith in the government setting up better gun policies. Not that i do believe we should. But the weapons manufacturing companies have way too much of a sway in washington to give in to us peasants of logic. And the body count means nothing, case in point almost every war since ww1, major companies have made major money off dead, look it up if you don't believe me. Hell Mercedez-benz made the ovens in freaking concentration camps! if you want reform then mean it and lets take it around the table, if you want classes and tests and background checks for gun owners lets hook up anyone and everyone in or thinking about going in to politics to certain nerological machines and lets give them pyche tests. Because if doesn't wake them all up to whats really goiong on in America then, we got some people in high places that shouldn't be there. But i am very leery of complete disarming of the citizens, because as a famous, subversive writer once said, "i would adhor living in a society where the only people allowed to carry a gun are the police and military" Exactly what are forefathers were wise enough to know. So i'm very torn. All i know is its not just us, the gun problem is global. It would almost take a race of aliens to come down and take all of our weapons and say 'look you build anymore, we'll come back and f*#k you all up.' for us as humans to understand.

God has been taken out of the schools. Morality has been taken out of the schools. Right and wrong are now considered relevant. Horrific video games and movies have removed the line between reality and fantasy. A person who is godless, who has no morality, and who has little sense of reality. A perfect storm for something like this to happen.

Robert1717

Republicans must be proud of the people like this in their party.

What morons quoting a law from the 1700's. Time to be proactive and jail all republicans. They are clearly diseased.

Look young lady, those times, 1800's when our government was starting was done by a society who had a hell of a lot more wisdom then the people we have in offices today, that goes for the left and right.

I agree with Samantha, society has taken a hard turn into decay , especially in these past 70 years. . Shoot em up video games, degenerate talk from music , with all kinds of violence in the words. Taking God out of the picture of Society. And people think we are moving forward as a society ? You all must be crazy, read the news, its not going any where. American will one day fall. It may no tbe in my time, or my kids time, but at the rate america is going, its a ticking time bomb that is going to implode from the inside one day.

Genuine morality does not require a belief in a deity nor does it use a deity as a motivation. The reason for religious conflict is two sides trying to prove whose deity is more moral.

The left want to blame the guns and not the person with the Mental health issues.

There may be some logic to that, but somehow I doubt that we'll see the Republicans in Congress rushing to increase funding for mental health.

America is the most violent society in the history of mankind, bar none.

@MtMike ... really? I suggest that you study your European history (you don't have to go back many decades) if you think that the US is the "most violent society in the history of mankind." You don't do your arguments any favor when you make such outrageous and unsupportable statements.

A person who is godless, who has no morality, and who has little sense of reality.

A great deal of violence has been done in the name of religion. I trust ethical atheists far more than I trust zealous Christians.

I really didn't want to open my browser today...........I should have left it closed. This is so sad that we have to deal with this. What makes it worse is the media creating and encouraging these MONSTERS with wall-to-wall coverage, posting the creep's photo, telling about HIS life and all the gun-huggers posturing themselves against the second ammendment in order to keep their boners and the liberals demanding a police state.......OVER the fallen victims and their families. Its all pretty messed up with no sign of letting up and bickering back and forth and mass coverage doesn't help matters, it just perpetuates the evil and invites reoccurance.

Time to stand up and be counted, America, and tell the NRA we will not be bullied anymore.

Okay. I asked the following question: "Gun enthusiasts. I don't want to take your guns away, just please tell me, someone, what are you doing to make America safer from gun violence?"

I got one response that seemed to suggest that the way to make America safer from gun violence is to get more guns out there. Give them to the teachers, everyone has a gun and fewer bullets will fly.

Do the rest of the gun enthusiasts concur? Do we need to put guns in the hands of more people to make the occurrances of gun violence decrease? What is your viewpoint?

Hal I don't pretend to have answers but I do know which answers to shoot down (no pun intended). Guns will always be around and if you outlaw them then only outlaws will have them. Anyone intent on committing a crime like this will find a way and it will be just as devastating as this one way or another. Those who think creating laws against guns is the answer are living in dreamland it simply doesn't work that way. That being said when more people have guns those that are intent on using them in crime will think twice before bringing one out because they will know they have the possibility of losing their life in committing their act. Will it cause some wild shootouts, oh I am sure at some point it will but obviously the current cities with strict laws such as Chicago are not your poster children for laws against guns it isn't working. Taking them away from everyone??? Never gonna happen. Forcing people to carry, never gonna happen. Training those who want to, yes... keeping them from phsyco's yes, but how.

I am not bullied by the NRA. I'm not a member of the NRA either, but I do own several guns. I've never committed a crime. I have taught each of my kids how to properly handle a weapon as well as how to shoot it. It's a terrible shame that these people were killed. But you will never take my guns simply because you think you know what makes for a safer society.

We've been treated to falsehoods above about how in the UK the banning of guns just a few short years ago has done wonders. Except it was already nearly impossible to get guns in the UK before the mass murder that was referred to. We have seen how in Australia guns have, essentially, been outlawed, and have seen the sharp increase in gun criminality that has resulted.

But we should look to our own history, constitution included, to decide what is best for us. For instance, how is it that gun violence remained fairly constant, and low, through good times and bad during most of our nation's history. At least until the mid-1960s. It was then, despite no increase in gun ownership rates, that we saw gun violence spike. Liberals, rather than deal with why there is this kind of crime, simply think that if we ban guns (or radically reduce their availability) that we will become a more docile and peaceful nation.

I think the opposite will occur. There are over 1 million concealed weapons permitees in Florida, yet they have a lower incidence of gun violence than Illinois, where the big city virtually bans weapons. Maybe, and for leftists I know I am going WAY out on a limb here, the problem isn't the gun itself, but the mind of the person holding it? Maybe we can never prevent all criminality, but if more people respected life for its intrinsic value (as opposed to the utilitarian value leftists use) is it not possible that fewer people would want to take someone elses life?

What worries me most, and it's not just because of this horrible crime in Newtown, is that leftists who are ever eager to limit someone elses liberty are in this case saying that less freedom would result in less crime. It sounds so plausible after all. But will these same leftists be willing to face the hundreds of thousands of potential victims to crime that the presence of a gun in the hands of someone other than the criminal have saved? Twenty kids, six adults...it's horrendous. Yet if liberals had their way the victim count could well be in the tens of thousands. But because THOSE people are at present hard to see, and the 20 kids are easy to see, it makes it easy for so many people to come up with stupid ideas thinking that they are doing good, if not great, work.

Sorry, but the people above making all these wild claims are not noble. They are ignoble.

I don't want to take your guns away, just please tell me, someone, what are you doing to make America safer from gun violence?"

Unfortunately, mankind was created with violence "in our blood", or DNA. Unless our DNA is altered, man will continue the violence until the end of mankind.

Why our creator chose this heinous and detrimental formula, who knows. What is even more concerning, for those believing in the bible, Genesis 1:26 states:

Then God said “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness,...".

Well said Rich!

The federal sky marshal program virtually ended plane hyjackings. We need school marshals on campus.

Rich-281385

Turn on the tube, watch the news, tell me what you saw and how long it takes for a KILLING (whether real or pretend on a TV show/movie) not to happen or be reported.

Check out the most popular "video games" the youth of America purchase and use.

Why do the children of America need metal detectors and cops in schools?

Might be good if you pulled your head out of your a--- and took a look at what is going on around you in America.

America has a military budget that is more than the rest of the world combined, that alone says something.

America reaps what they sow. Join the military and fight for "freedom"! Daaaa!

So, the mom was a "prepper", that is to say a "survivalist", who felt the world was coming to an end. She home-schooled the boy, for a while. She hoarded food and water. Hmmmm, a tin foil hat collection, also?

Debi-1314897

I don't want to take your guns away, just please tell me, someone, what are you doing to make America safer from gun violence?"

Unfortunately, mankind was created with violence "in our blood", or DNA. Unless our DNA is altered, man will continue the violence until the end of mankind.

Why our creator chose this heinous and detrimental formula, who knows. What is even more concerning, for those believing in the bible, Genesis 1:26 states:

Then God said “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness,...".

Seriously ? You did a great job at butchering and trying to use passages to have a different meaning than their intents.

Here are a few paragraphs to read to explain your bad example :D

"""Having the “image” or “likeness” of God means, in the simplest terms, that we were made to resemble God. Adam did not resemble God in the sense of God’s having flesh and blood. Scripture says that “God is spirit” (John 4:24) and therefore exists without a body. However, Adam’s body did mirror the life of God insofar as it was created in perfect health and was not subject to death.

The image of God refers to the immaterial part of man. It sets man apart from the animal world, fits him for the dominion God intended him to have over the earth (Genesis 1:28), and enables him to commune with his Maker. It is a likeness mentally, morally, and socially.

Mentally, man was created as a rational, volitional agent. In other words, man can reason and man can choose. This is a reflection of God’s intellect and freedom. Anytime someone invents a machine, writes a book, paints a landscape, enjoys a symphony, calculates a sum, or names a pet, he or she is proclaiming the fact that we are made in God’s image.

Morally, man was created in righteousness and perfect innocence, a reflection of God’s holiness. God saw all He had made (mankind included) and called it “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Our conscience or “moral compass” is a vestige of that original state. Whenever someone writes a law, recoils from evil, praises good behavior, or feels guilty, he is confirming the fact that we are made in God’s own image.

Socially, man was created for fellowship. This reflects God's triune nature and His love. In Eden, man’s primary relationship was with God (Genesis 3:8 implies fellowship with God), and God made the first woman because “it is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18). Every time someone marries, makes a friend, hugs a child, or attends church, he is demonstrating the fact that we are made in the likeness of God.

Part of being made in God’s image is that Adam had the capacity to make free choices. Although he was given a righteous nature, Adam made an evil choice to rebel against his Creator. In so doing, Adam marred the image of God within himself, and he passed that damaged likeness on to all his descendants (Romans 5:12). Today, we still bear the image of God (James 3:9), but we also bear the scars of sin. Mentally, morally, socially, and physically, we show the effects of sin. """""

@ Rich-281385

Hey rich you make perfect sense about us looking at what has changes over the last 50 or so years. People have always had guns and even though there were killings in our past, it wasnt to this extent. I would look more to the incredible society cultural shift we are taking in america and start with that. Video games that incite violence. I actually was playing one once, I forget which one it is. I thought ok this isnt too bad, im just a guy who is defending my country . Then in one scence Im at an air port with russian people , i have a huge automatic weapon firing on innocent people in the place.. I was amazed at the mindset it puts you in when you go on a killing spree like that . Needless to say I have never played it again , or any other shooting game. These reality TV shows that praise trash talk, and trash lives, lyrics in music that incite horrific acts of violence and looking down on women treating them like sluts ..

We are not moving forward as a society, we are not going up. The biggest and main issue with this nation is the need for power, and greed of money. No one wants to humble themselves, no one wants to help each other out. Everyone is afraid to do anything with out severe repercussions from society.

As America is becoming more diverse, it is also becoming more torn. Im sorry but we can not live together as a society if we all dont have same views in life, or a common goal. Me personally, as extreme as it may seem, I wish there would be some new piece of land found, and USA claimed it, and its rule would be like that of our past not present. I would like to have lived in a nation like our founding fathers who believed in God, and it wasnt some taboo thing in society. Morals were based off of Gods word, and prayer was still in school ect ect . Of course you cant have that now because of the influx of so many immigrants from other countries with so many other beliefs. Thats why I think birds of a feather flock together mentality. People who are like minded should be living together and not people who have such extreme different views. Maybe the states should be able to break free and be able to lay down their own laws with out persecution from the federal government, and people can move to such states that suits them best.

As for the gun control thing..

I think Archie Bunker said it best on how to prevent this from happening in an example here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3o57hOxXHFc

I agree.

I am also appalled that the media would use the descriptor "massacred". Does the media really think that with all that the families are going through, that they need to envision their children getting "massacred"? That seems a little harsh, true or not, so why not just say killed or murdered? Or aren't those words sensationalist enough? It would not lessen the severity of the loss to describe it differently. A little more respect for what the families are going through without causing any more grief would be the humane way to treat the victims. In my opinion anyways...

The point is to figure out why....so it doesn't happen again. If you can't handle it then don't read it. Most of us want to get to the bottom of it and at least try and do something about it. Not nick pick about the media.

You know what they say, E=; if it bleeds, it leads, and the more blood the better. There are plenty of legitimate conversations this incident could spark, but already, too much of the coverage is just to luxuriate in the carnage and the pathos...

When the dead are named, I would like to see a photo of each. So we can remember each tiny child by name, remember that brave principal and school counselor, remember the teachers who sacrificed. The killer, I do not care. And, sadly, I do not care about his mother, either. She put guns in the hands of a mentally sick son who used them to kill children who were still too young to read. She is a cautionary tale.

The Associated Press is a FOR PROFIT corporation, what ever words are needed to sell newspapers will be used, they have stock holder responsibilty.

I am not appalled by the use of the word "massacre" to describe this tragedy.

There are few other words to describe this horror adequately.

What do Adam Lansa, Derek Klebold, Erik Harris, James Holmes, have in common????

Every part of this event belongs in the evolving story. There's a reason it's called NEWS. It is a disservice to the 26 murdered children and adults, as well as to the rest of us who want this toxic cancer out of American society, not to figure out what the heck is wrong with gun nuts who do this kind of thing, over and over and over. The debate is over the intersection of guns and mental illness, violent males and the dysfunctional families that breed these individuals who harm us all. The best way to honor the dead is to fix this national disgrace and heartbreak. To do that, one has to get collective heads out of the sand.

Don't like it, go read your comic books and porn. Mature citizens are interested in global events. Contrary to what your mommy told you, the world doesn't revolve around you. News organizations are not your personal property.

What are the chances this "avid gun collector" mom and her looney tunes son belonged to this federally subsidized national "sport" assault weapon organization headquartered in, of all places, Newtown, CT? How sad that the parents of these dead little children paid taxes that went to this organization that advocates for assault weapons and guns in schools.

https://www.vpc.org/press/9412use.htm

get mad

They did/do not value life. Suicide proves it.

Sorry, its Adam Lanza not Lansa. Look closely and youl see the connection.

The more I think about this, the angrier I get! But, there's nowhere to direct that anger! That f@#$er is dead!

For everyone trying to say you want more gun control while at
the same time saying you supporting the 2^nd amendment, that is
BS. Calming you want to allow hunting
rifles and handguns for personal protection while banning the “assault weapons”. You do realize that he done the shooting with
handguns. Most shooting are with
handguns. He had an AR-15 but it was NOT
found in the school. Few people can
define what an “assault weapon” is. I
have an AR-15, I bought it during the Clinton “assault weapon” ban, which did
NOT ban weapons. What it did was I was not allowed to have the bayonet lug or
the flash suppressor on my riffle which is not an assault weapon. It is a .223 cal semi-auto center fire rifle
that is it.

Why is the media using these photos that are 8 years ago? Ive seen his facebook photo in a militant pose with arm tattoos. Lots of people know he was a wanna be jewish militant. So where's this information and why is the media soft pedaling him as a troubled youth when he was a grown man and into some pretty bad crap.

If you look at the killer's face, don't know about anyone else but I see meth written all over it. My deepest sympathy goes out to all the families and friends of the victims and school children who had to witness this horrific event.

Why is the media using these photos that are 8 years ago?

Isn't that exactly what they did with that Trayvon Martin piece? Are you looking for honest reporting? Hell, they blatantly accused his brother as being the lunatic for the first 8 hours of the story. But it's OK-- it wasn't FOX. All is forgiven.

Take a look at Lanza's facebook page with current photo. Notice the Clinched fist (International sign of communism). Adam Lanza was a Militant of Jewish decent. Just like Klebold and Harris of Columbine and others.

http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/3611_423506811050933_1150852840_n.jpg

I am also appalled that the media would use the descriptor "massacred". Does the media really think that with all that the families are going through, that they need to envision their children getting "massacred"?

It was a massacre, and it should be described as such. Some people are offended by the pictures. I'm not. If we as a society are finally going to put a stop to atrocities like this, whether it is through gun control, better mental health treatment or whatever, we need to be exposed to the true horrors of the situation. Soft-pedaling it with less harsh language does no one any favors.

Mark is spot on--society is riddled with violence in movies, video games, television. Should be no

surprise that it becomes real all too often. Let's ban automatic weapons too.

While you are banning guns how about making heroin and cocaine illegal also. Then all of our problems will go away.

Automatic weapons are only possessed by a few with very stringent licensing requirements. While I possess a CCW and own several Semi-Auto hand guns and a few home protection shotguns, I do think there is no reason for everyone to own what we now classify "Assualt Weapons" I live in Detroit where the average police response is over an hour for anything not classified as "Shots fired"! A jacked car is a website reportable offense, so personal protection is really a personal responsibility.

Mark is 100% correct.

nice avatar .......but would your comment be the same when you come down dude? Just askin.

On the very first day of sales..Black Ops 2 (the video game) sold $500,000 (half a billion). Release Date: November 13, 2012

There is no evidence, none, that violent video games lead to violent acts. A gun is a violent weapon, but that doesn't mean that everyone who has one, will commit murder just for the thrill of it.

Now, if all the people who bought Black Ops 2 start committing murderous acts off-screen, en masse, then you might have a valid argument.

My condolences to all the families involved in this senseless act of the murder of innocents and the loss of innocence in the surviving children.

Kriss

Then why did they take The Three Stooges off the air: children were going around poking each other in the eyes, I saw that myself when I was a kid. We are affected by what we see. Otherwise they would quit advertising on TV if it didn't work. Look at stupid videos, people trying to do what they see on videos, flying around like spider man.

I think we actually are affected, and desensitized by it. We see so much death that it no longer is a big deal. And the games and videos just keep getting more realistic.

I also wonder if they won't find some drugs involved, along with such realistic games, it seems like a dangerous combination to me.

@ Kris1234-3592742 Honestly, I disagree. I work with mental disorderly children in the schools as a paraprofessional. I've examined their behavior and have seen that violent video games DO effect their minds. Most of the children who play video games out of their age range, like Call of Duty, often draw and imagine themselves as first person shooters. It may seem out of innocence at first when they pretend on the playground that they are such characters. However, as they get older, they begin to want to reenact these scenarios they see on Tv. As a society we have become emotionally underdeveloped thanks to technology. People are more socially withdrawn as a result and this is what desensitizes people. With watching violence added to the mix, I observed that when the children get angry they say things like "I want to kill somebody" and they know the name of the gun that they want to use, usually because they played a Gun game that has one. Some of the children who say this are normal, but one thing is for certain. Majority of them are young boys. Majority of males in the US play video games. I've observed that boys and male adolescents are more impulsive than females of any age as a whole. When you give them an inch they take it a mile, and it can be for positive or negative.

When the Dark Knight's joker came out, he was idolized by male adolescents more than Batman was in its released. People would even dress like him and I observed several fan clubs promoting his existence. One boy just kept saying why so serious, which made me quite uncomfortable.

Overall, the people who sell these games and the people who buy these games need to rethink what they are doing and how this will effect the minds of children. After all media is also another form of teaching. And just like children learn in school and learn from their parents, they also learn from the media how to be in today's society.

The real Adam Lanza, a militant of jewish decent just like Klebold and Harris of Columbine. Ask yourself why they continue to show his photo of 8 years ago instead of this one posted in Facebook:

http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/3611_423506811050933_1150852840_n.jpg

Raygirl - Sorry, I respect your opinion, but you're talking about mentally ill people and how videos, etc. affect them. Most sane people who play these games know the difference between killing someone in a video game and physically grabbing a weapon to really hurt someone in real life. Most of the people I know who play these videos have qualms about hurting anyone or anything, since they can tell the difference between fantasy and reality. If you're mentally ill, you may not be able to tell the difference.

It's much easier to blame violence on TV, video games, comic books, etc. Blaming parents or people who have no respect for life and dealing with the fact that's they don't take proper precautions to guard against the misuse of guns, knives or any other real weaponry, is the real problem here. Raising children to be responsible, respect the power of a gun, taking parental responsiblities seriously and talking to them about real situations and how to deal with them, goes far in preventing children/young people from resorting to acts of violence.

Why did this man's mother have so many guns in her house, not under lock and key or with trigger locks, available when her son had mental issues? That's a big problem.

Not much you can do? How about the sober adults who recognize the ubiquity of evil in our modern society, accept the responsibility to confront it if encountered, and are fully prepared to act decisively to protect themselves and the innocent lives of others? 99.9999999% of victims are UNARMED, and of no good to themselves of anyone else in these situations. Not me-- especially in Virginia.

I hate to say this because I don't want to give any nut jobs ideas but I can do a hell of a lot of killing and damage with a gallon of gasoline.

not always and wouldn't you rather be able to kill some one breking into your home with a gun or do you want to get close enough to use a knife of better yet hide and hopr the law gets there before he/they finds you. don't say it won't happen had 3 or 4 home invasions in our surrounding areas just in the last few months one being with the intruder dyingby the owner who was not afraid to use his gun against gun carry young punks who thought they were so bad with their guns Don't tell me guns are used for protection most of the time. doesn't matter if i haven' t used mine for that yet hope I never have to but sure feels good to know i have one just in case. I live in a rural area off the road a ways and trust me an alarm won't run some one off that is up to no good but I can tell you knowing the home owner may shoot your ass will make one think twice a bout breaking in

Once again we have to be bludgeoned by people's comments regarding what guns should or should not be permissable. The people making these comments have no concept of what really is happenning here but rather are only seeing their own internal fears and paranoia. This situation has nothing to do with the issue of guns or weapons or magazine capacities. It has everything to do with mental illnes and the ability of our society to react to and treat these unfortunate illnesses. This individual was sick and saying that the availability of guns is what caused this situation is a misnomer. What caused this terrible tradjedy was the individual's mental illnes, the weapon was only a sypmtom, it is his illnes that was the cause. Had the guns not existed, his illnes would still have consumed him and resulted in numerous deaths. The solution is to treat and prevent the illnes that causes such behaviour. But of course, it is much easier to just say "ban the guns" All of you who hold this position need to get over your fear and loathing of inamimate objects and mourn for these poor victims. If you really want to help the families involved then help prevent this from happening again by supporting the implementation of proper mental heath treatments and facilities.

All fine and good, EPF, but are you willing to pay taxes to foot the bill for those mental-health facilities?

Oh, and while I'm at it, you don't know that Lanza's illness would have definitely led to the death of 20 kindergartners if he hadn't had access to his mother's arsenal; that too is nothing but a guess...

I am guessing the woman had all those weapons in her home in an attempt to make herself feel safe. Unless you carry your gun around the house all day, you may distribute your guns, in order to have one available in case of a break-in.

Many gun owners own them because they are essentially fearful, insecure people with little guts. They need a gun to make them feel safe. I know of one person who has a handgun in a hollowed out book next to his TV chair, waiting for someone to try to rob him.

Ralph, just as scary ... these are the ones who breed unchecked, pray the most, read the least and vote with the Heil Hitler party.

squirrel. Your point is taken. But protection is best done with a shoot gun or a hand gun. These people were waiting for the government to come for them. They had enough fire power to hold off a small army. No reasonable person whats to outlaw all guns. But a Reasonable person could argue for controls and bans on many of the weapons that are being sold in the US right now. No one really needs a AK47. and we dam sure don't need one that can shoot 100 rounds before you reload. We don't need a 9 mm that can shoot 30 rounds before your empty. I have no problem with the 9mm. I have a problem when it can shoot 30 rounds. Nine is enough and you can have a few extra clips that hold 9. That seems more then enough to protect yourself.

No one needs an AK 47, or a 9mm, or a [shoot]gun... until they need one. You didn't need a spare tire on your car yesterday either. What if the small army is exactly the threat that has to be confronted? By the way, the 9mm is of negligible value as a personal defense round. A rifle trumps all. Handgun shootings have an 86% survival rate and are a compromised tool for effective threat elimination. I'm glad libs hate guns (labor union storm troopers excepted).

@Mary Palmer, you also are a real piece of manure, bring politic's into this. Why don't you just STFU unless you have something decent to say?

Hey Mary........Need a glass for your whine?

Bet you still have your election posters on yer lawn too......Nascar is over for the year . Romney LOST!

NEXT

The funny thing is I never saw a tear come out of Obama's eyes until the very end. His eyes looked dry, too, not full of tears. Anyone can make one tear appear. Watch it again. What a farce.

Hey Mary...if you are so gung ho about owning guns...then where are your actions in keeping this type of tragedy from happening? Stop name calling and step it up...with rights come responsibility. And for those hollering about putting politics in this...Politics are part of this..the NRA lobbies heavily to keep status quo. Even NRA members are for universal background checks...are they done?? Nooo. NRA lobbies to stop by spreading falsehoods about taking the guns. phooey.

Mary,

I think your attitude is completely inappropriate. Vance is doing a spectacular job, and so is the President. They're doing exactly what they ought to be doing given the circumstances.

You, on the other hand, are doing exactly what shouldn't be done right now, trying to make this into some kind of partisan political drama.

Stick a sock in it.

To Linda and Mary, obviously Obama is to blame for all this. Heeee can do eeeeverythiiiing...

Attitudes like this is why the republicans lost BADLY in the last election. Your kind are on their way out, Mary. Not a moment too soon. You guys just don't know how to solve problems anymore. All you're good for is conspiracy theories and vile.

Leave the governing to the adults (democrats).

Mary, What is wrong with you?!

Linda: Reminiscent of Casey Anthony's crying.

Our schools are totally defenseless. Lets say for example a big rabid dog got into the school and started killing children, what would they have done? Oh yah call animal control, an hour later someone might have shown up. Or some gang bangers decided to have some fun? Or a hundred other times when some armed could have made all the difference. This nut case had full reign of the school, he killed several adults first, going from room to room. This takes time, if someone was armed in the school they would have had plenty of time to take him out before he got to the children. Our schools are totally defenseless, I hold the federal board of education responsible for all of these massacres.

Heeee can do eeeeverythiiiing...

Except fix the Barney Frank... er... I mean the Bush economy.

If our response to this most recent instance of gun violence and death is "more security" at the schools and/or a witch hunt of pre-teen and teen boys who are weird, geeky, and smart, we are absolutely looking at the wrong responses. We have completely missed the point. Better health care in this country? We definitely need to address that issue. We have de-funded mental health initiatives, closed supervised living programs for the developmentally disabled, and quite often our mental health professionals in the schools are completely overwhelmed. The point is this - in absolutely no scenario is the ability to fire off hundreds of rounds from an assault weapon, killing as many innocents as there are rounds in a magazine, acceptable or protected as a right. If you "hunt" game with assault rapid fire weapons, well you're really not "hunting" are you? Lots of talk about the laws already on the books - well I'm from Chicago and our responsible gun laws are under constant attack. And since our handgun ban was found to be unconstitutional, gun death skyrocketed. Hunters can hunt with unmodified rifles and shotguns. Rural folks can protect their homes and farms with shotguns - and let me tell you, a barking dog does wonders to deter intruders no matter where you live. We have no use for assault multiple round weapons of war. There is not now, nor has there been, a governmental "big brother" knocking at our doors to steal our guns. Let's do away with that idiotic conspiracy theory once and for all and get our stuff together. For ourselves and more importantly for our dear children. It's not too early to talk about ending gun violence, it's too late. But it's not too late to DO something besides talking.

you are part of whats wrong with us. Just wait until its your loved ones getting blown away for NUTHIN!!!

You sound very sick crimson. Let me point out a need for a ban on handguns and semi-automatic weapons.

takenaka no need for banning guns. Haven't you realized yet that it is the people doing the killing?

If one is bent on that, they Will find one. Just sayin.

IT DOESN'T AFFECT ME!!!!!

Now If I was going to make a comment....OK I will, This is EXACTLY WHAT IS WRONG WITH OUR COUNTRY!!!

This guy just wants a reaction!! Do NOT give him one. Ignore him! He is a troll, don't feed the troll!

"On the other hand, it's not like I care about the human race - you guys do enough slaughtering and butchering of each other as it is."

Hate to break it to you, CrimsonCujo, but you are part of the human race. You are indeed one of "us guys." You may not be happy about it, but you are.

I understand the feeling of wanting to distance yourself from society's ills. It's obvious that we are doing something wrong. You say that you feel no emotion about this tragic event, but then later state that you would "brutally slaughter one hundred people like this killer if it'd protect a thousand people like the victims mentioned here."

You care more than you realize. It's hard NOT to care when envisioning a classroom of kindergarteners being terrorized. I wish you well.

Lets all Hope that Crimson doesn't own any guns! Dude sounds real creepy!

Kevin, Takenaka - I realize this. I realize how much of a disgrace that makes me appear. I was only stating what my body was saying of the situation. I look to my body for notifications of what I'm truly "feeling" so to speak.

Yes, I'm fully aware that people like this "murderer" are the source of all the death and destruction. At the same time, my body keeps giving me an apathetic sensation - and I've learned that if that's how my body feels, then it how *I* truly feel deep down inside. I can't trust my words - I have to trust my body's sensations.

Furthermore, I've never been exposed to the raw fear of a gun - I'm more afraid of handcuffs than I am a gun. I've lived a very sheltered, pacifistic life where the biggest threat I ever faced was being locked in a cage.

At the same time though, if I or my family were threatened with having their freedom and happiness taken away, I think my body would feel a kind of violent and destructive desire to "kill" that I don't think I could quite accurately describe how heavy said urge would be (merely because it'd be too vast for a mere human to comprehend, much less put into words).

I don't WANT to end up like him (the killer, that is), but I'm still trying to figure out whether I need to please the old religious geezers or the young anarchistic thugs of this world. I can't please both, but I feel agitation and irritability from dealing with the former (because a majority of their hobbies BORE me to death), and fear and suppression of my true feelings from the latter (mostly because I fear angering or alienating them).

That said, while I WILL say this crime was atrocious, I know I can't trust my words - they aren't my true thoughts (whether I say them out loud or on a texty piece of internet). My true feelings dictate who I am and what I feel about what I see, but if those feelings are unwanted in society, it leaves ME scrambling to find something redeeming about myself so that I don't end up like that loser Adam Lanza.

I just hope that the FBI and local authorities locate crimsoncujo and give him some time to think about what he is saying. Sounds like it is another mental illness situation that needs to be taken off the steet. Just do us all a favor crimson, just do yourself in and leave everybody else alone. F#$%OFF A-Hole!!!! Ban assault weapons and handguns. You cannot hunt with a handgun and these are used for the specific purpose of concealing and murder. Assault weapons are made for the battlefield. When was the last time we heard of a person with an arsenal using the guns for "protection". Guns in the home only lead to suicide and murder. A house can easily be protected by a 410 shotgun. Do we really need weapons that can hold 50 bullits to protect our homes. I did not realize that when the home invasion happens there is a large group of criminals attacking where we need assault weapons and guns with 52 bullit clips. NRA sucks and guns suck period.

DUDE......I Am comprehending everything your saying.

PUT THE PIPE DOWN! Narcissism times fifty is what I'm seeing.

IT AIN"T ABOUT YOU SON!

Sickandtired - Tell me, if I told you where you could find me, would you come and end my life yourself? I'd actually prefer to die than to remain alive and a threat to anyone else. If my death prevents others from suffering, that'd probably be a GOOD thing.

Look at it this way: the whole reason I came clean about my feelings on this issue was because every time I hear a story like this, it makes ME realize that if all the conditions of THIS PARTICULAR INCIDENT - like the guns and such - were in place, odds are my bestial-like nature of acting on impulse and instinct would force me to do something I might actually regret afterwards (although said regret would be for a very selfish reason, as I've said).

Thank god I've never seen a gun up-close, and thank god my single-misdemeanor-stained criminal record prevents me from being near stuff like that (hell, other than the cops, I don't know anyone who owns a gun in this area - not like I'd try to find out anyways).

Oh yeah, and there's a police station not but 4 or 5 blocks from my apartment - if things were as bad as you say, it wouldn't take long for them to get here. But then of course I worry what may result from the cops showing up (especially if their intent is to handcuff me).

@Abby - Abby, it's not just that. According to what I know of the definition of "being human", you're supposed to cry over a death like this. The fact that I'm not shows a form of soullessness or heartlessness. And as I recall, part of "being human" requires that you "have a heart and soul" that is "capable of shedding tears of sorrow".

Add to the fact that I act more like a wild animal in regards to the fact that I obey my impulses and instincts (AKA act without thinking things through) and the realization that those impulsive and instinctual actions tend to harm more than help, and you have the general reason why I think myself as NOT a human and as more of a beast or a sociopathic monster.

It's why I'm looking for where I CAN make people happy so that at least I retain an excuse to exist amongst you all.

@Kevin - About me?! The hell?! I realize it ain't about me, but at the same time I worry of a possibility that IT COULD BE ABOUT ME!

And I'm far from narcissistic. If anything, I'm the exact opposite.

Studies are showing a huge drop in empathy for college aged people. This is really bad for our future... and the future of our children. It's easy to distance yourself when you're wrapped up in yourself.

I hope that anybody who recognizes they have issues, please realize they they need to talk to a someone and figure out why. Not having empathy is not normal.

takenada

not today. I believe there is enough grief for one weekend.

crimsonsounds like u are too much into your own feelings. 99.9% of us dont do bad things like this. How do we stop the evil people that do? Well the religious geezers do know one thing. If a kid is in church he is far less likely to get in trouble. If he is an anarchist he is far more likely to get in trouble. Life is tough enough. You dont need trouble. Now, get over yourself work hard and relax and drink a beer.

@Janellect - Just who exactly? The only people I can really talk to are those that accept Medicare/Medicaid, and they're no better than the people who take more advanced health plans that claim to offer BETTER services in return for more money.

If I could obtain some empathy, I'd do so in a heartbeat. But I realize that isn't something you can buy - it's just something you "have".

@Unfiltered - First off, alcohol tastes like crap. So there will not be any "having a beer" from me.

Second, I don't go to Church because I've yet to find one that won't label my own parents (lesbians) as blasphemous stains. It's why I tend to harp on the Mormons so badly - they're so close by and they've done this stuff a number of times. You don't get me without at least tolerating my parents for WHO they are and WHAT they are.

Finally, knowing my emotions gives me at least a sense that I have a brain worth even one thing to society - and without that I'd probably lose all hope at life (if that were the case though no one else would be in danger because of it).

UH....Crimson....google narcistic behavior.....while someone contacts NBC and informs the local authorities about a possible meltdown in your neigborhood.

WOWZER

Kevin.

Calm. The hell. Down. I can tell that the severity of this crisis is leading you to make irrational statements. Nobody is in any danger from me (in fact if that were the case I would be the one alerting authorities).

I was having one of my usual pessimistic moments. Crap like this ALWAYS happens, and I wish it didn't. Just once, I'd give my legs or any other seriously valuable body part to be able to really fit under what this article is saying (and honestly, me being affected wouldn't make a difference, but it WOULD make me feel less guilty about the whole affair).

The fact that I DON'T feel sorrow over this tragedy makes me feel guilty. That's all I was trying to say - and I got carried away and went all overcomplicated on it.

The real problem is poor psychiatric care and education available to those who are in need of it.

Crimson, can you tell us what video games you've enjoyed in the past 5 years?

Crimsoncujo,

Without reading Every post of people commenting to your original post, I felt the need to say this.

I have realized in my time that what our bodies feeling is attributed to our emotional stance on a situation and our past trials and tribulations. This being said I am wondering if you have become disconnected from emotion. Which in my experience happens when you have to much emotion at one time for something else. If you are not already seeing a therapist I would strongly urge you to give one a try to help you come back to a safer place. If you are currently seeing one I would mention the fact that you seem to have become dissociated. There are many reasons for this however do some research and maybe you'll find this will be helpful. I am not a therapist however I have seen enough to feel comfortable in saying that you appear to be dissociated, this would explain your lack of empathy in this situation. You make other points in your comment however this is the point i felt the need to comment on.

You feel something otherwise you wouldn't have responded. These situations can make a person numb and while you may not have shed a tear this horrific tragedy has touched you. That is obvious to me in several things you have said. Many of the responders to you have gone on the attack because for many if you don't grieve or react the way they think you should or the way they do then you are seen as callous and possibly dangerous. One cannot say there is a proper way to react as everyone has circumstances and happenings in their lives that will be reflected in their being able to process tragedies like this. As a parent and a grandparent I was close to tears yesterday but I didn't break down either. There are little ones who needed the strength of an adult telling them yes this is so so horrible, so so sad but I am here to keep you safe and provide the hugs. Believe me there are others and probably some of your responders who would be capable of doing the same were anyone to attempt to harm one of theirs. You are feeling the impact of this in your own way... nobody can tell you the proper way to grieve for such a loss. You have brought into your process actually from what I see the frustrations of many with the destruction of their dreams and feelings of hopelessness. I am not a religious nut although I believe in a higher being. I belong to no organized religion and do not preach to others. However, I was raised with learning right from wrong and instilled it in my own children and grandchildren. You have been doing a lot of introspection with this tragedy it appears and some of it has scared you. I wish you well and know there is good and bad in the world. It has always been so but live to do good. It is far more rewarding on a personal level.

Crimson.......you got carried away and overcomplicated it........

That is the exact reason you need help and quickly. the little white bus should arrive shortly.

hey he is one of many he is just saying it out loud as as I said ITS A ME WORLD theres alot out their that think like him ast like him and unless you work with the public you don't see it or just don't care to see it

Maybe it is just me, maybe I am became OVERsensitized, but since I came back to my quiet little town in northern Canada from 2 trips to Afghanistan, I value life even more. I do not like seeing ANY person die. I can now feel total empathy with those who have lost loved ones and I bleed for them inside. But that is just me.....

Excuse the bad English in my previous post 8.24. I meant "I have become".

Also to further my statement that I do not like seeing any person die, I meant innocent people like bystanders, kids etc., they are the ones I grieve for. I have absolutely no problem with the death of someone trying to either kill me or an innocent person.

Is that Crimson's picture? It's Saturday, he's a young handsome guy. He should be out having fun instead of sitting at a computer on a news vine.

Jeanette, you honestly think red dog has anything better to do? Sociopath and narcissist guys walk around in a world of one, themselves.

Crimson, you may well be the most sane and balanced person here. Most of these others are in serious denial and can't maintain a working relationship between their hyper-sensitive emotions and their well-suppressed intellect. You're alright. Your touchy-feely judges passing sentence are actually the criminals.

I agree that there are not many great resources. Have you tried a local university that has a graduate psych program? Email them to ask about any clinical programs that offer counseling for free or at a discount. Also, sometimes you have to try visiting more than one person before you "click." I still think you would benefit.

There's a lot of interesting research on mirror neurons. It has been shown that when watching someone perform an action or even speak an action word, the person watching has activity in the same area of the brain as the performer. They theorize now that people with autism are lacking those neurons.

CrimsonCujo,

I'm sorry I don't have much helpful information. Some of what you are saying does sound a bit antisocial, but I am far from being an expert, or even very knowledgable.

However, I can recommend a movie, a documentary Are You Good or Evil?, which you can find for free on Top Documentary Films website, topdocumentaryfilms.com . It's about a professor who researched what makes someone good or evil, what turns people into psychopaths or not, only to find out that he perfectly fit the profile of a psychopath, including genetical predispositions and his family's testimony. But it was the upbringing that helped him act correctly and even become very useful and highly functional, both for himself and for the society. Similarly to his personal findings, societies that are more turned toward collective good (than personal) have less reported antisocial behavior according to some studies. It has been suggested by a number of studies that the highly driven, personal goal oriented societies, where materialistic individualism is highly regarded have more incidences of antisocial behavior: meaning acting upon that lack of empathy and feelings. It's not that people's brains are different. It's that the rules are different. Antisocial behavior runs into serious resistance early on, as it's completely rejected by society, while here, society is more lenient toward it, and it's even supportive in very intelligent people, who often become CEOs of companies (larger percentage of sociopaths has been found among CEOs than among the rest of the population), because they are so reckless that they'll do anything to achieve what they want.

Since you are so wonderfully honest and open, which I really admire and appreciate, I did want to ask you a few questions, just for my own information. I know I have no right to ask, so it's OK if you ignore me. Do you play video games and how would you rate your Internet usage? If you do, how long have you been using those practices, or when did it increase, if it did? If you do use one or both, how violent are they, and how exposed are you to violence through electronic resources? Have you been seeing much violence in real life?

Thank you for what you shared with us. It was interesting and rarely sincere.

I know this article's rather outdated, but I feel the need to respond to all people who replied to me.

This is gonna get long, so stick with me for a bit - I tend to have lengthy rants.

@Suzi - Yes I can. Of note, some of my favorites include SEGA games like Sonic, Phantasy Star Online 2, Touhou, and a couple of Korean MMOs (MapleStory, Mabinogi, Elsword - just to name a few).

I heavily dislike games with blood - it makes me squirm and squiggle. I especially hate horror games, as those tend to have the highest amounts of gore and violence in them.

I EXTREMELY - and I hate using this word - EXTREMELY hate games like Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Gears of War, GTA - just to name a few. They feel to me like they have everything that's wrong with our fictional culture packed into them. Not to mention WoW feels and plays extremely blocky (which isn't the only reason I dislike it).

@Erby - I've been seeking help for my emotions since I was 7. Even after spending my entirety of high school in a mental residential academy (read: school for mentally ill delinquents), the problem never vanished. I'm more aware of the problem now than I was then, but nowhere nearer the solution compared to that time either.

@Kevin - No white bus ever arrived. Like I said, I live 4~5 blocks from a police station - that would have been an easy feat for Springfield PD given how close they are (and I've had run ins with them before, all of which ended rather peacefully).

@Jeanette - Handsome? Pshhh, please, if that were true don't you think I'dve gotten a few passes from women? They all seem to think me worthless retarded trash. It's not that they don't give me bad raps. Far from it.

They do something far worse: they completely ignore me. As a wise man once said: To be forgotten is worse than death.

I'm always the one making advances that are never returned - my reasons for being here inside my house are so that I don't harm them from my impulsive reaction to being silently rejected.

P.S. And yes, that is really me - that picture's sorta outdated though. I've a recent one I wouldn't mind sharing.

@parabellum - I'm aware of that. Thing is, what can I really do about it? They're gonna vindicate me no matter what I do. Damned if I do, damned if I don't.

@Janellect - As of DSM-V, I fall into Autism Spectrum - however, if we were to use DSM-IV, I'd fall into the category of an Aspie. And I've actually felt the pain of letting my emotions rule me to know full well what the consequences of said actions are (as well as gaining a powerful fear of those emotions and the actions that stem from).

@bhgal - I won't respond to your first rant about the documentary (only because the mere mention of it kinda insults me).

However, I will respond to the inquiry that comes after: I am a big video gamer. I've been playing games (rather lightly due to parental restrictions) since I was 3 or 4. Even then, I wasn't the type to wander towards games with excessive blood and gore. I'm a "Looney Tunes" type of person, in that I like violence void of blood and gore - wacky violence. I abhor the kind that tends to be more realistic (the kind of violence I like actually makes it easier to vent my anger).

When I was younger, the internet didn't exactly exist in the form it does now (when I first encountered it, I was 5 or 6, so that would've been the era of 56k Dialup). Even then, I tended to browse sites that had video game demos, and as an impulse steered far away from games with blood (they creep me out).

And I will admit - I've never been face to face with a gun, let alone even heard for myself the sound of a gunshot. A lot of the adult-rated things in life (like sex, drugs, guns) are things I've only seen through a TV or Monitor (movies and pr0ns, for example). As for having been exposed to them IRL? Nein (well, maybe except for tobacoo and alcohol, of which a couple relatives of mine use).

Kevin from Left Coast: They may not have anything to do with this, though that's arguable (put on your lib conspiracy cap and think of all the possibilities). You can be well-assured they will milk it for everything it's worth. As Ubama's Godfather said, "Never let a crisis go to waste." I can hear their champagne corks popping as you drone on.

Too easy to say we need to attack "mental illness". Make's it someone elses problem. The real issue as I see it is that we, as a society, tolerate sociopaths. That is a burden *all* of us must bear. Consider Hawaii where my family lived for two years. Petty crime is off-the-charts there (my 2yr old son's back-pack was stolen while we were in the restroom for goodness sake. I was told I should keep better track of my stuff by security staff. ok...), but violent crime is almost non-existant. I suggest this is because as a culture you simply cannot opt for the sort of isolationist behavior we see in these horrific killers. In Hawaii you must either be part of society or leave. The loners get rooted out. Unfortunately on the mainland our (and I'm as guilty of this as anyone) "you take care of you and I'll take care of me" MO allows sociopaths to happiliy persist and grow increasingly dangerous...knowing they will be "left alone". I'm all for getting rid of the guns...but in the mean time I think I'll get to know my neighbors.

"...we, as a society, tolerate sociopaths" So much so that we elect them to be President.

parabellum, which one? Actually I don't think any of our presidents were sociopaths, perhaps some of them fall under the narcissistic category though.

amazing to me Sally Ann...........that children are murdered and this dude has the gall to speak out of his arse like a moron.

I'm 57 and realized along time ago...that there Are idiots on this rock we share.

Geez...........another tea drinkin fool.

Great post, Vern! 100% in agreement!

Yeah, maybe Jesus as right maybe we should Pray and ask him where him and God were while the kids were staring down the barrel of those Guns. Maybe they were having Tea and strumpets with Satan and Satan is petitioning for all the schools who don't preach the word of God in them. God supposively says he will not get involved in Free Will so not matter how many Schools hes in he still wouldnt protect his own people!

And about engaging our Brains in reading I challange your brain as well , read Genesis Chaper 1 about when God created everything, the plannets, stars, earth ect then get your calulator out and count back the years to when god was supposed to have done this, you can count back to around the time of Abraham! Ill give ya a clue though to save ya the time religous Scholars have already done this for you and Ill tell ya the awnser: A little over 6000 years! Do your math and googleing for yourself but this is their best calulation and they pretty much all agree. Now heres the question of the day if weve only been here a little over 6000 years like the Scholars have dated the Bibles accounts too, then explain why we are finding Dinosaur Bones that are around 150 to 300 billion years old, and have the fossil fuel to prove it! You use to to drive around daily. And then again those pretty stars you see at night take millions of light years to reach earth for us to see them. Isnt that something? Maybe God or jesus dont have anything to do with this at all? Id say If our government would stop all the needless bush Vendette wars and giving all the 100s of billions is tax breaks to the oil companies maybe they wouldnt have to cut federal funding to the school. they could make a law and put security in place to protect those schools. But hey what do I know I probally dont engage my brain enough!

The establishment clause was not to remove religion it was to prevent a Sharia law type issue.

And I will guaran-damn-tee that you would be perfectly happy with that "Sharia law" if it was your Bible that was the law book instead of that other one, Vern! Proof?

There is one Moral Law Giver and he has been banned. Banned because moral rules apply to all not 'everyone but me'.

So take your dreck about "sharia law" and stuff it, Vern--all we'd have to do is call it Biblical law and you'd be the first to sign up...

Vernva does make a good point I think, or maybe I'll make it for him/her :) When you abolish state endorsement of even watered down religious or moral expression, you have indeed prevented the preeminence of any one religion over the others. Similarly, in our democracy, we abolished the preeminence of any one man or woman over all others. So, the constitution is satisfied. Most agree that our constitution functions as intended: by abolishing religious endorsement by the state, we avoid religious oppression. We fight tyranny with the vote. But democracy is not the best form of government, it may simply be the least bad. When the state cannot endorse religion, it is left with little to endorse. When a leader can only "lead" for a few years, there is little leadership.

The tea party and the far right wing of the republican party are good examples of why religion was separated from the state. They both are also a product of that separation in my opinion.

TIM

I personally saw a fossilized tree in the upright position that intersected two coal seams which were dated by archeologist's to be 30 million years apart. So YOU explain to me how a tree stood up for 30 million years and then became fossilized???

One other thing, just a few hundred years ago scientists were telling us the earth was flat, even though in the bible it is described as a ball. Just food for thought.

agreed....nice one girl.

Yeah let's ban weapons so that people are totally defenseless when some mad person who has obtained guns illegally gun them down!

Mrs. Lanza was armed to the teeth, quite legally. Her son, who was 20, illegally commandeered some of her weapons and killed her with them.

So, if only she had had more weapons, this whole tragedy could have been avoided?

Right.

Criminals are always going to get a gun somewhere and there will be no way to track that.

There is absolutely no reason to give this antiquated theory any credence whatsoever. It doesn't work that way.

We need much better gun controls/safety regulations. That's perfectly obvious.

There is absolutely no reason to give this antiquated theory any credence whatsoever. It doesn't work that way.

Antiquated theory with no credence huh? So what exactly is happening in Chicago these days if not exactly what she describes? Do you think all those people killing eachother walk in to Walmart sporting goods and legally buy and register those guns?

Well think about it this way. Its better to keep the number of guns already distributed than to have even more people buy guns legally. How so? Well let me give a scenerio. There are a high number of people who carry guns in America. Out of all those people about half of them have mental issues. Some of them don't. Yet, make someone who does or doesn't have mental issues angry or make them depressed, they might decide to shoot dozens of people. Now, let's lossen gun control so that it can be in EVERY citizens hand. Out of every citizen that has a gun, only a few know how to shoot a gun. So one decides to shoot down a potential gunman. But *gasp*! He accidentally shoots an innocent bystander. Then the gunman proceeds to also shoot and kills the one that missed and everyone else. So now we have more casualties than we would have had had it had been only one gunman. My point?

Its better to have gun control and keep the number of criminals we have than to loosen gun control and let the number of criminals increase. at least at this level it would be a little more manageable. If everyone had a gun, which is about how it is today anyway, then there's a chance more crazy people will do this and on an even grander scale.

Raygirl: Math challenged?

"There are a high number of people who carry guns in America. Out of all those people about half of them have mental issues. Some of them don't."

Antiquated theory with no credence huh? So what exactly is happening in Chicago these days if not exactly what she describes?

Chicago is right next to Indiana where gun laws are wide open, which is a problem we could solve over time with a consistent national gun law. Chicago is a perfect example, in fact.

@Tim- you must not live near criminals. I live in New York City, we have very strict gun laws- 6 month background check per gun purchase, only guns allow are handguns under .45 caliber, and guns can only be shown in a gun range or gun permitted zone(there are none), and concealed carry is a 10 year prison sentence Minimum- but there are still local news stories of shootouts between people with full-auto military grade weapons that are not even allowed to be sold New York State much less New York City. I- an average 18 year old college student-can set up a meeting with criminals-through online or face to face interaction- and be better equipped than my local SWAT team for much less than legally purchasing i might add. Criminals care only about profit, as long as you don't appear to be a snitch, they will do business with you.

...and, as you neglected to point out, the rate of gun violence and murders has dropped dramatically over the past decade.

Thanks for the example.

Sandy Hook just finished installing a new security system. If you notice, the killer had to break the glass next to the locked door in order to enter the school. Many schools are now going to a locked security door system. Where one needs to push a button and the office let's you in after they speak to you to find out what you want. Other schools have all the doors locked except one near the office. So a person can't gain excess inside without passing the office.

Most classroom doors do have locks which can be used. However, some schools from the early 1990's have an open floor plan, dividing students into smaller groups which rotate. There aren't actual walls which go up to the ceiling.These are used for the lowest grades. More like modules they have been designed to maximize air flow, energy efficiency and can be adjusted for class size if needed.There is literally no door at all.

While most of us probably are familiar with the metal detectors often used in inner cities. Then there are literally the armed guards or police officers. The list goes on as far as how much protection a school might need. Depending on the threat level it faces.

But how does a place like sandy Hook prepare when something has never happened before. How does one plan for the impossible horrible nightmare which may never come in your lifetime? Do you need to plan for such an event yourself?

Not much of a security system.

you are unemployable but maybe you just don't get it.

Read the story about China again. In the latest incident, a man slashed a bunch of children, but last time I checked, there were injuries, but no deaths.

Guns don't make people violent. They just make violent people much more effective.

Sorry, chum--no fatalities in China. So maybe your "it if wasn't guns..." argument isn't as airtight as you thought...

If you notice there were no deaths in that incident. Obviously, guns kill faster and more effectively. Do you know why Japan is such a nice place to live? Guns are outlawed to the public. Not to say they don't have murders, but they have way less than we do.

We all would wish the CT situation turn out like China !

@Raygirl- I read that article too, and i agree with you to a point. yes this country would be far safer without guns but do you realize that there are millions of gun owners in the US, what are those guns going to just disappear. Plus unlike America, Japan does not have major gang problems, and a lucrative drug market. Guns will never disappear from America if the criminals have guns i don't trust my authorities- who are more likely to target me a law abiding black man-to be responsive enough to stop crimes. Superstorm sandy hit and bam there was looting, how did the looting stop, citizens took up arms against the offenders. I'm not saying that we should have a wild west attitude i'm saying that i would feel better with a nine milometer in my holster then having to wait for the slow response of the authorities.

I agree. And most people try to pretend like it has nothing to do with Gun violence...that gory shows and video games don't effect the minds of the young and mentally deranged. But it does. I know a lot of people who watch and play these things get the urge to do these things in the real world. All you need to do id put it in the hands of someone mentally vulnerable...

The violence depicted in media is prevalent but i feel it is the parents responsibility to control their child's exposure to that said violence. Most big home viewing companies have parental control on there content and R-Rated movies can only be seen with a person 17 and up. All American sold video games have the ESRB rating system. Even comic books have a rating system. There are regulations in place but if parents don't listen to these regulations there will be repercussions.

Sane, rational persons do not slaughter anyone, unless attacked. So...how many guns, what caliber or type and banning this and that or "toning down our violence" or worrying about the "violence" we watch on movies or TV shows is nonsense.

Mentally ill persons can watch a movie, listen to an album, eat ice cream, watch a fly go by or hear a message from their invisible friend, and it can trigger a psychotic episode resulting in murder or injury for an innocent person.

We rational persons do NOT need our freedoms lessened in any way. The crazies will not respect the rules, and they will still be crazy, so no matter what we do it won't matter to the psychos what we do or don't do. It is lunatics and criminals who need their liberties restricted, not decent people. I am not giving up my guns, knives, bows and arrows, box cutters, screwdrivers, cars or my right arm because there are crapheads who can't control themselves. THEY need their rights curtailed, not us.

I am not entirely for or against this idea Terrie-3512799.

My only problem with it is, much like everything else, who decides? I heard a radio announcer mention video games, he said "assassins creed, I mean come on, what more do you need to know??" The problem is this moron had clearly never even looked at the game, in Assassins Creed the game will actually fail you for killing innocents. Part of The Creed is that you d not harm civilians, so right there that game sends a better message then many movies. I think there a just a lot of shocked people looking for easy answers.

Ernie, If you live where I do and you deal with 4 to 7 people shot on a good weekend and 2 to 4 home invasions on any given weekend you have two choices. Hope your not the next one and worry when you go to bed, or learn to protect your family and yourself. I choose not to be a victim in any situation. I have many years military experience as a range supoervisor and know how easy it is to teach people safe personal protection.

Nice attempt at ground-shifting, fatone...

I know a gun is the best tool for blowing away a home invader, rapist, car jacker, burglar, mugger, and even an occasional mad dog and rabid raccoon. You can have your little knife.

Anyone want to talk about the guns banned in Norway? Or Chicago?

give this person a prize.

This young man was mentally ill and regardless of the fact that his Mom had a gun, he would have found them and done this.

Um, no. If it were virtually impossible for a non-law-enforcement, non-military person to obtain a handgun, he would not have been able to do this. With a lesser weapon (a knife, for example), the death toll would have been much, much lower. In fact, without a gun, he wouldn't have been able to get through the locked front door of the school.

Thats not true, history is full of stories of mass murderers using weapons other than guns. Earlyout..... again if you lived in Detroit where 1 out of every 5 young adults carry an ILEAGAL weapon with intent to use it. And if you follow the Detroit news (or Chicago for that matter) you will see what I mean. In the last 6 months 2 people have been found shot within 100 ft of my home.

Anyone who thinks this would have happened even if no guns were involved is delusional.

In the US people with mental defects used to be committed to remove them from public. They were tossed in a room and locked up. The conditions were very bad and that practice was stopped. Now we just feed them high dollar meds and say have a nice day. It is almost impossible to have someone committed today.

early oyt of his mind you have no idea of what you are talking about just let the law breakers have the guns you cretin

"If you do what you always do you will get what you always got" This is true. So many massacres occur because the gun laws remain loose and mental illness are not taken care of. But a few massacres were not done by people with mental illness such as James Holmes. By the way everything was planned, he couldn't possibly by scientific standards have a mental disorder. So mental disorder is not necessarily the issue. Added, there is so much violence in popular media today that it can CAUSE a mental dysfunction even if a person were taking medication. The media today has a negative affect on children and the mentally vulnerable. Its not uplifting or positive. But people are stuck in an illusion that violent media is our friend. This is because no one wants to admit the things they like are always bad. I used to defend violent media too, until I started working in the schools and observed the children and mentally ill for my safe. You have to be objective. Observe the behavior of the people around you. Make a statistic of how many people participate or watch violent entertainment. Then we can officially see the root of the problem. There are just way too many mentally ill people. We need to control what motivates them...violent entertainment and Gun availability. These things work hand in hand

Note: Majority of young people who are socially withdrawn play video games, usually of a violent nature. like Call of Duty or Resident Evil. Socially withdrawn people already feel like outcasts from the world, so when they play these games it gives them the urge to "get back" at the world that made them feel different. I've seen it. And honestly these are things that need to be addressed.

Well said. The rest of the civilized world looks at us and says, "What's wrong with these people?"

This is a global issue, it just gets reported more here in the US and the more civilized countries.

If the rest of the civilised world is so great with their laws and lack of freedom, why do so many of them want to come here?

This is a global issue, it just gets reported more here in the US and the more civilized countries.

Not if you're talking about gun violence, it isn't. The U.S. has the highest per capita rate of gun ownership of any country in the world. It also has the highest rate of gun violence of any developned nation. Gun violence and homicide rates tend to track proportionately with the availability of the weapons.

Of the 20 worst gun related massacres worldwide in the past thirty years, 11 of them happened in the U.S. First runner up was Finland, with 2 incidents. There have been 15 mass murders in the U.S. involving guns this year alone.

Every day, around 83 people are killed in the U.S. with guns.

Every day.

If anything, it isn't reported enough here.

This is a global issue, it just gets reported more here in the US and the more civilized countries.

You couldn't be more wrong.

I think it has been said by a lot of people to take care of the issues here first before worrying about other countries, and it starts with the economy and illegal immigrant problem. Then violent crimes and penalties have to be addressed. Carrying out penalties also need to happen quicker. There is no reason why a convicted murderer should be on death row for 20 plus years. Death sentences need to be carried out within the year, especially the DNA technology we have today.

Even if all the ills are address, unfortunately, episodes like this one will happen from time to time. You cannot totally root out evil, but you can address issues, like the whole goth thing, to try and prevent these sort of tragedies.

John 17---

I agree with you that the penalties, like death should be carried out within a year due to my technology (DNA, and other test equipment), but on the other hand when we have someone in jail for 20 years and we find they were not even there at the scene, and they due to politics and the "slogan" "we got him" and later find out it was all politics and lies by low educated police, and lyeing police, placing guns on people etc, or only try to come up with things that look bad on the defendant, then I also agree that if such a person was in jail for a number of years, then the police people involved and the judge and the prosecute should have 24 hour death penalty, so they do not get elected governors or police chiefs due to their lie, and this my friend is rampant in USA, not anywhere near as much in most other western countries.

Unfortunately this terrible killing is being over analyzed, this can happen anywhere, any day all over the globe--Forget gun control, that is just politics in the USA with several hundred million guns, many people have more guns here than cars, but after 6 years in mil in EU, I have no idea, why people here have to have guns, other than in US where so many have guns--so everyone feel they have to have guns, because 2/3 of population can show up any time at ones front door with a gun and threaten Grandpa for money, since they are out of a job, since all of those for low people jobs are gone to China, AND you never know when someone did not get his med, especially here--due to a horrific medical system, for 2/3 of the population..

We shouldn't have a death penalty at all, but that has nothing to do with this topic.

EarlyOut thinks America needs to take a back seat to the "rest of the world". We're not the leaders, we're the backward dolts clinging to out little experiment in personal liberty and the sovereignty of the individual citizen. How quaint. Why can't we embrace the dominating trend of the history of humanity and live like servants under authoritarian rule like so much of the rest of the world? Why can't we deprive all out citizens of their God-given rights in order to save these 20 children to be productive drones in government labor camps or starving on collectivist farms? Freedom and democracy have no place in this evolved modern world. Just think how loved and respected we could be by all the world's dictatorships if we would just surrender our obsession with natural law.

Side note: There seems to have been a trend showing human life to have a 100% mortality rate, but if we can achieve the IMPOSSIBLE task of eliminating guns, just maybe we could live forever.

The 2nd Amendment is not a God-given right, and besides nobody is talking about repealing it anyway.

-Expatriate

When Americans pretend we are a 'standard bearer of the "civilized" world' as you claim, it is due to our constitution. No one pretends Americans are better then anyone else, our form of government is. A Representative Republic is better then a dictatorship or Monarchy for the people of the country as no human can have absolute power without becoming corrupt and Dangerous to the people.

America was founded to be a nation of free, independent, self reliant people. That and our constitution mean that yes, this level of gun violence may be a distinctly American thing. We do not strip the populace of the means to defend themselves should the government go overboard. With our rights come responsibility to behave properly, this means that while our Constitution protects our rights we all have the responsibility and sadly, like anywhere else in the world where humans live we have people here who abuse our rights while neglecting any of the associated responsibilities.

This issue here is really less about guns or 'culture' then it is about people and people everywhere are the same. Some people when Given an inch will take a mile.

what a crock of crapola.

You may be sorry [if] you get assaulted or some Meth head breaks into your home in the middle of the night. Who will Protect you then? GOD?

Gun owners are fearful, timid people. They think there are monsters under their beds.

It's true that they need guns to protect them.... from all the other people with guns. It's circular enough to make your head spin.

No. The legal gun owners do need guns to protect themselves from other people who will illegally possess guns no matter what laws are enacted.

I have more than enough extra large dogs to defend my property and myself. Warning will be given when anyone is within 1/2 mile of my house and police are on speed dial. I could never kill anyone so a gun would be stupid to own. On the other hand I could kill someone in a fit of rage so it is best that I never have a weapon.