My heart goes out to those families and victims who were affected today by the Connecticut shooting spree. This is the worst shooting spree that I've ever heard about. The other ones like Columbine and Virginia Tech were bad, but this one involved 5-10 year old kids. FUCKING KIDS!! This shit has to stop. I don't believe that this is the last we are ever going to hear about these tragedies if we don't step up. By stepping up, I mean that each person has to take an active role in their own self-defense and that of their families. One of the biggest ways we can do this is to fight for the right to bear arms - our second amendment. But, it is not enough to just purchase a firearm. You need to practice using it and know your weapon. Get comfortable with your weapon as it may save your life. This asshole would have never came close to this school if he knew that the teachers and security were armed. The ordinary citizen without a firearm becomes a victim to a criminal who has one. We, as citizens, have to take a more pro-active stance in being our own protectors instead of relying on the police and other governmental authorities to do it for us. They can never be everywhere at once especially since they are too busy chasing down drug users and prostitutes.  But that's another story.  Taking self-defense/karate type classes helps, being able to recognize when something doesn't seem right and securing our residence and work place is a good start.  We get so caught up in our lives that we fail to notice what's going on around us. I, too, am guilty of this. But, if we can use this tragedy as a spring board to better defend ourselves and become more aware of what's going on out there, they will not have died in vain.

Reasonable minds vary as to whether arming people to the teeth is a good idea.  And mostly, I'm not visiting this board to get angry. Which I now am.

the escalating number of random mass shootings is to have elementary school teachers carrying guns in the classroom? sigh...

the solution to this problem is exponentially more complex than having more people buying more guns.

And yes.....convo for the P&R board. please.

Look at Canada. More guns than people up there. No one needs to lock a door.
The lunatic that did this would have had his head blown off 12 gauge style by a 70 year old gym teacher.
Instead 20 kids are executed.
I agree that one must learn to care for, and use a gun.
Otherwise it is just a paperweight.
What sucks... All the prayer, and wishes will not bring the parents little ones back.
BTW..
Who cares what board it is on?
Fucking heartless assholes. Go to the corner and stare at the wall.

That teachers should be allowed to have firearms in a classroom ?
Bic lighters and razor blades make GREAT stocking stuffers for little Johnny !
Karate vs a bullet that travels faster than the speed of sound - Yeah , OK !
Your lack of logical thinkg personally scares the shit out of me !

We want solutions, but consider: 15000 american are murdered whith guns every year (35000 by automobiles) The guns used in most mass murders have been obtained legally.  There are an estimated 50 to 60 million guns in the USA today.
It is unclear where to begin.  Outlaw guns?: How do we do that?  Arm everyone? So every temper tantrum risks to end in gun violence.
We do have to think clearly and stop branding the NRA crowd (like my highly responsible skillful and well trained skeet shooting son) as crazy killers and those (like me) who would like to see guns much much rare as anti patriotic La-Dee-Dahs.
One thing we can all share is a deep sense of grief.

However you feel about gun control...let's just save it for at least until after the funerals are done.

Let's not use this as a platform to push our own ideas about whatever we want to push.  The sad fact is that a tragedy happened and innocent lives were lost.  Right now...let's not go beyond that.

I'm a gun-control lib who supports the expired assault weapons ban.  But at the same time, I don't have a problem with a private citizen buying a hand gun to protect their home, or a sportsman who owns a hunting rifle.   For some of you pro-gun advocates who think that everyone-should-have-a-gun, you should know better.  That's a dangerous weapon and if you think everyone should have one, then you lack the judgment to have one.  For the anti-gun crowd: we'll never get rid of all the guns in America, so stop dreaming.  

Dave Cullen, author of "Columbine", was on the Rachel Maddow show last night.  He said there are three archtypes for mass-murder:

1.  The truly insane : example--Jared Loughner of Phoenix, who shot Congresswoman Giffords + others.
2.  Sadistic sociopaths:  example--Harris & Klebold of Columbine, both were quite sane.  
3.  The depressed loner: example--Adam Lanza of Newtown, Conn.  

Cullen suggests that we should have mental screenings at our high schools to try to detect kids at risk, who might fall into one of the categories above.  This is a mental health issue exacerbated by the dangerous availability of guns in our society.  Anyone who's looking for a quick fix here will be disappointed.  --z

I agree with that too.
Dr. Phil is the Anti Christ.
People, and shows like that have poisoned the American soul.
What ever happened to going out to play?
I should talk though. I'm constantly connected to the Internet.
Everywhere I go, spare time is spent on various boards like this one.
Multitasking is second nature now.

on which board things should go on. She wanted to say something and if this were any of OUR children, I doubt we would give a fk what board someone sent prayers and thoughts out from. As for the gun thing...try living in New Orleans where we are the damn murder capital of the world, and see how you feel about guns then. EVERYONE here has a gun...or you end up dead. I have been robbed at gunpoint twice already, and after that I said fk it and bought one. Many of our public schools have armed security guards and most all of them have metal detectors. This is why I send my daughter to school 3 hours away and have very little time with her.

But now?  Not the time.

for the best and most logical post on this subject I've read, either here or on the P&R Board.  I agree completely.

Atrocities that defy explanation are the most pernicious and frightening of all evil. And while I agree that in the span of a few hundred years, we have transformed the nobility of liberty into a perversion of entitlement, society was not the blueprint to construct such a perfidious soul. The depths of such abject hatred are just beyond our understanding. The best we can do is hold the ones we love a little tighter, recognizing that life is as precious as it is fragile.

Had a discussion re. this with a Canadian.....their gun laws are WAY more strict than they are in the US.  

What dont we protect our children the way we protect our money? Try opening the door to an armored truck, take out the money and see whtat kind of reception you get. Ah, but alas, we are a culture that values our money more than our children. Our money is important and needs to be protected from evil people. Shouldn't our children be at least equally so? Oh wait, we cant do that...that will cost MONEY. Nevermind.

Irrespective of how one feels about gun control.
May God bless the bereaved familes and community and help them find the strength to cope with something that defies understanding.

Absolutely. I could not agree more.

As a parent how are you going to send your child back to school telling them everything will be okay when you don't believe it yourself. How many secondary deaths will there be of say a parent that just lost a child before Christmas. My concern as well for the medics that had to pronounce those children as dead. From personal experience it changes you. I still visit the grave of a little girl that I could not save from child abuse.

I pray for the mental clarity and strength of all  involved. Which includes all of us on here discussing this.

-- Modified on 12/15/2012 2:14:39 PM

-- Modified on 12/15/2012 3:30:41 PM

I also agree with Z.  Maybe it is on the wrong board, but if that' s only occasional, it does not bother me.

The magnitude of these types of horrible tragedies is just unfathomable.

God bless all those affected...in whatever manner.

I never said gun laws shouldn't be strict.
But I could never get a carry permit to just protect myself.
I would need a reason. Like carrying lots of money, or jewels.
I don't think idiots should have guns either. I'm sure the friend of yours would agree.
That is a fact though. There are shitloads of guns in Canada.
The difference is they use them for hunting game, and protecting themselves.
Not robbing or killing people.

You can't. All you can do is try to make the next one less fucked up.
Maybe it is a role model thing?
Seriously. Who is there to look up to lately?
It started when I was in high school.
We had to fight to actually exercise in gym.
No shit. The teacher almost got fired because he walked us through the halls of the school without permission. Just so we could use the weight room.
That is the thinking that kills us.
Admin. has to cover their asses though....
People love to sue today.....
The older generation has no idea what a shit deal my generation got.
Younger people today..
What will they think when they find out we basically abandoned the space program?

You know the is written in our laws.

Yes, it is.  The Constitution says: "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
This has most recently been interpreted by the Supreme Court as not limiting the right to militia members, but to extend to a right to keep a gun in the home for self defense.  Thus, the guns used in Newtown were legally, aquired and kept.  But the problem is broader than that, because the NRA fights any attempt to ban assuault weapons, cop-killer bullets, 100-shot magazines, limitations on purchases made at gun shows or on line, etc.  As a result, nothing gets done.
And I'm not blaming the gun here.  I'm in favor of a right to keep weapons in the home, for hunting and for target shooting.  But no one except a cop needs a concealed weapon or an automatic pistol or assault rifle.  No one.
I agree the problem is even larger than guns.  We have a culture of violence and instant gratification.  Combine a sick socirty with guns and you've got Newtown, and all the rest.  Sadly, unless we wake up soon and address the entire issue, it will just happen over and over.

In fact far from it but

I don't think I could have shared a better opinion

The solution is possibly out of reach

That doesn't excuse people from coming to each other aid

Bless you all for having spared this craziness

Samiam

I just get really mad when I find out about stuff like this...
Respect to you, for not getting mad, and helping best you can!

I think bugs should be stepped on immediately.
This fucked up individual may have had a reason. I don't care.
I care about the families affected... They need to know something will be done about this...
They lost their children. It should not happen again.

Or do you think that maybe they just want to be left alone to mourn?  I'm sure there will come a time and a day where they want to talk about gun control, but that time is not now.  It really isn't.

Someone just lost his son or his daughter.  Some kid just lost a sibling.  Some grandfather just lost a grandchild.  Some teacher that did the right thing by locking her kids in a closet and then misdirecting the shooter to another location paid for this with her own life.  And her family is missing her tonight.  Do you think THEY want to talk about this RIGHT NOW?

Because if they do, then I will be the first to support them.  But since THEY are the ones who are suffering the most, don't turn this tragedy into some selfish rant about the way you feel about something.

That's just wrong.

I agree with CCPA that a tragedy such as this is unfathomable.  Since it is, answers to preventing another incident are hard to come by.  Several posters on this thread have had thoughts about the cause/prevention of a tragedy like this.  I agree with many, including insightful posts by Zangari and B_I_B.  There is no pat answer however and let's face it, this type of thing WILL happen again.  As for what to do for the families that lost kids?  The community is already reaching out in love and support to those families and that will continue and at least partially blunt some of the pain.  But, the shooter is dead and the answers as to why he did this died with him.  There is nothing to be “done” except to love and support those families.  Man has been killing man since we have been in existence.  Some periods are worse than others, the simple truth is that murder will never be eradicated, IMHO. Our only hope is to try and spot the crazy ones ahead of time.  Very hard to do. We need to go back to imbuing in our children "The Golden Rule."

I am not a parent. So I could never know that anguish.
I appoligise.

And it's just not now.  Anyone who thinks that this is the time now is just pushing his or her own selfish agenda, probably without knowing it.

Could it be Capitalist Guilt? Each and every one of us is a capitalist.

http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=reg_ls_capitalism_without_guilt

I've already shed enough tears on this horrible tragedy.  Way too close for me  

And I agree with everything you said...there is a time and place.

Right now I can't even grasp the horror of what those people are feeling...it's just enormous  

Hi BIB,

... house by the likes of Ernest T. Bass in small town Newton CT! It's a shame that Assault rifles are legal & mental health awareness has lessoned  & let the recent mass killers  slip through the cracks!!  We need more dialogue from mental health doctors on how to recognize possible trouble in the minds of  people on the verge of mental illness! That way they can get the help & not create such devastation as was yesterday's senseless carnage!!

I don't thinki the President needs to go to Newton, CT; to console the people!!  I'm sure they get it, he cares!! Being there would only heighten the media circus surrounding the poor community which needs to start healing!! Having the prying cameras there only delays the healing process!! Stay safe, brother!!

I'm not an emotional guy (well, angry and pissed off at times, maybe), but this stuff just makes me sad.  It is hard to look at the pictures of the people that were lost and wonder just WHY.

faces of the little ones. I just couldn't take it anymore... Had to turn off TV... Sorry.. I am just not that strong..

Blaming guns, large capacity magazines, or the “Gun Show loophole” is and will again prove an ineffective salve on what is clearly a subcutaneous societal ill.
  A quiet, depressed, socially disenfranchised, laid off, separated/divorced loner in most parts of Europe can obtain guns, magazines and ammo too go on a bloody spree of mass murdering innocents; but they don’t seem to near as often.

  We’ve got to stop going after the messenger’s tool(s), and find out what is giving him the message.  


-- Modified on 12/16/2012 11:54:05 AM