You see, motorman, there's the problem. You are flat wrong. But you are incapable of a civil discussion...unable to control your emotions or words.

You refer to my "fellow gun nuts." In actuality, the proliferation of guns does concern me. At heart, I am one who hopes and prays that our nation will come up with a solution that will not be struck down by the courts as a violation of the 2nd Amendment.

The bottom line for me is that I love my nation and my state. I will stand up and defend our Constitutions and the rights they grant. Whether it's the right to privacy, free speech, to marry who one wants, against unwarranted wiretaps, or to own and bear arms, the rights that those documents guarantee are too precious to cast aside out of convenience.

To be clear - I own one firearm. I do not carry a concealed weapon in my every day life. I am vehemently opposed to the "Stand your ground" laws. If I owned a business, I would prohibit firearms on the premises. I do seriously worry about the mental stability of a lot of the "gun nuts" as you put it. They frighten me.

All of that said, I can not and will not ignore the rights that our Constitution grants.

If I were on The Gazette staff, there are three posters on this forum whose accounts I would cancel because they've shown themselves unable to debate or discuss in a civilized manner. Repeated use of words like "idiot," or "moron," and personal insults are a big part of the problem in our society. That one post from you, though, was entirely a personal attack with no constructive argument. THAT is why I flagged it for removal.

Trust me sir, You can't tell me anything I don't already know. You seem to have a very high opinion of yourself, I feel sorry for you. And yes I do get a tad hostile, or bellicose as you so eloquently put it. HAHA Do you have any more fancy words for all us lower class folks?

And, from what I can see, you, Mr.motorman are the top offender of attacking and belittling people with all your fancy big words haha. You just might find there are people who are pretty darn smart around you they just don't see the need to try to impress others the way you seem to.

Motorman: "I do not subscribe to the notion that poor behavior be given a pass, nor will I stand and let snide or rude comments slide by unanswered. Use civil terms and language and I will return the favor."

Motorman: "How did you get so stupid? Did you come by it naturally at birth or did your mommy drop you on your head a lot?"

Motorman: "Tpaine you are living in a paranoid fantasy."

We can only guess about:
Motorman: "(This comment was removed by the site staff.)"

It will be interesting to see if you survive the Gazette's change to a pay-to-play web site. If you intend to continue posting next year, you might want to start saving your allowance for a subscription.

I see that this discussion has turned into some kindergarten attack on people because some people cannot handle that their ideas are wrong. When everyone grows up and puts on their big pants maybe you will have something valuable to say,until then I will watch this circus unfold.

Actually, motorman, blame me. While I can understand the view that some restrictions might be reasonable, you haven proven yourself to be a poor messenger for your cause.

http://gazettextra.com/news/2012/dec/18/...

A few of you have been nudging your toe up to the line. You, though, crossed it.

MooShoo,
I was wrong on the caliber diameter comparison.
My error.

Nice intellectual comeback, motorman. No factual or logical rebuttal because what I wrote is correct. I expect your Guardian ad litem to file for a restraining order because I am engaged in a battle of wits with an unarmed person.

Just checked to see if I had feedback on my 12/16 comment at 6:08 pm about getting rules to live by back in the schools and taught by parents also from birth on. Sadly only see the pro-gun and anti-gun rhetoric instead. Our children need moral guidance from birth on. They are not born with a value system. Applies to all cultures regardless of a belief or lack of belief in a Supreme Being. This country has also gone overboard on the 1st Admendment. You can not yell "fire" in a crowed theater and defend it as free speech. So why do we allow the exposure of very realistic violence on TV, on the internet, in movies, and on video games. I personally think the video games are the worse as it involves the player in actively creating the carnage on the screen. And technology including 3D has made it very realisic that I believe it helps desensitize people to violence. Add to that mental illness that we treat by shoving these people out in society with pills and shutting down mental health facilities (Singer in Rockford is an example .. the mental health care floor at Rock County Health Care Center is another). Too many people babysit their kids with TV and video games at an inappropriate age. When President Obama said in his speech that he is going to work with educators and mental health professionals to curb this violence, I certainly hope he meant that they are going to try to address the root problems and not just ask them for what the maximum magazine size should be. I support reducing magazine size but with the concern of at what size do you stop. Down to a single shot gun for hunting? Why am I not hearing much of anything on TV about addressing the root causes. CBS had Bloomberg on pushing for more gun control (he has for years) and CBS stated that they did not get any pro gun right senators to speak. WHAT ABOUT ADDRESSING THE ROOT CAUSES? We could use a return to the 1950's for many of the value systems and a respect for life. Not condoning a return to racism ... unfortunately it still exists. But to the other value systems of helping each other and not everyman for themselves. IMO

What is your case? All people that have access to firearms are destined to be cold blooded killers? As I have said a million times the guns are not the problem it is the mentality of the people that get their hands on them with the intent to do harm to others. I have a large amount of guns and as I said before, i'm sure within an hour I could get my hands on a full auto weapon from some scum ball off the street. This business of limiting guns to 100% law abiding citizens will NOT cure this problem. If you people cannot get that through your heads i'm sorry for you.

Motorman - if you're going to "shoot your mouth off", you should know how to load it properly. It's "dyed-in-the-wool" (colored before being made into fabric), not "died in the wool" (expired in sheep hair).

Gun buybacks do not work. Criminals can't get their friends (those without outstanding warrants) to take guns to the buyback programs unless they are run on a "no questions asked" basis. This means no questioning who had the gun for how long, where and how did they obtain it, or detaining individuals who bring in guns which are potential evidence in crimes.

Also, pro-gun people regularly let their friends know when buybacks are occurring so that they can pick up some cash for clunkers and junkers.

The programs destroy criminal evidence and buy worthless firearms. If you want a multicultural feelgood media opportunity, feel free to waste your own money on a buyback program. Don't waste my tax dollars.

Let me ask you another question. Could you legally obtain a firearm? Does that automatically make you a mass murderer because you have the ability to obtain a firearm? And if you can and if it does why are you not off killing innocent children as we speak? Get my point? Now who is the moron?

MOOSHOO, You my idiotic friend, Did NOT pay any attention to what I said. It is not the guns that are the problem it is the mentality of people who use and attain them. As I said, all this gun ban talk is so moronic it makes me sick. I could do some major damage with my old Marlin .22 semi auto that SHOULD BE used for squirrel and rabbit hunting and is 100% legal and on the up and up!!! Do you notice I said "SHOULD BE"? The .223 Bushmaster that everyone fears so much should NOT be used for killing people, the same way my .22's shouldnt,but they are fully capable!!!If I had 2 of them with the mags full I could be VERY deadly if I so inclined. Get your head on straight before you spout off moronic comments to me about what I said and what my intentions are.

http://gazettextra.com/news/2010/sep/10/...
found it.
Pretty sure it was dads gun so gun control doesn't matter.

Does anybody recal the creep that shot the girlfriend on the front porch in front of her child. Seems he planned this. Wasn't dads gun and dad's truck. Then go back to the scene? Said "TV" made me do it. What ever. Anybody recall him name. Like to see his sentencing.
Loco or just pure evil mixed with cannot fix stupid? I am starting to wonder my "have to be crazy" whatever it is they need to go away that is for sure.

THE GUN IS NOT THE PROBLEM! It is the people. If you took a good old 12ga shotgun loaded with 00buck without the duck plug in it what kind of damage could you do? You can feed that thing a hell of alot faster than anybody can defend against. It is not the gun. People who are bad eggs can get a gun without a problem. It is not the legal gun owners you have to worry about. I bet in a matter of one hour I could attain a fully automatic assault rifle from some scum bag off the street, no serial number to track it,and be off to the races. Peoples attitudes need to change, that is the real problem, not the weapons.

"The .223 cal. military rifle was specifically designed to kill people."
although it can kill people the .223 WAS actually designed to wound enemy..thus taking 2 other soldiers to attend to the wounded..

Well, my first comment was only addressed to this terrible tragedy.
However after reading all of the comments posted I need to make a second comment:
We live in a sick society today, and there are many many things that take place prior to a tragedy like this one. We need to take a hard look at a lot of the "protected rights" laws also, that do not allow records of sick people to be released, as well as the "freedom of speech" crap that allows young kids to watch and listen to violence and killing being glorified from day one. Second problem is having leaders that have common sense. Remember we are dealing with morons that have a less than ~10% approval rating, as well as a large number of them having filed bankruptcy, committed sex crimes, and have let this financial crisis we are in go on and on and on right up to the last days...(remember the SUPER COMMITTEE ???) made up of both parties, ya a real responsible bunch of morons they were... and so on....Point of this common sense being that once again it appears the these guns were legally purchased, and the rifle used was NOT an assault weapon. It was .223 cal. which is a varmint rifle, (1/2 the bullet diameter of an AK47 assault rifle) and we are waiting to hear what clips were used.....yet already the powers to be are demanding an "Assault Weapon" ban as well as clip size requirements........as well as more handgun bans. I also have not heard which guns this sicko used to do most of this horrendous act, the handguns or the rifle. So lets for once take a REAL look at all the problems building up to this tragedy....my point is made now, and I also pray for Gods Blessing to those little Souls, as well as all involved in any way.

Alas, nothing changes really.

Seeing as the shooter blasted his way into the school through the doors, I'm not sure wheter we would want to build schools that could have protected from him. An elementary school in a doomsday bunker - windowless with blast-resistant reinforced concrete walls - doesn't seem like the right environment in which to educate our youth.

Since I stated earlier that the answer lies with each of us, the ensuing comments here convince me that these scenes will be oft repeated. We have little interest in being the difference.

A ban on magazine capacity to prevent these tragedies would be about as effective as a ban on the number of gallons each vehicle could hold in order to prevent drunk driving accidents. It's all "feel good" legislation that won't make anyone any safer in reality, but will make the sheeple "feel" safer.

"The rifle used in the shootings was a Bushmaster .223-calibe Bushmaster, a semi-automatic civilian version of the military's M-16. AR-15-type rifles, including .223-caliber Bushmaster, were outlawed in the United States under the 1994 assault weapons ban. That law expired in 2004, and Congress did not renew it.
*
Gun nuts, I freakin' guarantee you this craziness is coming to an end."
>
And guess what, a shot from a .223 bolt action rifle or any other rifle would kill someone just as dead. All the guns fire just as fast, could conceivably fire the same round, it's just that one "looks dangerous". I say we figure out what vehicles are the most involved in drunk driving assaults and we ban production of them also, it would make as much sense.

I say we do put either fingerprint or retina scanners on the doors of schools . Ive worked at places that have these to ENTER and its simple and effective .
This would also Help Stop Abductions at School!

The Mentally Ill just Seem to Walk Right In . Weather there armed or not .
There is a MAJOR PROBLEM with that right there .

Some one mentioned Not turning our schools into prisons , I disagree . We Adults use locks every day to keep things safe and people out Every Day . It seems to me Children our the most valued things in life , Why is there soo much hesitation to pay a few more dollars to keep them safe ?

Depending on School size and population every so many Teachers per so many students are required to be armed and trained and have on going training to qualify for a position teaching position of course these teachers would be paid more .

Just a Thought .

Allow the teachers to arm themselves, if they wish. It would only take a few volunteers at each school to greatly improve security. Let parents choose which schools they feel safer about putting their kids in, defended ones, or soft targets. If I had a child, I would prefer he/she attend a school where the Principal shot Expert with a pistol, instead of relying only on a cell phone with 911 on speed dial.

Here are some stories "When mass killers meet armed resistance.":
http://freestudents.blogspot.com/2007/04...

The moral decay of society is cited as a cause of mass violence in this article:
http://townhall.com/columnists/rachelale...

Roger Ebert points out the responsibility of the press with their hyper-coverage of these tragedies:
http://boingboing.net/2012/12/15/roger-e...

It would be nice if the Democratic and Republican parties focused on the institutionalizing the dangerously mentally ill instead of arguing about how many trillions more dollars to spend than they already take from us in taxes. It's ok to infringe on my Constitutional rights or suggest ridiculous schemes to put serial numbers on bullets, but let's not waste money on locking up or inconveniencing those unfortunates who hear voices in their heads telling them to kill people?

mooshoo, and the 25,000 deaths from falling ? and 37000 from poison were just suppose to look the other way ? no one said every one who killed with a gun has a mental problem . but obviously if you take time to plan out a crime like this something is not right . i could own one of these guns and never in a million year s would i do something like this . take away the guns they will make bombs same result. take away the guns and there be less suicides by using a gun but not less suicides. the guns are not the issue . and heres a thought too , all these crimes are committed where guns are not allowed , even in conceal and carry states guns are not allowed in most malls and schools so that right there should tell you something

etown - exactly. If they cant find a gun to go on a rampage, they can go get a couple drums of diesel fuel and some fertilizer and level the whole building. Then if we ban diesel fuel and fertilizer they can drive a truck into a crowd. Then we ban trucks and they start poisoning food in the cafeteria.. so we ban eating at school.... it never ends...lol.

the truth is there are over 30,000 gun deaths in the us every year. 18000 of them are suicide , some our accidental shootings , some are shooting that were done to protect or prevent someone from committing a crime. so approx less then 12000 are from homicides. meanwhile 25,000 deaths occur from falls , 43,000 from car accident and 37,000 from poison. the only reason the gun one gets so much attention is because of the mass killings you see at one time. what they need to look at is the people that committ these crimes how many times do we have to hear they had mental problem s , were with drawn wheres the help for these people . take away the guns and they will still be out there finding another way to commit crimes like these . quit looking the other way mental health is a serious over looked issue in our country .,

Apparently it bothers some of you to see that today in CT, it WAS a prayer service and vigil for the victims. What my beliefs, or lack of them, are of no importance to the story of today. Obama himself, interjected his politics into the event. Does that make him a hateful person?

The Westboro cult is a despicable group. They dance on the graves of our soldiers. The fact that their presence in Ct (in an attempt to protest) makes some of you gleeful, is disturbing.

I applaud Anonymous for their quick response in dealing with the Westboro group. Hopefully, they will officially be given the recognition as a "hate group".

Shopierehuh,
>Are you not free to go back to your utopian paradise?

I'm free to go back if I want to of course. So what? It has nothing to do with my comment. It's important to look around and learn what your neighbor countries are doing, especially when they are doing well.

poobah

"That's part of the problem."

I believe that more people would tend to disagree with you and the California professor on that.

Everyone has the right to practice whatever religion they chose, be an atheist, or an agnostic."

Referring to the 8:13 comment...

"What is increasing, though, is the media-enhanced public obsession with experiencing violence vicariously."

I do agree with that statement. But in reference to the Holocaust remark. I do not agree. The Holocaust was about ethnicity and not religion. The Germans believed they were superior to the Jewish people, and that they should be murdered.

The nice thing about freedom, YOU can believe whatever you want and others can do the same.

wislady said, "It is rather interesting that even with all the anti religion groups, when a tragedy like this happens, the families almost all turn to prayer groups and churches."

Yes, isn't it. That's part of the problem. You should re-read gazettefan's comment made at 8:13 a.m. today. Study after study has confirmed what gazettefan was stating. One such study that compiles data from several studies is "Atheism, Secularity, and Well-Being: How the Findings of Social Science Counter Negative Stereotypes and Assumptions" by Phil Zuckerman. [ http://www.pitzer.edu/academics/faculty/... ] From that study, "Murder rates are actually lower in more secular nations and higher in more religious nations where belief in God is deep and widespread (Jensen 2006; Paul 2005; Fajnzylber et al. 2002; Fox and Levin 2000)."

It is rather interesting that even with all the anti religion groups, when a tragedy like this happens, the families almost all turn to prayer groups and churches.

Geraldo just referred to the town as "Ground Zero". That is an odd comparison, even from him.

I suggest a few of you who make accusations against me, take a look back at the comments you have made against anyone who does not share your opinion.

nomoreres

I have made NO hateful comments, only statements which are correct.
As far as the Seal being on the podium, it was tacky.

Posted by Shopierehuh

"The answer is not to lock up our schools and make them prisons,"-Motorman @7:34pm

No one has suggested that schools be made into prisons. Suggestions have been made that security be increased to keep people that intend to do harm out of the schools, away from the kids.

Murderers have to kept out of the schools so that they can't murder the kids. See Beslan, Russia, 2004. Try not to let your anti-gun, anti Second Amendment agenda interfere with what is important here.

"You want to play with military weapons joingn the military quit playing at it in civilian life."-Motorman @7:34pm

It was not a "military weapon" that he used. It was a semi auto sporting rifle.

Motorman @ 7:30 - I couldn't agree more. Wislady, your party must be proud of you. You must be one hateful person to make the comments you have made. I'd like to think it was a lapse of judgment, but I fear it's the real you.

"..also feel like age limits for alcohol, etc. we need to have an age limit for gun ownership; not meant for 20 year olds."-@ 7:16pm

He didn't own the firearms. He stole them from the rightful owner after murdering the rightful owner.

"But I now feel it is time to have more gun control and ban assault weapons."-@7:16pm

Assault weapons have been banned (highly restricted) since 1934. See Gun Control Act of 34.

He didn't use and "assault weapon" he used a semi-auto rifle and some handguns were on him also, whether he used the handguns is unknown to me at this time.

I am a believer of our constitutional rights. But I now feel it is time to have more gun control and ban assault weapons. I also feel like age limits for alcohol, etc. we need to have an age limit for gun ownership; not meant for 20 year olds. I know this will not solve all the problems of these senseless murders, but they say the first 3 minutes before a response team arrives are the most crucial; assault weapons don't give this time. I know we need more than gun control. There is a breakdown of the family, of morals and values in our society. Instead of coming together with our neighbors, we are torn apart by politics and religion. We are a society of selfishness and greed. We also need to stregthen our mental health laws. Gun control alone will not solve our problems, but we as a society need to start somewhere.

Obama is at the vigil for the victims in CT, and the podium has the Presidential Seal affixed to it.

Tacky.

poobah

"It seems the media has not reported much information on the father of the shooter. I wonder why."

"That is inaccurate and it is despicable, wislady."

If you consider that comment "despicable", what do you call the behavior of the union thugs?

It also is NOT inaccurate, very little has been mentioned of the father.

Mouse get a grip! So after Timothy McVey's detroying of the building and killing a hundred plus people in Oklahoma City years ago, does that mean Ryder trucks should have been outlawed? You don't get it! Murder is a personal choice. It can be achieved by just about any means if the person wants to commit murder. So let me ask you this question: If Obama outlaws all guns in the United States, do you think the criminals are going to hand over all their firearms and stop breaking the law because a new law was passed? It all comes back to a people problem and not a gun problem. Taking the guns away is about the same solution as putting your finger in hole on the bottom of a boat. Its only a temporary solution to a much bigger problem. We need serious solutions to serious problems and gun control as you want is a joke!
Good luck disarming us legal gun owning American's! Never going to happen! I was in Gander Mountain today and they started a number system to wait on people at the gun counter because there are so many people buying guns because Obama said he wants to change the gun laws. I plan on trading in my 9mm on Friday for a smaller more compact semi auto pistol to be used for concealed carry. And there are many more American's that feel the exact same way I do!

We have ticking time bombs walking amongst us all over. I went to school with kids that had to be on meds otherwise they'd freak out. How many other conditions there are I dont know... but they just give them meds and send them free.. Years ago they locked them up in institutions. Today we deem that as unethical....we'd much rather have them erupt and go on shooting sprees like this I guess. All of the stupid rights and laws there are I dont think an employer can even ask a person if they have any mental health disorders or anything like that...Its against the law to ask. So as long as we continue to hide it and not let people know.... you'll have eruptions like this, im sure most people had no idea this kid was like this, but there were a couple people that knew... they just ignored it and hoped he'd live normal. A mother wants her kid to be normal and not locked up in an institution... so welcome to America. 5 days till the world ends, I wonder how many more crazies are going to fly out of the cuckoo clock?

This maniac murdered the owner of the firearms and then went to the school after stealing the firearms from the rightful owner, walked in and murdered many more.

People should not be allowed to waltz into schools and do these heinous acts. Security has to be installed at schools to prevent this.

As a previous poster stated, magazine capacity doesn't matter, 30 rounds, 10 rounds, 5 rounds, the end result is the same. These are concentrated areas of innocent victims for these murderous terrorists to do their deeds. He will just reload more times. If the firearms weren't available, he might have used gasoline.

September, 2004 at a school in Beslan Russia, a place with monstrously restrictive gun laws; 380 dead at the school, 186 children, total of 334 hostages dead. Explosives and fire were the primary murder weapons.

As usual the anti gun, anti Second Amendment crowd prefers to dance around the facts, and create their own "reality".

During the debates when asked about assault weapon bans, Obama dodged the question and Romney said that, although he knows there are many great single parents, society needs to get the family unit back together and to teach children moral values if we want to eventually lessen violence. The press of course had a hay day blasting him for such a remark. I say, Put the 10 commandments back in the homes and the schools and teach them. If you are worried offending anyone, leave out the honor
God and honor the Sabath and keep the others that are not relious specific ... like love they neighbor as thyself, honor your mother and father, thou shall not kill, etc. And crack down on the content on the internet, in movies, in video games that help desensitize people on violence. Some are so realistic with the technology but in real life you can not hit the replay button. Lots of negative ads against Romney claiming he was trying to take us back to the 1950s. The morality of society in the 50's did not support the slaughter of the innocents that just happened. They also were not trying to keep the mentally unbalanced out in the community and shutting down mental health instituions like they have in recent years. IMO

"there is no evidence of a link between Asperger's and violent behavior, experts say."
-
^Well they just found the link. lol.

From your related AP story:
"Lanza was believed to have suffered from a personality disorder, said a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Another law enforcement official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said Lanza also had been diagnosed with Asperger's, a mild form of autism often characterized by social awkwardness. People with the disorder are often highly intelligent. While they can become frustrated more easily, there is no evidence of a link between Asperger's and violent behavior, experts say.
"Richard Novia, the school district's head of security until 2008, who also served as adviser for the high school technology club, of which Lanza was a member, said he clearly 'had some disabilities...'If that boy would've burned himself, he would not have known it or felt it physically,' Novia said in a phone interview. 'It was my job to pay close attention to that.'"

It doesn't take a "rocket surgeon" to read between those lines! One could argue that this problem might be more related to the current willingness of our society to tolerate and even mainstream every DSM-documented behavioral abnormality in the interest of "fairness" - until those traits finally reach a boiling point in an individual and others are finally hurt, often terminally.

There is usually much more predictiveness to these outburst occurrences than is likely ever reported, and far more than ever should be tolerated - however "fair" a society might want to appear. Ultimately, it is "unfair" to the masses of citizens that must withstand the brunt of the loss and tragedy associated with these outbursts of ultimate cowardly angst. But stand by - this society has been busy for years sitting on brood of a wealth of such up-and-coming firebrands! And the response? Another trendy anti-bullying program? Sure. Make sense who may!

Mouse - They were not "automatics" go re-read it. The public can not buy "automatic" guns without a special class 3 license. What you are referring to is "Semi-automatic". In which is totally irrelevant because the same crime could have been committed with a bolt action, a pump, a revolver, or a lever action gun.

Why do people think that a rifle with a pistol grip and handle can be more dangerous than one without? Or 30 rounds vs. 10? These are not muzzle loaders and you can reload them in seconds.. so 10 or 30... does not matter if someone wants to do damage it can be done.

What? Before you judge me, im not the one letting words on a screen bother me... perhaps this is a "warning sign" that you are about to snap? Do you own any firearms?

Assult weapons are becoming common place....is c4, fully auto guns, and hand grenades too far behind? Fear breeds more fear.....

Todays public record - are guns brainwashing people?
-
- MAN WITH A GUN reported at 9:03 p.m. Friday in the 700 block of Roosevelt Avenue, Janesville. The man surrendered to police, who confiscated several firearms. The man was transported for possible mental health treatment.

As it comes to gun rights, I'm a pro-choice. I choose not to own fire arms, but I'll be damned if I'll allow anyone to limit my choice to have them in any way. You never know, some day I may decide I need to own an "assault weapon" with extended clips for my personal protection. As long as fire arm owner ship is done safe and responsibly, it's no one's business. Although I find abortion to be wrong and horrific, I don't advocate using government to limit a woman's right to terminate their unborn baby. I'm asking all you anti-gun nuts to extend the same courtesy to me.

childish obsession worshiping their guns paranoid fantasy gun fanatics paranoid delusions- Motorman@ 2:26pm

Quite the little agenda you have there isn't it? Think you are going to get anywhere with that silly rhetoric?

"20 some dead so gun fanatics can own assault rifles..."-Motorman@2:26 pm.

That wasn't an assault rifle that he used. It was a semiautomatic rifle. Assault rifles are highly regulated and controlled since the National Firearms Act of 1934, otherwise known as NFA.

President Obama is actively killing innocent children in Pakistan with ordered drone strikes (as did Bush). Do you want to see changes that WILL save children ? Call the Whitehouse.

Motorman - perhaps you'd be more comfortable living in a gun-free society. Have you thought about contacting the United Kingdom's Consulate? They only had 2 rampage killings between 1950 and 2000.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politic...
Of course, there is a slight drawback. They have more violent crime than the U.S.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/l...

How about the Iranian Consulate? I'm guessing you wouldn't have to worry about a lot of rednecks clinging desperately to their guns and bibles in Teheran.

"What reason does a civilian possibly have to justify owning a military assault rifle with high capacity banana clips?" The answer is self-defense. Korean-Americans used semi-auto rifles to defend their businesses during the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, after the police didn't respond, and in at least one case, abandoned them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Los_An...

The Janesville Police Department now supplements their handguns with patrol rifles http://www.ci.janesville.wi.us/modules/s... (page 27) to better protect themselves and the public against multiple and/or rifle-armed assailants. With drug trafficking and gang activity increasing in Janesville (see above document) it is comforting to know I have the right to have more than 5 or 6 shots available to defend myself, should the remote possibility occur.

Sales of firearms and ammunition skyrocketed beginning with political lightweight Obama's nomination as the Democratic Candidate for President and the last two Black Fridays have had record numbers of firearm sales. I think more people are realizing government is not the first choice for the protection of one's family. If George Bush Junior and Barack Obama are the best the political powers in charge have to offer this country for leadership, it's time to start relying on your own resources to maintain life, liberty, and security.

I suspect the silent majority is more armed than unarmed, regardless of what they might tell pollsters and anti-gun neighbors or relatives. I doubt they are buying many flintlock rifles or Olympic target pistols.

All right lets pass laws based on emotion with no facts at all! We can all have the ILLUSION of safety and we can feel better about ourselves thinking that when we pass a law we will all be safe from the crazies in this world. The people screaming for more gun laws are probably the ones I see driving down I-90 doing 85 and talking on their phone and your more scared about being killed in a mass shooting?

wislady said, "It seems the media has not reported much information on the father of the shooter. I wonder why."

That is inaccurate and it is despicable, wislady. Several media outlets have already gone as far as to disclose his approximate salary and the terms of his divorce settlement with his ex-wife. First it was the comments that exploited the deaths of Americans at Benghazi for some perceived political advantage over Obama prior to the election. That failed; your man lost; get over it. Now, this all too familiar style of comment about an event that ended the lives of first grade children and their teachers. You should be ashamed of yourself.

As usual, when a tragedy happens the left comes out in full force to spew their rabid anti-gun, anti Second Amendment agenda. They use the same lies, rhetoric and inaccurate statements that they have used for decades.

They have no qualms about tap dancing their joyous, fancy little dance on the graves of the most innocent of victims. They are a despicable lot indeed.

Wislady, finding conspiracy everywhere you look? The father was not involved with the son since the divorce, the mother may have prevented it as she was said to be very bitter and vocal about her ex-husband, per a neighbor. So he and the brother, who were not involved, should be left of out this. The poor brother was mis-identified as the shooter, had his picture smeared all over the media, his facebook page posted all over, and hundreds of facebook pages created for hating him, then was handcuffed and videotaped... all because of something his little brother did!
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Also, the mother WAS NOT A TEACHER. This was one of many false stories spread about this incident. She stayed at home and "cared for" her troubled son (teaching him to shoot assault rifles, I guess). She was getting a LOT of money from the divorce so didn't work.

It seems the media has not reported much information on the father of the shooter. I wonder why.

Peter Lanza...tax director and VP for taxes for GE Energy/Financial Services. Jeff Immelt, CEO of GE sits on Obama’s Jobs Council.

http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/201...

"Tpaine because your fellow gun fanatics"
my "obsession" with my gun rights has to do w/ my jewish german family fleeing germany before the war our people have been oppressed through history..and i'll be damned if me or my progeny will ever again be loaded on train cars!!

You Should try to look at what he did in the order he did it......He killed his mom then killed the things his mom loved . The Very Last thing this is about is Guns !

In Fact it is a good analogy because both items by there selves do not injure any one it is when people come in contact with these items we have a problem and i would dare to say 99.9% of all gun owners and auto owners alike Do there absolute best at operating equipment safely . Now no ones asking what warning signs did this nut show ? Remember he killed his Mom first ! Not Very Normal . Maybe Mom was to blame ? maybe mom was too busy with the new lil ones at school year after year and didnt give her own child the desperate attention he deserved !!?? evidently mom was too busy to notice this kids problem . Any chance of that ?

Motorman
"Besides the precious second amendment, I also have the right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness which is curtailed by gun fanatics"

it is sad that a mindless evil tragedy always seems to turn political.
more laws to "control" guns will not stop this...the "assult rifles" are already in circulation as well as the clips and ammo..
and we are NOT giving them up! ever!
the 2nd is important if u value your other "rights"

You people are dumb when it comes to guns. A person could easily walk in with a 100 year old double barrel shotgun with buck shot and do more damage than someone with a semi-auto .223. Just as fast too.... with a gun that only holds 2 bullets and was never designed to kill "people".
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If you want the problem to end... move to a different country. The USA is so overpopulated what do you expect? Also school shootings date back to the 1700's....nothing new.

In general, cars are not designed to kill people,
assault rifles are.
Not a very good analogy,
but I am sure that it works for many of you over there
at the other end of the bell curve.

Guns the shooter used are SEMI AUTO perfectly legal to own .

again people looking at the Gun and NOT THE BROKEN DISTURBED MIND THAT FORMED THIS EVIL PLAN AND CARRIED IT OUT .

ever see 2 or 3 teachers walking a class of young students ? Would not a Cadillac Deville jumping a sidewalk do the same damage ?

Lets ban cars make sense ? watch these videos and lets hear the ban cars arguement ? ....No ? ....ohh it because most of you drive cars you dont want a ban on them ?...I see...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b5QIux9...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnR2ysya...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAtQHCzR...

Cynicaleye,,,, Are you SERIOUS??!! Ya its all his fault..Get real

Voice...no more mush for you !

Cant believe all the idiots blaming guns and others for what 1 sick broken mind did , if you want to blame others , lets start with the shooters parents , class mates , teachers , friends , all for not seeing the signs of a truly disturbed person and NOT SAYING OR SPEAKING TO SOME ONE ABOUT HIS BEHAVIOR ! .....oh theres blame to be put thats true.....but NOT on guns !

I do hope this is the tipping point that results in some common sense gun laws. It would be a fitting tribute to the victims. The country is so flooded with guns already though, I doubt it would make much difference. So sad.

Wayne LaPierre and the National Rifle Association, this blood is on your hands.

copperguy, well said.

The rate of murder correlates with the high rate of religiosity here and in other religious countries. Note the regularity of murder in the Middle East where the worship of the Abrahamic god is even more severe than it is here. After the religious-based Holocaust in Europe, Europeans moved away from religiosity and the murder rate dropped precipitously.

Over-all, though, in the long run, the rate of humans killing other humans since our species began is dropping. What is increasing, though, is the media-enhanced public obsession with experiencing violence vicariously.

(caps for emphasis; not yelling)

Well, as much as I disagree with wasp on many
statements, I couldn't agree more with one: "Pandora's box has been opened."

It is sad that many of us see danger around us at every moments such that we NEED to carry a gun. Although I can lawfully do so, I hardly every carry a concealed weapon. I've thought about it long and hard, but just see it as adding an extra burden on me that I don't wish to carry.

I WISH that there were an easy answer. I WISH that there was some way to uphold the 2nd Amendment without putting ANYONE in harm's way. I, though, am a realist. We could outlaw ALL gun ownership tomorrow, but that would NOT prevent tragedies like these from unfolding. Those who are intent on killing others - either out of anger or due to mental instability - will always have the means to do so. We CANNOT rid America of guns. It simply is too late to put that toothpaste back in the tube.

Instead, the prevention lies with each of US. How many of us would seek the legal confinement of a spouse, sibling, or parent because they have shown signs of instability? We are quick to say that the parents/siblings/friends of these crazed perpetrators should have acted, yet it is a most difficult thing to see and do (both emotionally and legally).

First and foremost is that we all must learn to live and act like civilized human beings. One only has to read some forum comments (here and elsewhere) to see that we as a society are our own worst enemies. We can't dialogue and converse. Instead, we shout, hurl names and insults at each other, and view those who hold opposing views as the enemy. Our animus toward others consumes us such that we lose all capacity for engagement and compromise.

Whether it's our elected "leaders" in Washington or Madison, or we who post comments on news stories, there is seldom any showing of respect or decency toward one another. And, when those who are unstable turn this lack of respect into violence, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

janesvillecomments

Thank you, and well put.

I am the owner of several guns, including handguns and have been a shooter all my life. I hunted when I was younger but no longer do. Having said this, I must say that some of the comments on here about gun ownership to go from the ridiculous to the sublime. First I am not in favor of confiscating guns as Pandora's box has been opened. I also find the designation of assault weapon to be badly misused. The way it is used in most articles and newscasts, would cover most hunting guns,as we misuse the term automatic weapon. An automatic weapon will fire when the trigger is held back until the magazine is empty. Most hunting weapons are semi-automatic. They require that the trigger be pulled for every shot.

That having been said I think the idea of a bunch civilians with hunting weapons are going to stop a modern army, to be a little far fetched. They may be a nuisance for a while but they would be little else. As far as self defense, I would put my money on the armed criminal, with gun in hand over the armed citizen with gun in holster.

What is going to required, is earlier identification and help for identified at risk individuals. According to a physician I heard interviewed, many of these people are identified but there is no help available, because they haven't done anything wrong YET.

Motorman - technologically, mankind may be evolving from the industrial stage to the cyber-world,but socially and psychologically, mankind still is in the caveman stage. Hate groups are still assaulting gays, "ethnic cleansing" (weasel words for a culture sanctioning wholesale murder based on ethnic, racial, or religious grounds) has always been with us in some corners of the globe, we still have piracy at sea, and entire cultures still treat women as 2nd or 3rd class citizens, legally allowing men to beat and rape them.

Tyrants around the world hate the US, not because of Coca~Cola, or Levi Jeans, but because we are a nation founded by individual citizens who collectively stood up to a king and said "We aren't going to take it any more. I have rights, the farmer in the next township has rights, and the shopkeeper in the next county has rights." Americans took their individually privately owned firearms and stood together at the bridge at Concord and said 'The tyranny stops here!'

Ever since, foreign despots and would-be domestic "royalty" have been trying to disarm American citizens because that right has been the bedrock of our nation's resistance to aristocratic or tyrannical rule. Individual firearm ownership is why Japan never considered invading America during World War 2. The NRA gathered 7000 privately owned guns and sent them to Great Britain after the British military lost a significant amount of weapons during the evacuation of their retreating army from Dunkirk. America occasionally tries to export our style of individual liberty, something many foreign rulers hate and fear.

The tragedy of Newtown, Connecticut, is a terrible price to pay for our gun rights, but remove those rights and the nation will suffer worse in the long run. You can't "put the firearm genie back in the bottle", and in impoverished African countries where they can't afford firearms, knives and machetes are at the top of the weapons list and the strong arm rules the day. In America, the weak don't have to give in to the strong. They can purchase a firearm and overcome the disparity of force caused by gender, age or infirmity.

We need to work on the identification and treatment of these mentally ill people who turn to mass violence. We also need to end the mindless trend toward political correctness that caused the military to fail to stop that religious nut job who killed all those soldiers at Fort Hood.

Chicago and Washington DC both tried the no guns for the peasants way and failed miserably (of course exceptions were made for drunken Teddy Kennedy's bodyguards, and Illinois State Senator Donne Trotter figured O'Hare airport was exempt from the No Guns On Planes rule).

Chicago has had over 400 firearm homicides this year. http://homicides.redeyechicago.com/date/... . Rather than blaming it on the failed "war on drugs" or the expanded liberal socialist policies of the city, Chicago politicians blame the violence on the "easy" availability of firearms in surrounding communities. Illinois residents need a state-issued ID card to buy firearms or ammunition. I suppose if the entire state of Illinois banned firearms, the politicians would blame the violence on neighboring states, and if the entire nation banned them, they would blame adjacent countries - and Mexico would say "Don't blame us, we're getting the guns from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms!"

Rather than attacking the 2nd Amendment, you should try restricting the 1st Amendment. Stop the multi-media 24/7 press coverage of shootings like these and those sick people won't be emulating prior tragedies. I don't think you'd have to ban the coverage - just enforce a one week moratorium on the dissemination of the news about them. Nobody pays attention to old news - just ask the Gazette circulation department.

Or ban everything but text print coverage - no photos, audio, or video of the victims, grieving survivors, perpetrators. No musical cues to stories or animated recreations, or file footage mislead or sway emotions. Most of the output of tv/radio/web "newscasters", commentators, and talking heads would be pretty boring to these Gothic-Psycho-Gamers if reduced to text and only text. No glory, no guts.

"We like America and American people in general, but as for this gun situation, we all think this country is crazy."- MH @10:32pm

Are you not free to go back to your utopian paradise? I encourage you to do so.

Security at places like schools is needed. Don't let maniacs have free access to walk in and murder children or anyone else.

Unfortunately the usual groups use these tragic events to trample the rights of law abiding citizens. They tap dance on the graves of innocent victims to promote their left wing anti-gun agenda. This happens time after time. They have no shame, no moral compass, they use these events to place blame on inanimate objects such as firearms.

If the janitor, principal, and teachers were potentially armed, and that was a know fact, this sort of thing would never have happened. A "gun free zone" is really a "sitting duck zone." It would be good if the "tipping point" would tip a truly meaningful direction -- toward constitutional carry for everyone everywhere.
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The police can't protect you. They only make arrests after a crime has been committed.

I'm from a different country. We're not allowed to have guns in my country except for police. Very a few people have a license to have a gun for hunting in limited area. But that hunting is not a hobby like here. It's more like those people live in a country area that they need to have guns for bears and dear. But like I said, it's a very a few people, and it's not easy to get a license. And of course we have gang people in my country and they get illegal guns. But usually those gang people shoot each other, never shoot regular people for no reason.

Do we have this kind of mass murder unfolds by guns? NO. Because nobody has a gun.
We like America and American people in general, but as for this gun situation, we all think this country is crazy.

I always hear "Guns don't kill people, crazy people kill people" but crazy people can't kill 28 people easily just like this if he/she doesn't have guns.

bassman
I am like everyone else, just wanting to find a solution BEFORE it happens again. No one seems to have the answer. Gun control is not the answer, and signs on doors proclaiming GUN FREE ZONES, is not the answer.

wislady ,in regard to your comment about the troops protecting us and the schools ect. Do you remember about 3 years ago when the military soldier shot and killed his comrads,I do not remember the facts but it happened. My point is ,you never know when someone totally snaps and goes ballistic on innocent people.I don't care {actually I do} who,where,when.It will happen over and over. We cannot control wacko's with no respect for life,or lives.

Why don't we just make it easier to "fix" the sick individuals that commit these crimes before it happens? Families are too busy trying to keep a roof over their heads to be there for their kids when they have problems, counseling is too expensive and most insurances don't pay squat for it any more. If it was easier to get help when someone needed it maybe we wouldn't need to talk about gun control.

*correction.... Lee Harvey Oswald fired 4 shots 1 every 1.6 seconds.

Most warning signs by people are not recognized till after the fact. I work with people every day that get upset at their job, sometimes even throw stuff and march out. Nothing is said of it...most consider it normal..well kinda. Now if that person went and did something horrific after... would all that led up to it be considered "warning signs"? If it makes people feel better sure.
=
And people..... high capacity magazines are not even relevant. I can swap out a magazine on my 8 round pistol in 2 seconds. Lee Harvey Oswald fired off 3 shots in 1.6 seconds with an antique bolt action rifle... doesnt matter what gun you have, how many bullets it holds... they all do the same thing. Its what the person firing it want the gun to do... so a double barrel shotgun, a 6 shooter revolver, or a rifle with a 30 round magazine... they will all kill you just the same. And anyone thats played with one can tell you they can reload them within seconds... and actually the accuracy of a gun shooting 30 rounds repeatedly i would think would be way less than slower shooting... which can be achieved with any gun. Watch trained people fire semi auto weapons... they dont empty all 30, they make 2-3 shot bursts and then re-aim and repeat the process... The convenience of having 30 vs. 10....lol. Wont change a thing.

"However, in my humble opinion the answer is simple. Gun restriction laws are not necessary and more conceal carry is NOT the answer. What must change is the ease, EASE a gun purchase takes place."-why_think@3:20pm

Uh, he didn"t purchase the guns. It seems that he stole the guns from his mother after shooting her in the face.

Sigma40
That is not what I said, read it again. I simply believe that people have the right to do what ever needs to be done to protect themselves, and give themselves some measure of feeling a bit safer.

"A US Army Major serving as a psychiatrist killed 13 people."

Go read about this person again. There were numerous warning signs about this person. There were grave concerns about his radical ideas for several years before the shooting. The FBI was given the information in 2008, and did not act on it. It was an act of terrorism, NOT "workplace violence", as the current potus has label it.

Motorman, you wouldn't trust the people you turn your children over to every school day, the type of people like the unarmed women who sacrificed themselves to try to save children, to be allowed to train in the use of and carry concealed firearms if they want to? Never mind their union rights and pensions, you should lobby for better death benefits for them.

Non-Christian Japan has a different culture than the US. Communist China also has a different culture, but is having problems with homicidal assaults on schools (see Hornet's post for the links). Local Chinese police authorities have armed security guards at some schools. I'd like to think that American schools could do better than pitchforks and pepper spray to protect our children.

i don't understand why people can't agree to ban extended clips which allow someone to shoot over 30 people, many multiple times, in under ten minutes.

wislady - If you fear being shot, get a gun. No guard is going to stop anything. Seeing most people are not crazy till they go crazy... how can you be sure a guard is not going to go crazy and mow everyone down? From what everyone tells me about the soldiers over there that are in battles, they suffer mental problems, post traumatic shock disorder, depression...etc. Keep them over seas with guns, not here... i sure wouldnt want them in the states guarding anything. Thats all we need is one to have a flashback and go nuts. Look at Fort Hood. A US Army Major serving as a psychiatrist killed 13 people.

The media makes them a super hero in the criminal world.. not someone sees the stats on school shootings and will try and top it. Duh.. thanks media.

I think using troops to protect Americans in our own country makes perfect sense. I haven't seen any solutions yet, on how to prevent a madman from killing innocent, defenseless people. Do we needs to have armed guards at schools, workplaces, churches, and malls? I don't know if that is the answer, but I hope some one comes up with a plan soon?

We should all be able to feel safe in our every day lives, but that is no longer the case. There is nothing wrong in taking whatever steps are needed to ensure the safety of yourself or your family.

I can only imagine what some of you might say
if the President suggested posting troops
throughout the homeland.

The teachers were trying to protect those children
Thats the point

Interesting article...

http://www.washingtonguardian.com/washin...

Helge
No one is disrespecting teachers...everyone deserves respect, no one should be on a pedestal. Isn't that what social justice is about? This is a story about a mass murder, involving mostly children.

Nobody gets it. What a shame

wislady
The teachers should be respected as much as police or firemen thats the point(act 10 )takes that away
They should have the same rights as police or firemen unions

garyprimer

Using military to keep people safe in America, makes more sense than sending them to Syria and Turkey.

Nameless spectator: I'm aware it can be done. A single shot weapon you describe is far from a gun that fires 5...rounds...a....second.

It's true, the problem is huge and requires multiple solutions if we ever want to truly impact the problem. Yet some solutions are off the table, such as deterrence. We're told that, for instance, the death penalty is a poor deterrent. By itself it may be but like gun control, it would help since not every murderer is irrational. Yet there are those that, again as with gun control, don't even want it in the conversation.

Then there are other rights that, if curtailed to some degree, would also help. Should we ease the restrictions on confinement for the mentally ill? Many would be outraged at the very mention of that. Should we have restricted travel zones with automatic electronic detectors that would require an electronic permit of some kind to be ,say, within a 1000 foot perimeter of a school? Perhaps we should all be fitted with a broadcasting microchip that identifies us whenever we approach such a zone? Since malls, churches and post offices have also been the scenes of gun violence, shouldn't those places be in security zones as well? How many of us are willing to give up that much freedom and privacy for security's sake? Not many, judging from the outcry and indignation over President Bush's Patriot Act and the recent movement towards video monitoring of public places by the police.

Obviously, since the pool of potential murderers is rather large yet difficult to identify, if we really want to prevent this kind of gun violence, we are all going to have to give up something. We can't just put the onus on the relatively few gun owners (relative to the total population, that is) because they and their guns happen to be easy political targets of posturing politicians trying to look good on TV.

God didn't do this. The government won't let him in the schools. Guns were involved true. But we don't outlaw cars when someone drives a car into a crowd at a farmers market. Guns were the instrument used.
What we need to do is identify people who are mentally unstable and classify them in the same way sex offenders are and treat them properly for their condition. There are people with aspergers who are calm. And then there are people who have aspergers who have a violent hair trigger. Improper counseling and improper medication is key to controlling those people who have violence as their only reaction.
If you think back many mass killings are because the people doing the killing received improper or inadequate medical and mental treatment. The first step is once they are classified as violent any weapons should be taken away. Just as repeated drunk drivers should have their drivers privileges revoked.

You have got to be kidding.

Maybe it is time to use our National Guard and military at home...they could assign them duty to our schools, hospitals, and large shopping malls.

The first murder ever was committed with a...ROCK.

bill,
I agree BUT, wouldn't we be even safer in the future if we did both.
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Limited the current ease of purchasing high powered assault rifles AND work on the hearts and minds of every person.
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I don't believe either can be 100% effective but both leads to a safer world than just one.
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It is too simplistic to say "gun bans won't work bad guys will always have access", "more mental health options won't work, can't save everyone".
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The problem is huge and requires multiple solutions if we ever want to truly impact the problem.
.
Look at the "drug war". At first, all we did was "lock them up" it didn't work. One approach is not the answer. Multiple changes are needed if shootings like this one, mass/random are to be decreased in the future.

Pass all the gun laws you like, the murders will continue. In Illinois, the courts just last week struck down that state's total ban on concealed carry. Yet the murder rate by gun has soared in Chicago over the last few years. Gun laws seem to be impotent.

Have you heard the story of Pandora's Box? Guns, like the evil that Pandora's Box contained have spread over the earth. There is no way to regather them. You can ban handguns, yet there are millions of handguns that can never be accounted for. You can ban any type of gun you like but you can never get back all the ones that are already out in the world.

The solution to these murderous rampages don't lie in gun bans. That's a fool's errand.

So how do we prevent such evil acts from being repeated in the future? You have to go to the source of the evil. That source is within the human heart. You cannot stop a person from murdering his neighbor by taking away his gun. He can always get another. And even if he has no gun, there are many other weapons, as the Chinese knife attack has shown. Will we ban knives too? No, the only solution is to effect a change of heart in those who would murder.

mblack8,
The chance of murdering 26 people in minutes with a rope is fairly low.
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With a semi-automatic weapon, fairly easy.

Schools are going to have to begin being treated like middle-eastern "check points".
There is NO other way.

Each state's national guard should provide lethally armed and well trained security guards at all school access points/recess times, or something similar to this.
It certainly doesn't do any good to have all those armed/equipped people running around there after the fact.
AND..."gun control" is NOT going to happen....period......and even if there was, the toothpaste is out of the tube already so forget about that.
Some school staff in each school should also be trained and armed.

The man who just murdered his wife in Janesville used a rope. Should we ban ropes now? Same thought pattern with gun control. It is the PERSON who commits the crime, not the object. Since when can a rope or gun kill? Both men have obvious mental illness!

I have tried to avoid the political crap that is always determined to enter when tragic and horrific tragedies occur.
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However, in my humble opinion the answer is simple. Gun restriction laws are not necessary and more conceal carry is NOT the answer. What must change is the ease, EASE a gun purchase takes place.
.
It is more of a process to work at Walmart than to buy a gun a one. It is more of a process to get a driver's licesne than a gun, to be admitted to college, get married, etc... WHY? That is my ultimate why.
.
I really don't care if a more difficult process to buy a gun would have stopped this specific incident because the reality, unfortunate reality, is this is just once tragic incident.
.
At a minimum, for anyone to purchase a gun the process should be at least as difficult as getting a driver's license. A 4-6 week class for anyone, any age, any background is not too much to ask prior to purchasing a gun, any gun.
.
Yes, an assault weapon's ban would be nice but we all agree that criminals will always have access. However, a process, with education is needed.
.
To get a driver's license you go through a class that includes safety and, at least for me (age 39) images of what happens when mistakes are made.
.
I don't care about politics. I don't begrudge gun owners. I don't want to take anyone's guns away. I do want a more educated gun ownership population.
.
The other issue is mental health. I work with kids that cannot get the treatment they need even when it is required by an expulsion order. Something, must be done to ensure anyone seeking mental health help can get it. Again, the specifics of this case aren't the issue, this is a society issue.
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I pray for the victims and family, the community (police, EMT, etc...), survivers and deceased.
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Most of all, choose love, not hate; exceptance, not judgement; patience not intolerance. If you love you will help, if you hate, judge and are intolerant you are part of the issue.
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I haven't read the comments in full but to any of you personally attacking others; please stop being ignorant. That type of hate, regarding a topic like this is why a person can appear normal one day and commit horrific acts of violence the next.
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As a person who is not perfect, I will try to live up to my own advice.
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Lastly, hug your kids. Appreciate your children and always think of them before you type.

This has NOTHING to do with gun control. Try services for mental illness. Try parents who cannot discipline children because a spanking is "child abuse".

The Gazette headline asks "Why?"
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Ninety guns for every 100 Americans is why.

It would be interesting to learn if any of the staff at the Sandy Hook School had concealed carry permits, and if any had asked permission to carry on campus (unlike Wisconsin, Connecticut schools allow for concealed carry by permit holders if the school gives permission).

Sandy Hook School had a locked door/buzzer security system http://newtown.sandyhook.schooldesk.net/...
It might stop a kidnapping at school due to a custodial fight over a child or an angry spouse from entering to complain to a staff member about being served divorce papers, but it obviously failed to stop someone bent on committing public murder.

It's a foolish false psychology of safety where a screened and trained parent with a concealed carry permit can have a gun on them while taking their child to the grocery store, where they may see the child's screened and trained teacher with a concealed carry permit who also has a gun on their person, but the parent must put that child in a public school where everyone who has undergone a background check is disarmed by laws which obviously do not stop a crazy person.

No apology necessary froger. I did see the comments were disabled on that story. Yes I do agree its nice to see he reached out for help but too little too late in that situation. In either case the weapon cannot be blamed, the user of those weapons are to blame.

helge1939
EVERYONE is on the "front line" these days. How about the church shootings, the mall shootings, the hospital shooting today in Alabama...not one group of people should consider themselves immune.

What does Act 10 have to do with a person who decides to commit a mass murder?

I find so many of these comments amusing. As if more gun control or more God in school could possibly eliminate horrific tragedies like yesterday's from ever happening again. In the United States there are millions of guns and there are many gun loving people. You can't possibly make a huge dent in reducing the number of guns out there.
There are also a nice percentage of mentally ill individuals freely living in society.
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Most of them all not homicidal. In most cases, you have no way of knowing who is a danger to society until they act. We can't lock up all known mentally ill people because some of them might prove to be dangerous.
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There is a good chance that a homicidal maniac will get a hold of fire arms.
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It's very sad and disturbing that twenty children were senselessly murdered yesterday in Connecticut, but that is the price of freedom. It's naive to expect that the only blood spilled for our freedom be by soldiers in foreign lands.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/gameon/201...
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Report: NFL players are turning in guns since Belcher shooting

Violent video games are another scapegoat just as guns are. The ability to distinguish real from fantasy should not be that hard. Just because I can win the Daytona 500 on a video game does not mean I should call up Roush and demand a ride for next year. It is the feeling that somebody owes you something that needs to stop. We cant even have a winner and a loser in games anymore. Everyone is a happy participant and we are all winners. THAT IS CRAP. The root of the problem is my generation, 40 to 50 year old people that did not like being the last to be picked for dodgeball so now we are all going to win because its not good for your emotions to lose. Well, If you want to have no drive to be good at something I guess not, but losing tought me how to be a better winner and appriciate winning more. These kids that are doing all these mass killings all seem to have the same M.O. Seemingly nice familys in nice neighborhoods with money rarely being an issue. So why I ask. Daddy didnt hug me enough? Thats crap. I dont ever remember my dad hugging me no matter how well I did. But I knew he cared just the same and I had respect for my peers and people in general. Its all in the upbringing.

There really is not much anything can be done. The guns are out there. The law says that people can buy handguns and assault rifles. There are millions of these throughout our society. Mass shootings, massacres, and murder are a secondary effect of these laws. There is nothing you can do to stop them. There may be a few things that can be done to help prevent them (armed guard at every school in the US, more police, more resources for people with mental health issues, etc.) However, because of the number of guns and the easy access to guns, you will never be able to stop these tragedies in reality. Now if you could get every person to surrender every hand gun, assault rifle and semi automatic and automatic weapons, then yes you might have a chance. But that is an impossible scenario. If you outlawed guns now, only outlaws would have guns. Through our national elections and national referendums, we have created this. Now we have to live with it. Unfortunately it really is too late for any laws to do any good. The guns are out there.

How can there be any gun control when there are so many conflicting comments on how to do it. Now maybe you all see why nothing is done that is effective.

tthompson
you should look around online at what people have made themselves. a machinist can and has made guns that have similar capability. that aside, look up the term zip gun. You wont make a machine gun that way, but easily find the means that can continue the day to day violence that doesn't get such publicity. $5 at home depot can make a functioning single shot weapon with little effort or engeneering ability.

Comparing gun control to the failed war on drugs is laughable. Peeps can throw a few seeds in the ground and violate that prohibition, or they can rent a cheap hotel room and start cooking meth. Not many peeps out there can go into their basement and put together a weapon that fires off 5...rounds...a...second.

Frogger - there has been one study released reacently that has linked violent video games to violence, but to be honest there are also studies linking vitamin supplements to early deaths in women and increased cancer risks. there is a study to link any one thing to anything else.

Rick_Raff said, "God IS the answer."

The question is, "What is the greatest mass delusion in history?"

The headline of the gazette reads "WHY?" - Well seeing the media is fueling peoples paranoia of the world ending, im sure you'll see lots of wackos coming out in the next week. I blame the media it is the only thing that build the public image for everyone.

They didnt ban jetliners after 9/11.

"1slippery1
Dec 15, 2012 at 12:29 p.m.
Suggest removal

Where is the out cry against white cord and duct tape that aided in the death of that poor woman in Janesville?"
We are not allowed to commment. I think they did a good job bringing up people can get help from YWCA.
At least this guy took him self out of the system as well. Sorry jmo.

IF this bad stuff has been going on since 1927, as somebody posted, I don't think you can blame video games.

Can anyone name me ONE - just ONE - criminal that has ever been deterred by a gun control law?
Can anyone point to ONE - just One - mass murderer who decided to massacre his fellow human beings - but then changed his mind because he knew he would be violating gun laws?
Stripping law-abiding citizens of their right to defend themselves would only make logical sense if you could claim to have removed weapons from the hands of ALL the bad guys... and no, it is not a start by taking all the weapons away from the good guys.

"
voiceofcommonsense
Dec 15, 2012 at 12:09 p.m.
Suggest removal

I also cannot buy into the "mental illness" garbage.
"
How would you explai it then. Pure evil is still crazy in some way. Something is wrong someplace. At least he took himslef out of the system so nobody had to decide "insane" r whatever and where do we put him now. Sorry for the family but this seams easiest for everybody.

They can never take our guns... in WI we dont have to register them so no one even knows who has guns. I sure wouldnt turn mine in. No way would I just hand over thousands of dollars in guns...lol. Not a chance.

This one will be a likely re-introduction of the AWB clinton passed. Though that was a ban on esthetics primarily and really accomplished little to nothing. The shocking nature of this crime will be used by politicians to smear anyone who opposes the next attempt at a ban (Just a prediction but you heard it here first). Let the families grieve for the time being and return to the topic of control with cool heads and a definitive understanding of what happened and why. So fay the news has changed the reports near hourly and are not giving accurate information. The brother of the perp can attest to that.

Guns are not the problem! The problem is people. Whether they be sane or insane, it still comes down to people and personal choice! Take all the guns away from people and the killing will still not stop. What would be the difference if someone decided to shoot and kill many people or from getting in their truck and driving over and killing many people? Nothing, its still personal choice from a person! Guns are illegal in Illinois unless you have a card to own one and they have more killings in one year than the war in Afganastan in the last year. It all comes down to people because changing a law will not stop anything, it just won't. It may give Washington the warm and fuzzies because they think they did something but it will not fix the problem.
If we don't figure out why people are temporarily or permanently loosing their minds then we will never solve the problem! Is it Dr's being quick to prescribe a mind altering drug to fix any life problem? Is it all the extremely violent video games everyone plays and gets lost between reality and fiction? Is it all the chemicals that are put in our food, time and time again? I don't know. What I do know is if anyone thinks simply by changing the gun laws or making it harder for law abiding citizens to obtain or control what type guns they can have will not solve the problem. That is the same thing as putting your finger in a whole on a ship to stop the water from coming in. Eventually if you don't fix the problem, the ship will still sink!

Where is the out cry against white cord and duct tape that aided in the death of that poor woman in Janesville? For those of you that want to ban firearms, then ban cord and duct tape. This is pretty much the same thing. Both attackers have/had a mental illness. Why not just blame the doctors that they have seen and diagnosed these mentally ill people? They should be locked up for letting them out of their offices and roam the streets. Place the blame where it belongs, the one responsible for killing, not the item used.

How many of the gun protestors on here are willing to say, HERE IRAN... take our nuclear weapons. We trust that without them nothing bad will ever happen to us.

The pharmaceutical drugs are the problem. Why aren't they banning the sale of them? Oh yeah, big profits paid for by the taxes and mandated by the government.

If everyone was carrying a gun how many would people would have died yesterday?

If we take guns away for the people that use them right the people that use them wrong will still have them. So why does everyone want to take the guns away.

Kids these days don't know how to deal with adversity. There isn't wining and losing any more. Everyone get a prize now. Also when the federal and state government and social services took the right to spank or even discipline our children. The worst part about that is the kids know that their parents can't touch them. The schools have drilled that into the kid.

12 you completely missed the point. The point is that we need to address the mentality. Deal with the people who see fit to murder multiple other people because their daddy didn't love them enough or they feel like an outcast. Taking guns away does absolutely NOTHING to deal with a killers mentality, and why they feel the need to do these things. They have a drive to kill multiple people, and they will find a way.

A sane person would just wake up one morning and say to his or her self hmm, I think I will go shoot up a school a mall or whatever ,I DON'T THINK SO !!!

I also cannot buy into the "mental illness" garbage. That is just a scapegoat. Hell, I've been mentally ill many times and I would never think of entering an elementary school and shooting a bunch of innocent children. If you life is that meaningless and pitiful I'm not sorry for you one bit. There is a special place in hell for garbage like that.

Before rushing to trample the rights of 10s of millions of law abiding citizens, one should consider why these mentally ill mass murderers are allowed to go into schools and commit these atrocities.

Places like sewage treatment plants have locked gates, cameras on the gates, cameras on the entryways, people are not allowed in without permission. Why are these maniacs allowed to walk into schools and commit these horrible acts?

Spend the money, employ the people and guard these institutions. Lets act like we value the most precious commodity on the planet at least as much as human waste is valued.

As I stated earlier. It all starts in the home. Raise your children without the sense of entitlement and much of this foolishness would go away. Make sure your children know right from wrong and teach them to have respect for other people. Nobody owes us anything. This is not a gun issue it is a morality issue that can be easily prevented. The gun did not kill people it was the poor bastard who thought things didnt go like he wanted them to ,because that is what he was "entitled" to. So sad how we as a people have become.

China is having a similar situation...this first article is from 2010. After this came out, more schools/children were attacked. Only yesterday, another report was in the news of stabbing of children. See the second article.
.
Are we having these problems due to mental illness, of copy cat events? Or, is it only because we have guns and can go around shooting folks - because it's our right to carry one? I doubt that...but I don't advocate conceal/carry...or even to openly carry.

.
If we use funds from other purchases for 'medical' needs (lottery-gambling addiction, smoking-smoking addiction), then what about implements that can be used for violence? To set aside a portion of a purchase of a weappon/ammo to supplant mental health expenses?
.

China searches for answers after school attacks
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/...
.
China school knife attack in Henan injures 22 children
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-chi...

frogger, that's obviously part of the equation.

@kawisixer01: Your statistic about the 22 children attacked with a knife in China is misleading but predictable in its hyperbole. It WAS, obviously, an incredibly violent and tragic act. However, they weren't "gutted", they were slashed. Of those 22 victims, there were no deaths and only 9 were hospitalized (although several in critical condition). As terrible as it was, Chinas knife attack had a far better outcome than Newtowns gun(s) attack. Your comment is just another example of gun rights advocates relying on exaggerated false equivalencies to justify their own position. It's time to put aside that "cirle the wagons" mentality and enact tougher, more realistic gun control laws while still maintaining our 2nd amendment right to bear arms. It CAN be done and eventually, it WILL be done. Sadly, in the mean time, many more children will probably die while cowardly politicians carefully jockey for position so as not to offend their base or the NRA.

nomore- a solution to mental illness. This guy was crazy. What sane person would do such a thing?

stricnyne @10:59, well said. One would think a tragedy such as this would encourage us to find a resolution to such problems, but unfortunately many seem to find it necessary to dig in their heels and try to reinforce their argument. Shame on all of us for being so stubborn and so stupid.

This is a pathetic inexcusable act of gutless violence, and makes me sick to my stomach.
I am a pro gun person, and have voiced my position on this before, so do not feel my comments would add anything constructive at this point.
Right now my heart goes out to every single person involved, and I pray that God will Bless the Souls of all these innocent young victims, as well as all their families.

I think it's more of a mental health issue.

I can't understand how someone could look innocent children in their precious eyes and do such a horrible thing...I hugged my kids a little longer last night. This tragedy is so heartbreaking.

Yes, more laws would definitely be the answer. While we're at it, we should make drugs illegal too - then those would all disappear.

Oh wait.....

I don't hate anyone
and I don't walk on water.
Walking on water would be cool, though.

kawisixer01, thanks for the reminder of this.."The most deadly school mass killing was in 1927 by a school board member who planted three bombs and killed 45 and injured another 58." At the time, the knee jerk reactionaries most likely wanted stricter laws to keep bombs out of the hands of school board members.

gpawcat "Like"

Mexico has gun control, if you want to feel safe, go to Mexico.

THis wouldn't change anything. Mom had the guns legally somebody stated on the news. Locking them up maybe could help but if kid knew where the key was it wouldn't help. Kid went loco. Can only fix this is you know for sure he is loco and put him away. If the guns are locked up I bet he could have found some some place. It is just horrible.
wtp- do you think 3 days would fix a crazy freak. Don't think so.
tom3205- I thought I heard dad was killed too. Brother was involved too?
truthteller- I dont think it would matter if the kid knew others had guns. They are obviously not thinking straight if you go in and take out mom and a bunch of little kids.

There is no God if there was this stuff would not ever happen.

Think about that for a second gary...more than one bible. You can pick any one of these wonderful series of books to suite your argument. The bible/s isn't here to protect us. It is an instruction manual for teaching us how to help and protect one another. If a gun wielding nut broke into your house I would be amused to see if holding a bible in front of you would create some sort of bullet stopping force field. My whole point is that we all need to stop fighting, arguing, and trying to be right all the time because we are all wrong. This very comment section isolates us from doing something good for the community. If anything this comment section turns us into haters. We rip each other apart with these comments but, in reality I may have held a door for you at the gas station, you may have sparked up small talk with me about the weather while pumping gas. Would we comment differently if we were forced to wear t-shirts with our gazette tag names printed on them? We can all do so much more for each other in this world and I would not for a minute have one problem brushing off our differences of opinions to help out each other. I believe that we all need to think this way in order to make our world a better place.

Meanwhile in China 22 children were gutted by a knifeman in their classroom. Taking guns away does nothing to address the screwed up society that breeds such deranged sickos. The most deadly school mass killing was in 1927 by a school board member who planted three bombs and killed 45 and injured another 58. In 1964 man walked into a classroom with an insecticide sprayer and used it as a flame thrower killing 11 and injuring 22. Take guns away all you want and all you do is trample on the rights of good people, while never really addressing the real problem. We are in this state of blaming the inanimate object instead of the psychology of our society. I think places like Afghanistan where there are regular mass killings with IEDs, or Africa where people are murdered with hatchets shows that people who are set upon murdering other people will find a way no matter what.

Sadly, we protect the middle east oil reserves better than our own children. I am not saying we need an officer in schools armed to the teeth at the front door but, maybe I am.

truthteller,
The unfortunately large number of cases of mass shootings where armed civilians actually did get involved proves otherwise. Again, the shooter has the tactical advantages of surprise, advanced planning, superior weaponry and body armor in most cases.

I think the first step should be to ban the bloody shoot and kill video games with all the blood and guts that kids play today!! I know they are not supposed to be in the hands of underage kids but the parents buy this stuff for them. Their really is no real reason to even make such games! A trained shooter will take steady and deliberate aim but the one that learns from video games just spray everything with gunfire. I think the concealed carry laws are the only way we can stop these maniacs. If that guy knew the principle and vice principle had guns this would have had a different outcome. Average people with guns can prevent so many killings.

An armed teacher
would almost certainly be
the first to be killed.

I have not seen, or heard, anything about the killer's father. Questions that the mother can't answer, could possibly be answered by the dad. Why did the mom buy those weapons of mass destruction ?? Why such powerful weapons ??. What was she afraid of ?? Why did she keep them in the house where her son could get his hands on them??. Didn't she know that her son might be depressed??. Where did the boy practice loading, firing, reloading ??. Maybe the dad can shed some light on these questions. After all, he should know his son more then anyone else.

stricnyne,
Of course it could be argued that armed teacher would have minimized the loss of life in this situation. This kid had the advantage of planning, superior weaponry and body armor.
"More broadly, attempts by armed civilians to stop shooting rampages are rare—and successful ones even rarer. There were two school shootings in the late 1990s, in Mississippi and Pennsylvania, in which bystanders with guns ultimately subdued the teen perpetrators, but in both cases it was after the shooting had subsided. Other cases led to tragic results. In 2005, as a rampage unfolded inside a shopping mall in Tacoma, Washington, a civilian named Brendan McKown confronted the assailant with a licensed handgun he was carrying. The assailant pumped several bullets into McKown and wounded six people before eventually surrendering to police after a hostage standoff. (A comatose McKown eventually recovered after weeks in the hospital.) In Tyler, Texas, that same year, a civilian named Mark Wilson fired his licensed handgun at a man on a rampage at the county courthouse. Wilson—who was a firearms instructor—was shot dead by the body-armored assailant, who wielded an AK-47.
Appeals to heroism on this subject abound. So does misleading information. Gun rights die-hards frequently credit the end of a rampage in 2002 at the Appalachian School of Law in Virginia to armed "students" who intervened—while failing to disclose that those students were also current and former law enforcement officers, and that the killer, according to police investigators, was out of ammo by the time they got to him.
How do law enforcement authorities view armed civilians getting involved? One week after the slaughter at the Dark Knight screening in July, the city of Houston—hardly a hotbed of gun control—released a new Department of Homeland Security-funded video instructing the public on how to react to such events. The six-minute production foremost advises running away or otherwise hiding, and suggests fighting back only as a last resort. It makes no mention of civilians using firearms."
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012...

I have seen many changes in the past years,Government took away the parents rights to discipline,they have taken GOD out of our schools,like one poster said,how's that working,these people that do these things have no respect for no one,not even themselves!!
I am so sad for what has happened,but if you believe it's the guns fault,your wrong!
If you want to go after the big guns that have 100 rd clips,i have no problem with that,why don't the police go from house to house of these gangs and get those guns off the street? I know even they have rights,but how many of them are felons in possession??

One of the top selling video games selling this Christmas is Black Ops. The whole theme of this game is to see how many people you can kill. There are many more games out there like this. Although I don't blame it all on video games and TV, too many people in this world cannot separate reality from fantasy. You can outlaw guns, and the deranged and the criminals are still going to get them. Unfortunately this is the way our kids are growing up these days. This is the norm for them. If things don't go your way, you have a way to leave this world famous.(at least in their mind) Pretty sad world we live in now. May God bless every one of the family's involved.

Yet, my computer has the Bible in it.
And, come to think of it,
I have seen more than one bible
with a gun in it.

raystone, Switzerland has also been moving away from having widespread guns. The laws are done canton by canton, which is like a province. Everyone in Switzerland serves in the army, and the cantons used to let you have the guns at home. They’ve been moving to keeping the guns in depots. That means they’re not in the household, which makes sense because the literature shows us that if the gun is in the household, the risk goes up for everyone in the household.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonk...

I wish there was a "like" button in these comments because you "RustyRotor" hit it on the head. To add to your post..."Harley Davidson's are not in the bible, microwaves and smartphones are not in the bible, and the very computer that you posted your comment with "garyprimer" is also not in the bible. So unless gary wears a robe he made himself, lives in a clay house, and walks on water...his comment is irrelevant. No, people do not need assault rifles. Yes, people should be allowed to own personal protection hand guns. There are laws prohibiting "murder" and that my friend is in the bible. Did these laws prevent this social-path from destroying all of these lives? No. Many people try to use the "God" card during times like these but, many of these same people do little to help develop strong communities. This is a tragedy that may or may not have been prevented. But, I don't think that anyone could argue the fact that if at-least three of these teachers were allowed to conceal carry on the job that the deaths would have been minimal in this situation. I do not believe teachers need to be "packing" but, I believe we can develop strong and secure communities together and reduce these incidents. We need to stop blaming guns, thugs, lunatics, GOD, and the system. We need to blame ourselves...because we failed as a whole to protect these innocent peoples lives.

It's ridiculous to say we can't achieve something like reducing gun violence. Are we less able to accomplish lofty goals than other developed nations that have done just that? Try this on for size:
Number of firearm related homicides, 2008
USA: 12,000+
Japan: 11...not 11 thousand, just 11.
Is the US really incapable of accomplishing something that Japan, or any other country, has accomplished or are we choosing not to?
http://www.theatlantic.com/international...

'It is like drugs, they are illegal to possess but they are not hard to find'

But they are HARDER to find than legal drugs. Same would be so for hand guns that fire 5 rounds a second.

Teachers are on the front line just like the police & firemen
Due away with act 10

The right to bear arms wasn't in the original Constitution. It was added to the Constitution in the Bill of Rights as the 2nd amendment and the right to bear arms in order to maintain a well regulated militia. It was a time when, if you were a white, land-owning male you could vote and you could own people. Patriotic Americans need to quit "cherry-picking" their version of the Constitution. As our country and our culture evolves, our Constitution must evolve also. Our future depends on it.

This is when all the small minds try to not let a good crisis go to waste. When you actually understand the 2nd amendment, you'll learn it wasn't about hunting or the type of firearm. Our Founders adopted the Second Amendment because it allows the people to overthrow their government (especially in the case of tyranny). The Founding Fathers knew of the danger that came with having their arms taken from them by the British – it made them vulnerable to the tyranny of the British Crown. Thus, they thought it was important to create an amendment that would ensure that future generations did not have to live in tyranny.
-
A good contrast is Switzerland. All males 20-30 are required to be a member of the Swiss army militia. And they are required to keep their weapons in their home. Yet, Switzerland has the lowest incidence of gun crime in the world. Twice as many attacks occur there with knives than firearms. Rather than thinking with small minds, work to fix the family and societal breakdowns that are occurring with these madmen.

I love how people have a false sense of security when it comes to stricter gun control laws. I concede to the fact that something needs to be done but I think the wrong front is being fought. I’d be willing to bet there is more to the Newtown story and this act was not out of the blue. Back to the gun control, people break laws everyday. It is like drugs, they are illegal to possess but they are not hard to find. Guns will be no different. A piece of paper prohibiting firearms (like I am sure was posted at the Sandy Hook School) will not prevent this. Stricter punishment has no effect either in the event that someone mentally unstable ultimately commits suicide after an act like this. What do they care how much prison time they’ll serve or if they will receive the death penalty. I believe society as a whole is/has changing/changed and not for the better. Guns are just the poster child or hot button issue associated with it.

If the President makes the move toward gun legislation, repubs will say "AHA", we told you he would try to take your guns away! They will politicize this. Unfortunatlly, we all lost yesterday. Prayers and thoughts to all. Thankfully, the slime who committed this crime is dead too!

Of course there is a God.
Do you think that you created yourself?
Do you think that you created the world that you live in?

There is no God. What happened to these children is enough proof for me.

There will never be a law or regulation that will prevent someone from using a gun like this. Why, because people are people and don't believe the law or regulations apply to them. The mind controls the hand that uses the weapon to kill and I don't see anyone advocating that we place controls on the mind.

"Guns are not in the Bible."
Neither are explosives which were available way before the Bible was written. There is no simplistic way to prevent killings of this nature and there are laws already on the books. How's that working? A person's mind is the problem, not the tool.

There have always been limits to constitutional rights.
The second amendment does not give you the right
to own a flamethrower, an RPG, or a mortar.

To many peeps are getting 'gun control' confused with 'abolishing the 2nd amendment'. There is just no need for a handgun that fires off 5 rounds a second. None.

Hunters need guns.
Cowboys want guns.
Guns are not in the Bible.

carlito, "There needs to be stricter laws and NOT ALLOW carrying weapons in public places Schools,Day cares, Churches, ETC. Nor on the Streets *JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN*...."
~
Do you really believe that anyone who will kill children would obey laws that you are advocating?

12Dreams Well said. I have respect for the rights to bear arms as to HUNTING. Which hunting is done with RIFLES not HANDGUNS!!! There is absolutely no reason to carry a concealed weapon on the streets. To protect yourself in your home is fine But to walk the streets *JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN* with a loaded lethal weapon is not what I consider protecting you or your property. It has gone to far as to MY RIGHTS Well we as people have rights that the GOP seem to think we don't. WE have the right to Free speech, The right to be treated equal, the right as women to make our own choices Yet many states deny us this and not one of these rights CARRY HIDDEN GUNS THAT CAN KILL. There needs to be stricter laws and NOT ALLOW carrying weapons in public places Schools,Day cares, Churches, ETC. Nor on the Streets *JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN*....

It’s like this. There have been 65 mass shootings in the US alone since the incident in which Congresswoman Giffords was shot 2 years ago, and of course prior to that were the big university shootings at VA Tech & NIU. Your average police officer carries a standard issue sidearm that holds 13 rounds yet in 33 states anyone can go to a legal, cash & carry gun show and purchase military style assault weapons and 100 round magazines without going through a background check. And we wonder why the police seem so powerless in the face of all this violence. The NRA and the gun industry have, along with a complacent public and bought off government, created a culture of absolute fear of our fellow human beings. They would have us believe that every one of our neighbors is capable of raping our wives and daughters at gunpoint and then shooting everyone execution style. They do this to sell more guns and memberships and turn huge profits. They don’t give one single solitary damn if their products are making us more safe or less safe. We have helped create this culture, and it is up to us to reverse it. I’m tired of hearing how bad people are always going to be able to get guns. Well, we made it so bad people can get guns. Why the hell can’t we make it so bad people can’t get guns? This is America, right? We’re supposed to be able to accomplish anything. Why can’t we accomplish something so unquestionably worthwhile as making sure that 2 dozen elementary school kids aren’t ripped to shreds in a matter of minutes by bullets from an assault rifle being fired by a mentally ill young man who is barely more than a child himself? Now I know the President has all the bad noise of the fiscal cliff sideshow to work through, but in this tragedy there is a monumental opportunity to lead staring him right in the face. I hope to God he seizes it.

Nancy Lanza had several guns to protect herself and her family. How'd that work out?
-
The chance that your gun will be used on you or a family member is dramatically higher than the chance it will be used on a stranger trying to harm you. There is also a higher chance that your gun will be stolen and sold or used in a crime than the chance you will use it for self-protection. If you can live with that, then by all means stock up on guns.

Threaten the President with one comment and bemoan our lack of Godliness with your next comment. You are, ironically, a perfect example of the selfish irrationality (My God, MY gun, MY rights, MY freedom) that fuels our current gun culture insanity. We've gone from the 2nd Amendments intent to "maintain a well regulated militia" to people demanding conceal-carry, 30 round clips and assault weapons. Enough is enough.

I just cant fathom whet goes through peoples minds! Nobody can deal with any adversity in their lives. If something does'nt go their way they just think it will help to shoot up some place and kill innocent people that had nothing to do with their failings! This is a moral issue not a gun issue. Bad people will ALWAYS have access to guns its the good people that need access to them to protect them and their loved ones from loose cannons. This world has really gone to hell and it is time for people to stand up and make a change in how we deal with things. It all starts at home,there is a huge difference on how kids are raised today than when I was a kid and I think it shows.

In this case had the guns been locked up and only one person has access to the guns this may have not taken place. yes I suppose he could have went out and purchased a gun but hopefully a 3 day waiting and baackground check may have stopped this killing. For the most part their is no need for hand guns as they only due harm to others. you may argue that you need to protect yourself but how many times has a person with a hand gun needed it for this purpose.

I am a big hunter and a responsible gun owner,I carry a gun legally 90% of the time,that being said.
The issue with gun control is and, always will be a major tug of war,In my opinion as well as most in my situation guns in the proper hands are perfectly fine and it is also our right,on the other hand guns in the wrong hands will never be controlled unfortunately. My heart goes out to all involved in this recent waste of innocent lives,it is something that words cannot explain.God Bless them and their families.