Scores of dead in CT
The Hartford Courant reports that there are 27 dead including 18 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT where a single shooter opened fire with a couple of handguns. Fox News reports that at least one of the guns was a Glock, you know – those handguns which have minds of their own and inspire fear among gun control advocates. The other was a Sig Sauer.
Fox also says that the gunman had a “.223-caliber rifle” so he couldn’t have been using the terrifying AK-47. MSNBC says that no one has mentioned the rifle to them. But, the MSNBC reporter just said that there was no word if the shooter used “high capacity ammunition clips”, so I’m not sure if they know the difference between a pistol and a rifle.
MSNBC broadcast news is reporting that another person has been apprehended in regards to this shooting. Other news sources aren’t confirming the “second shooter” theory.
Of course, some folks can’t wait to get in their shots against gun rights;
Alex Pappas at The Daily Caller has some more reactions from the Liberals on Twitter. Twitchy records more knee-jerk reactions from the usual suspects.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney on the shooting;
“There is, I am sure, will be, rather, a day for discussion of the usual Washington policy debates, but I do not think today is that day.”
Well, when they have that discussion, remember this; I went to the range yesterday with several of my weapons. Among those weapons was a Glock (with a large capacity magazine) and two .223 caliber rifles, also with large capacity magazines. I had about 1,000 rounds of ammunition. I drove by at least two schools on my way to the range in Maryland. None of my weapons jumped out of the truck and began shooting up those schools, neither did I.
Whoever this shooter was, (MSNBC says his name is Ryan Adam Lanza, 24 years old – his mother was a teacher at Sandy Hook and she was found dead at the school) he broke several laws to accomplish his grisly task today. How is it possible to write more laws to prevent something that was already steeped in illegality?
ADDED: Our buddy, Blanka, sends a link from USAToday in which they mention that Lanza was “dressed in military style assault gear”. That’s not what caused the incident, either. I was wearing Multicam – the style of uniforms Army troops wear in Afghanistan – at the range yesterday, and I wasn’t even tempted to shoot another person. The MSNBC reporter said that Lanza was wearing “dark” clothes “with pockets” – so we should be banning pockets now, I suppose.
December 14th, 2012 at 3:34 pm
I read somewhere the shooter’s mother was found dead.
Let me guess, he felt he needed the attention and fame he deserved, so he and his partner decided to shoot up an elementary school?
FFS already.
December 14th, 2012 at 3:39 pm
Megan Kelly just had Mark Furhman on. He did an excellent job of laying it out AND defended every one’s 2nd A. rights.
December 14th, 2012 at 3:41 pm
According to local reports, the police also entered the shooter’s home when they saw what appeared to be a body inside.
At the risk of sounding cold, I have to ask again why no one in the press seems willing to address the correlation between mass murders at schools, and those same schools each being designated “Gun Free Zone”.
December 14th, 2012 at 3:42 pm
@ Streetsweeper: I saw that and agree completely. I was impressed with his discussion with her.
December 14th, 2012 at 3:43 pm
2nd amendment baby! Guns don’t kill people, people kill people (of course it helps if they have body armor and automatic weapons).
December 14th, 2012 at 3:44 pm
There is a second shooter and they have him in custody. So, the initial reports, which are notorious for being inaccurate, prove so once again.
As for Frum………fuck him.
December 14th, 2012 at 3:46 pm
The alledged gunman in the school shooting.
Ed. Note: The link was removed.
December 14th, 2012 at 3:47 pm
A very sad day.
December 14th, 2012 at 3:47 pm
I can only hope this man is burning in hell
December 14th, 2012 at 3:48 pm
The “2nd shooter” rumor seems to show up in every story of this kind, and is nearly always untrue. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
December 14th, 2012 at 3:49 pm
Joe, seriously–give it a fucking rest for once in your miserable existence.
December 14th, 2012 at 3:50 pm
The facebook page is currently unavailable. My heart goes out to the victims and their families.
December 14th, 2012 at 3:52 pm
No, you give it a rest Sparky. What kind of logical contortions are you gonna go thru to justify the gun laws that made something like this possible. I can’t wait.
December 14th, 2012 at 3:53 pm
FB page works. There are no links on page to anything Mil related. I suppose now that MSNBC will claim that this guy once walked past a recruiting station and is now affiliated with the military.
December 14th, 2012 at 3:55 pm
Okay now am I going to have to patrol my son’s school? Am I going to have to teach him how to react to fire?
Gallager Fan…I do believe there is a big huge bag of dicks for you to eat somewhere around here for you.
December 14th, 2012 at 3:57 pm
Joe, what laws made this possible? He was in a “gun free zone” – so obviously laws don’t mean anything to people like Lanza.
December 14th, 2012 at 3:57 pm
FB worked for me too…didn’t see anything odd about his photos or links.
@Joe – Illuminate us with the justification that would have prevented Lanza from legally purchasing the guns. Do you know something about his background and record that nobody else seems to?
December 14th, 2012 at 3:58 pm
Little kids killed “execution style”. 2nd amendment baby!
December 14th, 2012 at 4:01 pm
All the libs in Conn and elsehere are secretly daydreaming about what might have resulted IF one or two of the adults at the school had a weapon. The only law that made this possible was the one banning guns on school grounds.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:01 pm
Joe, is murder against the law? Yes or no. No wriggling out of it.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:04 pm
Joe: do you even know what an “automatic weapon” is? Or that it takes a special license, not generally available to the public, to purchase one?
Sheesh. Your ignorance is beyond appalling.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:04 pm
Joey, you miserable, liberal ass, it’s already against the law to murder your mom, your dad, or anyone else. You still haven’t developed the cognitive ability to realize that.
You don’t know what happened, other than an asshole went to a school and opened fire. You know nothing about him, but you’re bound and determined to take advantage of another “crisis”, much like your leader.
The asshole that did the shooting “made something like this possible”. Much like the asshole responsible for the worst school murders in U.S. history. http://daggy.name/tbsd/index.htm
He used dynamite, fire and a car bomb, you want to ban all of them, too?
December 14th, 2012 at 4:04 pm
Joe, you are one sorry excuse for a human being. You jump in here with wrong information and start sputtering on as though you know something about weapons and the situation currently under discussion. You are one stupid fucking moron. Do you know what the worst mass killing of school kids in US history is? I’ll give you a couple hints: It didn’t happen in the latter part of the last century and it didn’t involve those evil guns.
So; while you’re chewing on that; do us all a favor and run into traffic you stupid fuck.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:06 pm
Also, Joe, I sent Jonn a story out of China, today, where 22 school kids were slashed at school by a knife wielding individual; so that blows your stupid fucking agenda right out of the water, too.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:06 pm
Joe, you aren’t worth wasting time on to argue with. Just know that there are at least 100 million gun owners in the U.S. and 99% of them have never and will never commit a gun crime. I was a cop for 23 years. Most of us have seen more violence than you can imagine and virtually every officer I know is pro gun because we know that when you need help in seconds the police are just minutes away.
For John- be careful driving near schools with weapons in your car. believe it or not, 100 yards from a school are “gun free zones” and if for some reason you get stopped, you can be charged. Not saying I would have ever done it, but hey, if saves one life it’s worth it right? (that’s sarcasm Joe)
December 14th, 2012 at 4:07 pm
The gun control nuts are out in full force now that they have some more fodder to push their misguided agenda. However I saw this on my FB feed pop up today so I’ve been using it to give them something to think about: Swimming pool drownings account for about 3 times as many deaths per year in the U.S. as accidental and purposeful shootings combined. Before we jump to outlawing guns, doesn’t it seem logical to outlaw swimming pools first?
The same could be said for cars, eating utensils, baseball bats…hell, all of those are dangerous weapons. It’s people’s choices that determine outcomes, not objects. We should just ban all these things to prevent people from making the choice to run over a pedestrian or stab someone in the chow hall over that crappy steak.
Let’s not forget that in China today, a man with a knife slashed 22 children. Gun control wouldn’t have affected that outcome, I’m sure.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:07 pm
And, would someone please ask Megyn Kelly what a “military style vest” is? I have no idea WTF she’s talking about.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:09 pm
Keep on spouting the same lame canards you always do after an event like this.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:10 pm
@27 – Neither does she.
On Fox and CNN, I heard the anchors ask their reporters on the ground, if the witnesses they spoke with “described the state of the bodies in the hall”…..
Disgusting infotainment media.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:11 pm
We will Joe, and you keep being the simplistic ignorant asshole you are bud.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:12 pm
Funny, I thought I read one of Joe’s comments here when he first started telling us how he is pro-Second Amendment. I guess that’s one of those situational principles.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:12 pm
@28: It’s amazing that you do exactly what you claim we are doing. You come on here spouting the same lame canards that you always do after an event like this; but you want to accuse us of doing it? Keep blubbering on you fucking idiot.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:13 pm
This piece makes a nice juxtaposition to Jonn’s paean to all his wonderful weapons the other day.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:14 pm
I’m willing to bet the “body armor” they were initially describing the shooter in was actually a tactical vest.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:15 pm
All Joe is doing is exploiting a tragedy by coming on TAH and spouting drive-by bullshit….real integrity there Joe…
December 14th, 2012 at 4:16 pm
@19: Being, as my name suggests, a liberal sort from Connecticut, I’m not daydreaming about that. I have no problems with guns, concealed carry laws, etc. I do wonder, though, whether allowing guns on schools would be any sort of solution.
Might it have stopped something like this? Well, it’s POSSIBLE it would have reduced the number injured or killed, but still fairly unlikely if we’re to believe the reports that most were from one classroom. How quickly would an armed defender be able to respond to shots fired? He’d have to know where, and would probably proceed with some caution. Chances are, most if not all would still have been killed, unless that particular teacher -who seems to be connected to the shooter- had a weapon and was trained on it.
The flip side is that allowing guns on school grounds ups the chances of accidents – kids finding it, accidental discharge, all sorts of things.
I have no problem against guns, but it seems to me that the calculus of how much ‘help’ it would give, given the infrequency of events like this -thank god!- errs on the side of more injures / deaths than less, just by statistics of accidents.
Maybe I’m wrong; I don’t have any of those statistics in front of me, but that’s my guess.
So instead of debating back and forth over this idiocy, let’s just give the families who’ve lost their kids a little reflection and sympathy over something that has less to do with guns or the lack thereof and more to do with some nutcase going berserk for reasons we don’t yet understand and will never be deemed appropriate.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:18 pm
Hey Joe. what about this?
http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/14/world/asia/china-knife-attack/index.html
Should we ban knives, too, high speed?
December 14th, 2012 at 4:18 pm
Joe: if the report that Lanza was carrying a .223 rifle is accurate, he was most likely in violation of CT law to have it in the first place. Most of those currently offered for sale are AR-15s or equivalent and are illegal under CT law.
http://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/Chap943.htm#Sec53-202c.htm
The fact that his weapon was illegal in CT didn’t matter to Lanza. Neither did the fact that schools are “gun free” zones. By definition, criminals don’t give a damn about the law.
Your argument is therefore one made by an idiot, and is without basis or substance. From you, though, that’s nothing new.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:18 pm
I see that other moron, Gallagher Fan, is gone. Good. His comments are akin to Joe’s–wasted space. I
I envy you guys who can watch the news. It’s a drunk monkey circus and I couldn’t watch it for more than a few seconds without throwing something at the TV..
December 14th, 2012 at 4:19 pm
Congradulations, America (Babby Boomers and aging Yuppies). You’ve successfully managed to raise a generation of of man- children incapable of dealing with adversity and filled them with meds that only exacerbate their anti-social tendencies. Yes I’m jumping to a lot of conclusions, but where there is smoke, there is fire.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:24 pm
Hey Lib in Conn. You say you’re not daydreaming and then you describe exactly that. As for your question–”How quickly would an armed defender be able to respond to shots fired?”–the answer is one of the following:
1. Before the first innocent was killed;
2. As soon as the bad guy started shooting in the offices if one or two workers had been armed; or
3. Not ever.
The only one that works if no one is armed is #3.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:24 pm
In my little slice of Connecticut to legally purchase a handgun I have to take the NRA course, File for CCP which takes minimum 6 months here, Interview with the cheif of police who then calls my spouse, Supervisors, and friends, I have to get three letters of recomendation from non family and because I live near a school administration building I have to show my house isnt located in the gun free zone on town maps. I live on the side of CT away from New York. I assure you if this guy had a handgun it isnt legal
December 14th, 2012 at 4:24 pm
They can’t get more laws.
So, the obvious conclusion?
Ban their sale, manufacture, possession. Period.
If the gun don’t exist, how can it kill?
That’s the argument that’s coming.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:25 pm
Ok, John, I get it. You are a responsible adult who should be allowed to have more or less any weapon you want. What we need, and what I would love some smart folks from the NRA to come up with, are some sane laws designed to keep weapons in your hands while preventing them from getting in the hands of these nuts.
As an aside, I wish the media would never again post the photos of the shooters. By making them known (especially when they use the images the shooters themselves want used -like in the VTech case)they create a motive for the next one. The only photos of them should be after they have been shot or while in an orange jump-suit.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:25 pm
Joe,
Please ask Santa for a tiny sliver of self-awareness. You come here spouting bullshit, and apparently don’t even know that Connecticut requires a permit to purchase a handgun (on top of the federal requirements), along with an “Assault Weapons” ban. Neither seemed to matter much to the evil murderous fuck who picked a “gun-free” zone in which to practice his cowardly atrocity.
If nothing else, go reflect on what a goddamn ghoul you are and stop masturbating when evil actions give you a chance to troll your betters.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:28 pm
“This piece makes a nice juxtaposition to Jonn’s paean to all his wonderful weapons the other day”. And yet, Joey, none of Jonn’s weapons killed anyone. Your point?
December 14th, 2012 at 4:29 pm
Joe…..you are an ignorant human being(I use “human” loosely). If a few teachers were armed do we really think that the outcome would be the same. Why are there never shootings at evil gun shows? Or in pawnshops? Why are they always in “gun free” zones?
Only a moron would think that a nut bent on murder and mayhem obeys “gun free” laws.
Semper Fi
December 14th, 2012 at 4:29 pm
For the record, I do have pictures of Lanza, but I didn’t post them because that’s what he would have wanted.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:30 pm
I just have to say it. You have been citing an article in the furtherance of your argument mentioning an attack in China.
I am actually more on your side than against you but I really have to point out the difference:
China – no gun – 22 INJURED kids.
CT – Gun – 27 (18 kids) DEAD.
That is a major difference that you really need to consider before positing it. You are inviting a crazy liberal to take a shot at you, you are just giving them ammo (irony not intended)
December 14th, 2012 at 4:33 pm
JA: what you’re asking for is Utopia. Utopia doesn’t exist.
Anything which can be invented by man can be both used – and abused. That has been the case since the first caveman discovered how to sharpen a stick or flake a stone tool.
Tools are just that: tools. Intent and outcome of use are the responsibility of the user, not the tool.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:33 pm
@JA – No….your assertion of a difference is lost upon you. 22 INJURED kids, could have just as easily been KILLED.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:34 pm
@44, I agree, a pic of the shooter, laying on the floor, with the top of his head missing is the only pic that should be used. Fuck him, and those like him, let that be what people remember.
JA, go back up to #22, click on the link. Then let us know, do you want to ban automobiles, fire and dynamite? That’s what was used, and 46 people were killed.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:34 pm
@48: Good call on two accounts – one, the real Lanza doesn’t deserve any publicity, and two, some accounts are now saying that isn’t him. It’s a different Lanza who is alive and well and not psycho. Time will tell.
http://gawker.com/5968551/this-ryan-lanza-facebook-profile-is-the-connecticut-shooter-stuff-is-fucking-up-everything
December 14th, 2012 at 4:35 pm
@44. “What we need, and what I would love some smart folks from the NRA to come up with, are some sane laws designed to keep weapons in your hands while preventing them from getting in the hands of these nuts.”
I don’t see how that is the NRA’s responsibility. Is it the American Automibile Association’s role to prevent vehicular homicide? Or perhaps it is the job of auto manufacturer’s lobby to do that?
How about a public service program urging those who are homicidal to commit suicide instead? Who knows how many mass murders might be prevented.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:37 pm
Hondo, are you sure about that? A buddy of mine lives in CT and he says he’s seen more AR style rifles up there at the range in the past few years than he ever saw before. From what it sounded like the ban only applied to Colt AR15s and a few other named models, but not all AR style rifles.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:42 pm
Well, someone all ready said it and hit the nail on its head: The ONLY answer some want is to ban private gun ownership and possession. The flip side of that is to mandate private ownership of guns. And why not, after obamacare’s insurance mandate?
December 14th, 2012 at 4:42 pm
AP is describing the person led out in handcuffs from the woods as Lanza’s younger brother.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:44 pm
Scouts Out: I provided the link to CT law above. Read it for yourself and decide.
Bottom line: if it’s a semiautomatic rifle with a pistol grip and has a detachable magazine and a flash suppressor, folding/telescoping stock, or bayonet mount, it qualifies. It probably also qualifies if a flash suppressor can be readily added by the user; it definitely qualifies if the barrel is threaded to allow attachment of same.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:48 pm
Folks, Joe is a terrorist. He enjoys the slaughter of the Innocents on a personal level because the deaths justify him.
Let’s go through some fuzzy logic:
People die in hospitals, but hospitals are not illegal.
People die from alcohol, but alcohol is not illegal.
People die from knives, baseball bats, and motor vehicles, but these methods of killing are not illegal.
People die from bows and arrows, but bows and arrows are not illegal.
People die of old age, but aging is not illegal.
People die from cancer, but cancer is not illegal.
People die from hypothermia, but withholding power due to non-payment of bills is not illegal.
Joe is a terrorist. He is enjoying the euphoria of moral superiority experienced by every jihadist who’s just blown up his friend in a crowded market square. What we know is the man intended to commit murder, and he could have done the same job driving a school bus into a train. But, neither driving nor a school bus are illegal. That matters not to Joe.
By this time tomorrow a much fuller picture of today’s events will be known, and Joe will not apologize. He’s had his moralgasm, and awaits the next tragedy. Joe is a terrorist.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:49 pm
@51 What? I really hate to say it, but that is an asinine statement. Injured is very different than dead. It is generally, under most circumstances, harder to kill scores of people with a knife than with a fire-arm.
Now, don’t jump to conclusions and assume I am pro-gun control. I am just saying that if you want to make a claim that you can do the same thing with a knife, you need a better piece of evidence.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:52 pm
@JA – Your premise was based on the fact that in China the kids were only injured….yet you seem to ignore that it wasn’t terribly difficult to injure 22 kids. The line between injury and death is quite often blade running on the edge of luck.
To compare the two situations, coupled with placing responsibility on the NRA, smacks of asininity.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:54 pm
CBS News correspondent Bob Orr reports that authorities found two guns on Lanza’s body, a Glock 9 mm pistol and a Sig Sauer pistol. A Bushmaster assault rifle was found in his vehicle, Orr reports. The weapons appeared to be legally purchased, belonging to Lanza, one source told Orr.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57559261/connecticut-elementary-school-massacre-18-children-among-27-dead/
December 14th, 2012 at 4:59 pm
I did read it Hondo and I can see the rationale behind both interpretations. I asked you because from what I’ve read in the past you seem quite adept at making sense of all things legal. Speaking of which, are/were you JAG or something similar?
December 14th, 2012 at 5:01 pm
“Might it have stopped something like this? Well, it’s POSSIBLE it would have reduced the number injured or killed, but still fairly unlikely if we’re to believe the reports that most were from one classroom. How quickly would an armed defender be able to respond to shots fired? He’d have to know where, and would probably proceed with some caution. Chances are, most if not all would still have been killed, unless that particular teacher -who seems to be connected to the shooter- had a weapon and was trained on it.”
Yes, it’s possible that the entire thing would have played out that same way. But there are lots of stories of people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time but were armed and saved themselves and/or others.
I think the point is that there would have a least been a chance that the shooter could have been taken out before an entire classroom of kindergartners was killed. Or maybe someone shooting back would have distracted him enough that the classroom full of kids could have evacuated.
That scenario happened in the CO Springs shooting. Yes, he got a couple of people in the parking lot, but an armed church member got him into a firefight that saved everyone else.
Reports are that he first went to the office, had an argument, then shot people there, before going to the classroom. In order to know that, someone must have seen it. Imagine if that someone had been armed.
The real problem is that schools are known sitting duck zones full of defenseless kids. They may as well have a giant neon signing that says “We’re unarmed, come and get us”. I haven’t heard of a gun range or police station involved in a massacre.
December 14th, 2012 at 5:04 pm
Whew! At least they were purchased legally. That’s a relief.
December 14th, 2012 at 5:04 pm
You know, my first thoughts on this didn’t even touch on the 2nd Amendment. Regardless of the disposition of the legality of firearms, I despair more for the growing inability of people to look at another human being and see the divine spark behind them.
What power do guns have when people value the lives of other people? I’m less inclined to believe the problem is guns and more the cultural zeitgeist that rewards the ascendance of selfishness and narcissism in lieu of the moral teachings of our Judeo-Christian religious traditions. These people with murderous intent will find ways to kill without legal access to firearms; the problem isn’t that they have guns, it’s that they have murderous intent and somewhere, human life becomes meaningless enough to commit these heinous acts.
These incidents were far more rare in times past. The difference isn’t the lack of regulation on firearms – it’s the cultural shift towards atheist whining with a nebulous definition of right and wrong.
I say we hug our Torahs and our Bibles and start spreading the messages of fellowship on which this nation was founded, rather than allowing the morons to take the narrative in the gun control direction.
December 14th, 2012 at 5:05 pm
CI, When did I place responsibility on the NRA? Go read the post again.
The fact stands that killing with a knife is under most circumstances harder than killing with a fire-arm. Were those involved in the China incident lucky? Yes they were, but change the knife with fire-arms and it would take more than luck.
OK, CI, pick between the two. Which scenario would you rather have all other things being equal:
1) Crazy guy in school with knife.
2) Crazy guy in school with 2 handguns and a Bushmaster.
Take your pick, CI.
Now, just to clarify. A well ordered militia being…right to bear arms shall not be infringed. It is in the Constitution. I am in the process of getting a license in Massachusetts… do you know how freaking hard that is? I am not a gun hating nut, heck I am in the Army. But I think we need to do a better job of keeping guns out of the hands of the insane (assuming that is the deal here). Every gun owner would agree that we need to keep guns away from those who should not have them.
December 14th, 2012 at 5:11 pm
@Hondo, while you are correct CT allows for2 upgrades. upgrades mean pistol grip on a rifle, magazine that protrudes from the stock, flash suppressor and silencer if you wait for a class III and pay the tax. any collapsing stock or folding is not allowed
December 14th, 2012 at 5:15 pm
Fox News is now saying that Adam Lanza, 20 y/o was the shooter.
December 14th, 2012 at 5:16 pm
@ Common Sense: I mostly agree with you, actually – I wasn’t trying to say a gun in the hands of a trained defender couldn’t help in situations *like this*, I was simply saying, based on the speculative information that we have at the moment (rapid action, most shots fired in a single classroom, time between office and classroom being small), the response time of an armed defender would likely have rendered a similar outcome. There’s the potential for less loss of life, certainly, but it’s small, and possibly outweighed by the increased risk of accidents if we’re simply talking about the loss of life here.
Other situations, where there’s a larger area of attack or wandering gunmen? Certainly. I just don’t think it’s a ‘slam dunk’ to espouse armed teachers / administrative staff as a counter to this sort of thankfully rare event. Just as it’s clearly not a ‘slam dunk’ to say guns should be banned as we all know this wouldn’t stop stuff like this.
In a nutshell, I think Joe’s “No guns!” attitude is as useless here as “Arm everyone!” is from some others without a careful examination of what that would mean.
December 14th, 2012 at 5:16 pm
@JA – I didn’t misread, I mis-posted. I meant to say that you seem to place responsibility for finding solutions on the NRA.
Your idea of ‘sane laws’ imply an open door for liberals to prohibit law abiding citizens from acquiring the means of defense. Hondo is right that such desires constitute Utopia, because as precedence will tell us, an increase on the myriad of gun laws that already exist, will only affect law abiding citizens.
Game theory of two disparate events is just as irrelevant as trying to compare the two. You say that you’re in uniform….what you seem to be proposing would inevitably lead to those of us with PTSD [diagnosed or undiagnosed] being prevented from carrying or owning.
Consider the long term ramifications and perversions of what you think would be a sensible short term solution.
December 14th, 2012 at 5:17 pm
All you have to do is think of the MILLIONS of gun owners in this country that DIDN’T KILL ANYONE today. If guns were the real problem this would happen several times a day, all over the country. What’s your mantra for us gun owners joe, you fucking moron? “We are all Ryan Lanza”? Go fuck yourself you ignorant dick smudge.
December 14th, 2012 at 5:26 pm
@66. “I’m less inclined to believe the problem is guns and more the cultural zeitgeist that rewards the ascendance of selfishness and narcissism in lieu of the moral teachings of our Judeo-Christian religious traditions.”
I’ll join you in that, BK.
@69. He was 20? Well, gee, you have to be 21 in Connecticut to own a firearm.
December 14th, 2012 at 5:27 pm
@64: The school had locked doors and the shooter had to be buzzed in (part of the new security procedures in the school). The reason he was buzzed in was the fact that he was known, since his mother was a teacher there. Then, he went right at the principal and other office workers, before heading to the classroom. How do we know this? Because the principal was on the intercom at the time giving the morning bulletins and the first shots were heard all over the school through the intercom. Yes, the perp’s mother is one of the dead. Whether an armed adult in another part of the school could have stopped the attack, before such a massive loss of life, is open to speculation and debate. Could he just have easily had on an explosive vest? Sure he could have and then it would take away the narrative about guns. So, when they start blowing themselves, and everyone else, up, we can rest assured that no guns were used, but then the question would be; “what do we need to ban next”?
December 14th, 2012 at 5:28 pm
#64 is me.
December 14th, 2012 at 5:28 pm
Scouts Out: appreciate the compliment, but negative – no JAG. Just a layman with some minor experience with and a keen interest in the law.
Jerry920: if it truly was a Bushmaster, there’s a good chance it’s illegal to possess in CT. Only maybe 5 of their current rifles lack a full-up flash suppressor. That plus a pistol grip (all have one) make a semi-auto rifle illegal to possess in CT unless you owned it prior to 1994 and have gone through the process to secure an permit to retain same, and kept said permit current.
The remaining 5 current .223 cal Bushmasters may or may not be set up to readily accept a flash suppressor; I’m not personally familiar with any of them, so I can’t say. But if they are, that would likely render them illegal under CT law as well. And if they’re actually threaded to accept a flash suppressor, then by law they are prohibited in CT.
December 14th, 2012 at 5:29 pm
excuse me….#74
December 14th, 2012 at 5:29 pm
@76: Hondo, he purchased it outside of CT.
December 14th, 2012 at 5:30 pm
If we can’t control ourselves, then the government will control our guns. It’s just that simple.
December 14th, 2012 at 5:31 pm
What Joe does not get, nor does he want to get, is that the issue is not guns. Any weapons will do for mass murder. It doesn’t even have to be a weapon. You can make the gas line for a water heater leak and blow up the house. Happened two weeks ago in a Chicago suburb. It was supposed to look like an accident. The explosion damaged so many neighboring houses so badly that most of them are beyond repair, and some of the people living in them were injured, along with the people who were killed by the explosion.
No, the issue is not with guns. They are just tools, a means of getting something done. I have a short sword sitting in a sheath in one of my bookcases. I also have a meat cleaver in my kitchen drawer. Either of those is sufficiently nasty to be used to kill people.
The issue is people who cannot or will not control their behavior.
The gunman killed his own mother. The guns had little or nothing to do with his desire to kill his mother. They were simply a means of getting it done.
And Joe, when you come here spouting that crap you posted up above, you’re an asshole.
December 14th, 2012 at 5:34 pm
tracker: true. But if the rifle was a Bushmaster, ALL Bushmaster models already come with pistol grip and removable magazine. Most also have a flash suppressor. The question becomes whether the 5 current Bushmaster .223 cal models without a flash suppressor are threaded to accept a flash suppressor or not. If so, that would makes them unlawful under CT law (as would them having a bayonet mount). And even if not threaded, if a flash suppressor could be otherwise easily added without a trip to a gunsmith, I’d not put it past an overzealous and ambitious anti-gun prosecutor to attempt to prosecute for unlawful possession anyway to see if he could set a precedent furthering his agenda.
December 14th, 2012 at 5:40 pm
Re: my post #80 – I typed in Chicago out of habit. It was Indianapolis. Sorry. Here’s the link to that story.
http://news.yahoo.com/deadly-blast-devastates-indianapolis-neighborhood-220044324.html
And it WAS an intentional act.
December 14th, 2012 at 5:42 pm
How ’bout we start a push to repeal the 2nd, enact gun laws similar to say Great Britain’s? You will all howl that then only the criminals will have guns, but we could willingly put ourselves at risk so that in two or three generations, when most of the guns had worked their way out of the system or rusted, little kids wouldn’t have to worry so much about being shot execution style.
December 14th, 2012 at 5:43 pm
Old Trooper: location of purchase is nice to know, but is also irrelevant. Importing it into and possessing it in CT would be unlawful under CT law if it met CT’s specified criteria for being banned. And it sounds quite likely it did.
Lib in CT, Old Trooper: in the current scenario, an armed defender almost certainly would have made a difference.
The initial shots in the school’s office were broadcast over the entire school via the PA system. This removed the element of surprise and rendered the attack on the classroom – where I’d guess the majority if not all of the students were killed – subject to being preempted by defensive action. A single armed defender at the site could well have limited the deaths to those in the office. Multiple such certainly could have.
December 14th, 2012 at 5:44 pm
@JA:
While I understand the desire, as the Japanese showed in the Osaka Massacrea and the Akihabara Massacre showed they’re not necessary.
And I agree with you about not wanting to let people who are insane have guns. Define “insane” for me, explain how we determine they are insane, and tell me who has the authority to declare people insane, and oh yeah, what do we do with these insane people (we used to be able to put in asylums, but that can’t be an option anymore)? What indicators do we use to determine too insane to keep weapons out of the hands of people? Getting Baker Act’d (or your local equivalent for the non-Floridians)? Jared Loughner is the prime example of this being hard: the only person who really had good indications that he was off was a Community College guidance counselor-not the most qualified individual when it comes to figuring out whether someone really is a threat or not? Especially considering a lot of the real warning signs manifest themselves in the mostly anonymous world of teh Internetz, how do we effectively monitor that world (as the kiddie pr0n makers and Nigerian scammers are showing it’s a hard world to police).
Taking away guns completely is probably actually easier than trying to sort out the lunatics before they do something (and I haven’t even discussed what you do said lunatics), sadly.
December 14th, 2012 at 5:45 pm
Joe: had we wanted put up with crap like that, we’d have remained British subjects in 1776. We didn’t.
You can always emigrate should you (1) find British law and society more attractive to your tastes, and (2) con the British into taking you. But I wouldn’t hold my breath regarding (2).
December 14th, 2012 at 5:45 pm
Sure Joe, I suppose thats why, when all the ARMED first responders arrived on scene with their big scary guns, the shootings continued. Oh, wait a minute. Dumbass.
December 14th, 2012 at 5:49 pm
@72. LOL dick smudge. I am stealing that one.
December 14th, 2012 at 5:50 pm
No PH-22,
No, a gun is not just another tool, they have a special sinister appeal, reinforced by a century of Hollywood movies, that other implements just doesn’t have, and you don’t have to assemble anything – just pay your money and you’re ready to go. And they are designed for one purpose – to kill living things. I don’t see Jonn puffing out his chest over his weed eater the way he does over his beloved guns.
December 14th, 2012 at 5:57 pm
No, they do not have a special sinister appeal. They are easy to load, carry and use. That’s their appeal, you moron.
If sinister appeal was the quality that makes them popular, then long-shafted edged weapons called swords, which do not require licensing or explanations, would still be in use today as weapons. But carrying a sword, which is usually more than 18 inches in length and requires a sheath to keep it from cutting into your leg and making you bleed severely, is a lot more inconvenient than a small handgun with a large load capacity magazine. And it takes longer to kill 26 people with a sword than it does if you use a gun.
If it were just about sinister appeal, then tell us why the shooter didn’t just walk into his mother’s classroom wearing an explosives-laden vest and detonate it?
You make it more and more clear that you don’t know your silly butt from a hole in the ground so enlighten us, Joe, you fucking asshole.
December 14th, 2012 at 5:59 pm
And that’s PH2, YOU INCREDIBLE MORON.
It stands for Photographer’s Mate Second Class, E-5.
The symbol is a lens pierced by lines of light.
December 14th, 2012 at 6:00 pm
Joe: insecticide is similarly designed for one purpose: to kill living things. Ditto herbicides. Ditto rat poison. And antiseptics – including many mouthwashes. As well as antibiotic drugs.
By your logic in comment 89, all of these should be banned. After all, their purpose, by design, is to kill living things.
That assertion is ludicrous. They’re all simply tools; all have their place when used responsibly. The same is true of firearms.
You are really one pathetically ignorant fool.
December 14th, 2012 at 6:03 pm
This one is for all the people saying guns are at fault:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Stc42j4Nz2w
December 14th, 2012 at 6:03 pm
I’m stunned at the amount of non-sensical back and forth going on here. Gun lovers: take a chill pill. The right to bare arms isn’t going anywhere. Stop expecting the sky to fall. “What’s a military style vest?” Duh! Stop feigning ignorance and insult.
Liberal tree-huggers: accept that whether its knives, guns, explosives or plasma cannons, there will always be sick fucks who will find a way to share their hate and and anger and hurt innocents. Focus on the real problem, the mental issues, and stop blaming inanimate tools for the worlds evils.
Now everyone go hug your damn kids and say a prayer for those that can’t.
December 14th, 2012 at 6:11 pm
@94 – Bare arms?
I have sleeves dammit……
December 14th, 2012 at 6:12 pm
KWDriver: IMO you’re a bit off. The reaction here by most is generally to the idiocy shown by the media and the liberal end of the political spectrum towards the issue. It’s hardly the folks here who are asking “what’s a military style vest”; it’s the media who couldn’t tell one from either a crossing guard vest or body armor. However, each time an incident like this occurs it becomes “proof” that “evil guns” should be “restricted” to those who “should have them”. That’s logically fallacious on so many levels I won’t even attempt to explain the faults; I don’t have that much time.
I see you’re pretty new here. You might want to refrain from telling the regulars here to “take a chill pill” or other similar suggestions. Otherwise, I think you’ll likely get an earful from a fair number.
December 14th, 2012 at 6:18 pm
You know I am going to go pick up my son and think about tomorrow and when I am going to have to start teaching him about the wolves out there and how he comes from a long line of sheepdogs. He has a duty to be a sheepdog like every generation of his family before him. I hoped that I wouldn’t have to have this conversation with him yet, but I feel like this has made me start at a younger age. We are better than this and we have to be better than this, what ever happened to good men standing up and doing what is right? Do we have to start putting armed guards in schools? Do we have to start teaching our kids about bad men before they go to school? Am I going to have to teach my son how to take care of those around him now when he is very young because nobody else will?
December 14th, 2012 at 6:24 pm
@83: How about we push for a repeal of the 1st as well? Why stop there and just repeal the first 10 Amendments? You’re an idiot.
December 14th, 2012 at 6:29 pm
@Hondo, flash suppressor are a no go but muzzle breaks are fine here.look pretty much the same we just have to call them a different name. I’ve been on this for a while as I shoot friendly competition with a lot of law enforcement and they love to try and disqualify when I bring my Bushmasters.
Of course this jaggoff drove up from Jersey with it so it’s not really relevant. not sure if they’re legal there but you certainly don’t want NYPD finding one in your car with out of state plates in the southern portion of the state
December 14th, 2012 at 6:32 pm
I’ve been reading this blog for a while but I HAD to post on this because I know it will be read by reasonable people here. I have been seeing a constant blitz on Facebook of anti-gun people jumping upon this incident and using it as a soapbox to promote their agenda, often making the fabricated argument of “I guess if people just had more guns, like the NRA wants, the whole thing could have been prevented” (I haven’t seen a single post from a pro-gun person saying anything like that, only anti-gun people claiming that pro-gun people are saying it.) I’ve been extremely demoralized to witness the flood of posts blaming guns for what happened. And I also believe that most of these people don’t genuinely care about the incident in any deep or personal way; they’re just using it as an excuse to post propaganda and get patted on the back. It’s really, really depressing to me.
December 14th, 2012 at 6:34 pm
@94: Right on. Everyone is always trying to push their agenda whenever things like this happen. Give it a break people
December 14th, 2012 at 6:36 pm
@94. You have no moral superiority here. What we feel and do isn’t always broadcast. Additionally, this is a mil blog, not the Little Sisters of the Poor. Guns are a mainstay here, as are love for our country and our Constitution. Have a nice day.
December 14th, 2012 at 6:37 pm
@101. Right on? Oh. Groovy that, good wigwam.
December 14th, 2012 at 6:40 pm
Hey Dick Smudge(Joe), if Adam Lanza was only 20 years of age, he couldn’t legally purchase any of the firearms he had.
So, what other laws would be necessary? And, don’t pull any more of that “if only we could stop making guns” bullshit out of your ass.
December 14th, 2012 at 6:40 pm
Joe, I’m late to this thread, but you are a certifiable dick. That is 12 miles from where I grew up and you have no fucking idea about what the second amendment stands for if you think joking is funny. This is NOT about guns it’s about goddamn crazy people who kill because they think it’s going to fix what ails them…unless they kill themselves first when they realize the horror of what they have done. Go on. Get out of here with your miserable dick self, will you? Please.
December 14th, 2012 at 6:44 pm
Here is one possible answer that no one will like: make mental health records available to law enforcement. When a gun purchase request goes through to the feds, they can cross reference for mental health status. Civil rights go out the window, ditto doctor-patient confidentiality, but it might weed out some of these types of offenders.
December 14th, 2012 at 6:44 pm
#80…that happened recently here in Indy as well. It leveled half a dozen houses and damaged another few dozen beyond repair
December 14th, 2012 at 6:49 pm
@100: Well, the left always is driven by emotion, not logic. Use Joe as an example. In Israel, they don’t have these types of shootings, because the teachers are armed. Unlike Joe’s assertion that getting rid of the guns will stop this type of thing, the historical record shows that exactly the opposite is true. Anti-gunners are always going to push for more regulation and more confiscation without providing the necessary logical examples to prove their hypothesis. They think that taking something away from someone will stop the problem they are trying to correct. History shows us that never works. For an example, look at prohibition. Alcohol was banned, but instead of stopping the problem, as they saw it, it created more problems by strengthening organized crime. The restriction of machine guns didn’t stop mobsters and other criminals from getting them. Mexico has very restrictive gun laws, but it hasn’t stopped criminals. Washington DC, until recently, had the most restrictive gun laws in the country and it didn’t stop murders from happening and in fact, made more people victims of criminals than stopping criminals. Same with Chicago.
So, when people like Joe start sputtering on about getting rid of the 2nd Amendment, just consider the source; a complete dumbass.
December 14th, 2012 at 6:53 pm
New Jersey law enforcement found this asshat’s father dead in his residence, Hobokin, NJ. So, we now know both parents are dead by his hand, plus the adults and 18 children at the school. Joe here, is shooting his wad all over his keyboard about now spouting anti-gun talking points. The Bushmasters I have handled (and shot) were not threaded for adaptation of anything. Could an armed and trained individual have deterred of stopped him? You bet!
So now I wonder what Joe would have done had he been present in that office or hallway. Most likely, Joe would gone down on his knees, thrown his hands way up in the air, begged God for forgiveness then passed out about the time he took a lead pill to the cranium region, his grey matter littering the floor and wall.
No Joe, it’s not the movies glorification of guns, knives, clubs or anything else. It all boils down to simple personal responsibility. The blame lays with the shooter and his “accomplice”. So while your busy banning things that kill? Lets start with 600K Americans that die each year from heart disease, so come on Joe. Let’s some how catharticly dispell all the henious shit that goes on in the world.
Ban heart disease, cancer, transportation of any form because all those do kill people. Far more lives are lost to those three modes of dead than any god damn, pistol packing left loon, shit bag from your side of town.
December 14th, 2012 at 6:56 pm
Why not just install mandatory metal detectors at all schools?
December 14th, 2012 at 7:00 pm
Defend, I’ve seen so many of these things now, including the school shootings by Laurie Dann in Evanston in 1988, that the ‘horror of what they’ve done’ is likely to have any effect on the people who do these things.
This link has something about Laurie Dann: http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/12/14/sandy-hook-tragedy-evokes-horrible-memory-of-laurie-dann-rampage/
It’s more likely that they just don’t want to get taken off to jail — as in “you’ll never take me alive”. They don’t want to have to take any responsibility for what they did.
I think we should petition to repeal Joe’s US citizenship. Then he can be deported to the gun-free country of his choice, such as England, Scotland or Norway. Oh, wait, Norway had that mass murderer shooting people trapped on an island last year.
Ok, then Scotland — no, wait, the 1996 Dunblane school massacre where 16 children and a teacher at Dunblane Primary School were shot by a man with a rifle who got in through a side entrance.
OK, then England. Oh, wait, I forgot about the taxi driver: June 21, 2010 — The media in the UK is having quite a time with their latest mass-murder spree. A taxi driver went off the deep end and killed 13 people, including himself. And this is despite the toughest gun-control laws in any western democratic country.
Looks like countries with supremely tough gun control laws are no better off than the US when it comes to preventing mass murders with guns.
Well, I guess we could just put Joe on a boat anchored offshore somewhere.
Like I said before, Joe, you don’t know your ass from a hole in the ground. You only know how to run your ignorant mouth.
December 14th, 2012 at 7:02 pm
@107, yes, I typed in Chicago instead of Indianapolis out of sheer habit. My error, sorry about that. It was Indianapolis.
December 14th, 2012 at 7:07 pm
@110. For starters, that won’t protect kids on the playground and the person manning the metal detector will be the first one dropped.
December 14th, 2012 at 7:10 pm
@111 True, but I think it would be at least a start. An armed guard, not the person manning the detector, would ultimately be a valuable asset if the case presented itself as dangerous. But you’re right 100% about the playground.
December 14th, 2012 at 7:10 pm
Meant that for 113
December 14th, 2012 at 7:12 pm
Kids were all between 5 and 10 years old. I can’t even imagine what their families are going through at this moment.
December 14th, 2012 at 7:17 pm
#112…oh I just assumed something similar had happened in Chicago and I just didn’t hear about it. My step-mom lives 3 miles away from the blast and still felt it. It was crazy. Thankfully there were only two people killed; it could have been far worse
December 14th, 2012 at 7:19 pm
@116. Well, Blanka, there isn’t one of us here that isn’t pained by this, to say the least. The other banter is, we know, neither here nor there. That’s the way it is.
December 14th, 2012 at 7:34 pm
Joey–I know where you live, you know where I went to high school (Go Scorps!)
So at what point did we become so irresponsible that we couldn’t carry weapons OPENLY in our trucks as we came to school after deer/elk hunting at dawn or heading out after school to do same?
And surprise, surprise, surprise! Nobody died. Not on school grounds, not anywhere near them.
Oh, and in case you think that banning weapons made Britain a Kum-Bah-Yah cuddle utopia, look at their violent crime rate, douchenozzle…at last count, nearly TRIPLE (yes, TRIPLE) ours.
December 14th, 2012 at 7:42 pm
Well I certainly don’t wanna offend the regulars here and get an earful. Heavens to Betsy!
And it’s not about moral high ground, air cav. As a fellow air cavalry man I have seen the same world of shit you have, I’m just not choosing to let the military life style define me the way some people here do. The fact is, both sides of this argument entrench themselves into positions and the result is no movement for either viewpoint. The fact that the bodies weren’t even cold and people are already making their defense of gun rights positions is idiocy. As if ANYONE who will make real lasting decisions on the matter come here for guidance.
My issue, and as a veteran much like other people on here, I feel I have a RIGHT (sorry “regulars”, “new guys” have a voice too) I’m telling you that the louder you scream about gun rights the more you make it an issue that won’t be won. I’m FOR gun rights. I AGREE that it was a person, not a tool that did this. But I also see the damage to that position that is done when people jump to a senseless argument instead of trying to actually solve the problem: like the fact that this country has no moral compass anymore. Being a rational adult is a punch line around here. THAT’S what killed these poor kids today
December 14th, 2012 at 7:43 pm
The heck with all the gun control stuff. I blame the media, shut THEM down: http://www.forbes.com/sites/josephgrenny/2012/12/13/the-media-is-an-accomplice-in-public-shootings-a-call-for-a-stephen-king-law/
December 14th, 2012 at 7:50 pm
@120. “like the fact that this country has no moral compass anymore.” Well, if you started with that line of reasoning (akin to BK at cmt 66), the result would have been different. And, no, we’re not all of one mind here, but, largely we are conservative, with a smattering of libertarians. I’m sorry we got off on the wrong foot here but me, personally, I don’t like being talked to like some rank rookie and that’s the way I reacted. Stick around.
December 14th, 2012 at 7:55 pm
KW–look who’s screaming louder. In case you’re not keeping score, tune in to CNN/MSNBC/ABC/NBC/CBS, for starters.
Even ol’ Shep Smith’s panties are getting pretty moist when he talks about it, I’m sure.
Oh, and no doubt Bobby Costas will get his 90 seconds at halftime again on Sunday night, complete with talking points fed to him from his old butt-buddy Keef Olbertard.
December 14th, 2012 at 8:01 pm
@121 – That is a good article, making a good point. The rather ghoulish gathering of reporters at a disaster, like vultures and hyenas and other carrion scavengers coming to a kill on the veldt, is the first image that came to me while I was reading the article.
However, I would take issue with King’s response, because until “Rage” became that kind of ‘icon’ the Salinger novel “Catcher In the Rye” was the iconic piece of literature for this kind of thing. Mark Chapman, who killed John Lennon, and David Hinckley, who attempted to shoot Pres. Reagan to impress Jodie Foster (who did not know who the hell he was), had both read, absorbed and somehow made “Catcher In the Rye” the source of their idea to kill someone.
King’s reaction to the shooter quoting ‘Rage’, followed by copycats, was normal but misdirected out of a sense of guilt. Copycats are copycats and using a piece of literature for inspiration is baloney. The real inspiration comes from their own dysfunctional selves.
The quotes, or novels, or whatever are just distractions. If it’s quoting literature as the excuse, then why isn’t anyone quoting Shakespeare at a mass murder? How about “Cry ‘havoc’ and set loose the dogs of war!” How’s that for a quote?
December 14th, 2012 at 8:04 pm
I have a question/scenario for Joe (and perhaps others by now who share his point of view)…
Where weren’t the cops on site – immediately – before the first round went off? Even if a 911 call was made, the police should have poofed into existence and eradicated the threat, so none of this would have happened. Obviously, this is the way some people think in their little coccoon and their world view is just as screwed up.
My point being is that police officers aren’t employed to protect the public, they are there to enforce the law. Conversely, people who are law abiding and mentally stable and own guns have a choice when confronted with such events: either eradicate the threat or become a victim.
With that off my chest, I must also remind those who would like to take our guns away that (in the words of Mark Fuhrman on FOX today), “…guns aren’t the issue here… Keep in mind that this country was almost brought to it’s knees by 2 fanatics with box cutters.” To propose to criminalize legal gun ownership while there are crazies out there who possess them promises that we’ll all become defenseless victims.
December 14th, 2012 at 8:06 pm
…#125 was me – not “Anonymous”
December 14th, 2012 at 8:12 pm
It seems that the guns were registered to the gunman’s mother:
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/14/15907407-elementary-school-massacre-27-killed-including-20-kids-at-connecticut-school?lite>1=43001
and he is identified as Adam Lanza, 20, while his brother Ryan Lanza was nowhere near the scene and says his brother has a history of mental illness.
December 14th, 2012 at 8:17 pm
@120: To add to what Air Cav said, it’s actually not just conservatives and libertarians, but a few regular liberals, too. Not the ‘Joe’ kind, but regular non-trolls. In my experience, things tend to start off heated -especially when people like Joe surface- but then simmer down into reasonable disagreement and conversation.
Stick around; it’s always good to have different viewpoints.
December 14th, 2012 at 8:25 pm
While some are decrying the issue of gun control featured in many of this post’s comments, it is this very topic that both obama and NYC Mayor Bloomberg were not at all inhibited about addressing:
“Obama said Friday’s shooting, following the massacre at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., and other murder sprees, showed the need for ‘meaningful action…regardless of the politics’ to prevent more blood from being spilled.”
“New York City Mayor Bloomberg, who has been pushing for tougher gun laws, called for Washington to act immediately.”
Both quotes c/o Ex-PH2′s link in cmt 127.
December 14th, 2012 at 8:44 pm
#106 PN: making mental records available to gun sellers won’t help for a couple of reasons, and will cause harm:
1. The accused shooter is reported to have autism, not mental illness. While a psychiatrist may be able split the hair that separates the inability to form social relationships (autism) from the tendency to commit homicide, and lawyer lives in the splitting of that hair – neither LEO nor gunsellers would know.
2. If gunsellers failed to sell the guns, they would be sued for not only violating the purchaser’s right to own a gun, but multiplied because autism falls under the PC laws, like homosexuality.
3. Definitions of mental illness and disease and disorders are subject to PC whims. We’ve got the Prognazis eager to disarm us, and Obama isn’t too keen to follow law.
4. Our government is the largest single suppliers of weapons to criminals in Mexico and the US of A, and of Al Queda abroad. We need legitimate gunsellers to offset our government’s support of narco-cartels and gangs.
5. Cause harm because, under HIPAA, gunsellers don’t have a legal right to medical information. Forcing disclosure of diagnoses of imperfect health can prejudice the seller, and society at large, against the person.
December 14th, 2012 at 8:58 pm
You wanna know what causes these things? It’s this shit right here:
http://gawker.com/5968604/the-sandy-hook-elementary-shooting-what-we-probably-maybe-possibly-know-about-the-shooter
Now, go look at the video I posted up in 93 and tell me I’m wrong.
Hell, I’ll link it again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Stc42j4Nz2w
December 14th, 2012 at 9:10 pm
What is painfully obvious here is blatently ignored by people like Joe, they have a need to blame a tragedy like this on everything but the inheriently evil asshole that actually did this crime. It must of been the Hollywood allure of the gun that made this guy execute kids. It must have been videogames that removed his moral compass. Blame the asshole who picked up these weapons and pulled the trigger.
December 14th, 2012 at 9:25 pm
Blanka: re “mandatory metal detectors”. Two questions:
(1) who makes the “mandatory” call, and under what authority?
(2) who pays for them?
To paraphrase the late 38th President, Gerald Ford: A government big enough to tell you what to do in every aspect of your life is also big enough to control every aspect of your life.
Do you really want to go there?
December 14th, 2012 at 9:31 pm
@133
Some people live in such abject fear that yah, they’ll turn their lives over to the Nanny State, rather than face the boogey man in the closet.
December 14th, 2012 at 9:33 pm
While metal detectors and physical pat downs may prove as a “deterent” upon entry to schools, the issue will be the left wing liberals who will scream violation of civil right and liberties.
Just an observation.
December 14th, 2012 at 9:38 pm
Nik: I concur.
Benjamin Franklin perhaps put it best about such wretched individuals: “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
December 14th, 2012 at 9:39 pm
Hondo: It wouldn’t be so sad if it were an individual choice, like the classic story of the Dog talking to the Wolf.
But they’re trying to sell ALL of our liberty for their temporary safety.
December 14th, 2012 at 9:53 pm
May 18, 1927: Bath, Michigan School treasurer Andrew Kehoe, after killing his wife and destroying his house and farm, blew the Bath Consolidated School by detonating dynamite in the basement of the school, killing 38 people, mostly children. He then pulled up to the school in his Ford car, then set off a bomb, killing himself and four others.
December 14th, 2012 at 10:30 pm
fuck joe and the rest of the trolls spouting their PC garbage
on here. FUCKING PC is why were here pissed-off at this horrible shit that happened today!grrrrr
every fucking Friday,,nothing, but bad news! and now they say their not gonna remove the bodies until Sunday? who the fuck are these people running this shit?
December 14th, 2012 at 10:52 pm
It’s kind of sad how quickly this polarized everybody, I see very few posts addressing the horrible sadness of this act. This is a terrible, terrible tragedy.
While I can agree that guns do make it somewhat easier to take a life, if someone is out to break the law (ie. kill someone) they’re not really looking to obey any laws, let alone gun laws. These things can happen anywhere.
It isn’t necessarily about body count with these kind of people, it’s the shock of it all, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/belgium/4322233/Five-dead-in-knife-attack-at-Belgian-creche.html
Even as I post this I don’t know if it’s a good idea, because those poor casualties haven’t even been buried yet and we’re arguing about our guns (both sides)
.
May all those affected find some solace somewhere, and RIP to those killed.
December 14th, 2012 at 11:26 pm
1995: Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols decide to make a statement by renting a truck and turning it into an improvised explosive device commonly known as a truck bomb. They parked it at the Alfred Pl Murrah building in Oklahoma City and detonated it by remote control.
The details are here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_bombing
McVeight was stopped by a state trooper for driving without a license plate and was arrested for carrying an illegal weapon in his car.
168 people were killed, including 19 children under the age of 6 years old. More than 680 people were injured by the blast. The radius of the blast was 16 blocks from dead center, and 324 buildings were severely damaged or destroyed, there was glass damage to other 258 buildings, and 86 cars were burned and destroyed, all by an amateur home-made bomb composed of fuel oil and fertilizer that any farmer can get.
Guns are not the problem. People with warped minds and dysfunctional behavior are the problem, and that’s all there is to it. You can take every frakking gun off the planet. They’ll still find some way to kill other people. And they don’t care who they hurt, as long as they get to do it.
December 14th, 2012 at 11:44 pm
@#129. For Obama and Bloomie, fuck em both. They’re operating on the idea of “never let a crisis go to waste”.
Unconscionable, classless pricks, both of them. Any sentient being knows exactly what Obie meant when he said “meaningful action…regardless of the politics’ to prevent more blood from being spilled.”
December 15th, 2012 at 12:10 am
Hondo: I understand the fear of big government control, but metal detectors in schools are hardly “every aspect of your life.” It’s a changing world, and not a very safe one at that, and preventative measures should be in place. There are broken people out there with the drive and will to kill, rape and torture. And there is no current method of tracking each and every one of them and locking them away. And even if there was, where does one draw the line between sane and insane? This is where rights would truly be taken away. Thus the need for protection. I’m not knowledged enough to know what the cost of metal detectors is… but in terms of an armed guard, why not place a local area policeman on duty and on rotational basis? Or a National Guardsman?
December 15th, 2012 at 12:19 am
Most schools have specific procedures for entry into their buildings, and that includes metal detectors and locked doors, also known as closed campuses.
This killer was buzzed in because he was known there. His mother had been a teacher there.
How many times does that kind of thing have to be put in front of you before it sinks in? Those procedures are already in place. Did someone sneak them in, or were you simply not paying attention? Huh?
I could say, gee, I’d like to build a time machine and go back to live in the 1960s, but that was the decade when Richard Speck got into a nurses’ residence and killed eight of them. Or how about the 1940s, when William Heirens killed two women in 1945 and later killed and dismembered a 6 year old girl?
There is NO ‘safe’ place and there is NO law on God’s green Earth that will stop people who want to commit mass murder.
December 15th, 2012 at 12:32 am
Point taken and sunk in… Let the bloody games continue, then. Apparently there’s no solution.
December 15th, 2012 at 12:42 am
@#143. Have you been paying attention lately? City and county police and sheriff’s departments are laying people off, because they have limited money, and they want to fund neighborhood associations and Friday in the Park, and midnight basketball. No money for cops in schools. The school district I worked security for has 14 schools, and the PD in that city puts out two officers per day shift. Where do the extra officers come from? BTW, we were unarmed, we couldn’t convince the administration to put in restricted access to the schools, no metal detectors, and in most of the schools, the front door was not visible to the office staff, and there was no video monitoring of the front door. And, today, the superintendent was on TV saying that, under no circumstances did he want armed people in his schools.
And, if you haven’t noticed, many members of the National Guard have been deployed overseas, not to their communities.
December 15th, 2012 at 12:58 am
Like I said in #145, point taken UpNorth. I can honestly say that I give up. No joke.
December 15th, 2012 at 1:16 am
OK, Blanka, I didn’t mean to go off on you. Just that shit like today sets me off, especially when I heard that moron I used to work for on TV, with his morally superior stance that he would not have anyone with a gun in his schools.
Then, reading what those two asshats that are allegedly national leaders had to say, it just set me off again.
December 15th, 2012 at 1:16 am
The National Guard patrolling the streets….what a great idea! Martial law for all!
December 15th, 2012 at 4:20 am
The people that complain the most about the loss of rights due to a terrorist act (i.e. 9/11 and the Patriot Act) are the first to demand a loss in rights due to a terrorist act.
I guess their rights are more important than others.
December 15th, 2012 at 5:14 am
#141 Don’t forget the White Salamander Bombings or the original WTC Bombing that was booby trapped with… I think Anthrax to kill first responders as well? Like I told someone else today on this discussion. A gun is targeted, a bomb is indiscriminate.
I’m kind of convinced that maybe we should start teaching people about the IRA and other groups that made use of bombs more than guns. If they were scared before…
December 15th, 2012 at 6:02 am
@150
Eloquently said. Eloquent.
December 15th, 2012 at 9:10 am
Blanka: not arguing the concept, lady. Reality is that schools today need more security than they did years ago.
However, even if it would save lives making school metal detectors “mandatory” by Federal edict is a royally bad idea. Just like making a low-fat diet “mandatory” for all would save lives – but would be a royally bad idea. As would limiting cars to a maximum design speed of 60MPH and making any modifications to increase same unlawful. Ditto banning tobacco, alcohol, requiring mandatory 45min daily exercise, and a host of other intrusions into local and personal spheres of autonomy.
Freedom includes the freedom to live as one desires – including taking risks. Indeed, virtually every free choice involves weighing risk and reward. Remove the freedom to take risks, and you no longer have a free society. Instead, you now have a nanny state.
A government that has the power and authority to mandate such everyday minutia as nationwide metal detectors at schools or low-fat diets is effectively a dictatorship, plain and simple. It doesn’t matter if it is benevolent or not – it’s still a dictatorship. And the character of dictatorships often changes over time; many that start out benevolent get progressively less so over time.
I have no desire to live as the subject of a dictatorship, benevolent or otherwise. I’d prefer to take my chances as the citizen of a state that respects personal freedom.
December 15th, 2012 at 9:20 am
@ #151- Dead Man: It was assumed by the trial judge that there was cyanide involved in the 93 WTC>/a> bombing.
There remains a popular belief that there was cyanide in the bomb, which is reinforced by Judge Duffy’s statement at sentencing, “[y]ou had sodium cyanide around, and I’m sure it was in the bomb.” However, the bomb’s true composition was not able to be ascertained from the crime scene and Robert Blitzer, a senior FBI official who worked on the case, stated that there was “no forensic evidence indicating the presence of sodium cyanide at the bomb site.” Furthermore, Yousef is said only to have considered adding cyanide to the bomb, and to have regretted not doing so in Peter Lance’s book 1000 Years for Revenge._.”
December 15th, 2012 at 9:21 am
OOPS
December 15th, 2012 at 9:35 am
Number of gun deaths per 100,000 people in Great Britain – .22 Number of gun deaths per 100,000 people in U.S. – 9. That’s a 41 fold increase in our country. I think those numbers speak for themselves.
December 15th, 2012 at 9:50 am
Joe: if you prefer security to liberty, then move to Great Britain. No one is stopping you.
Don’t let the door hit you on the ass as you leave.
December 15th, 2012 at 9:54 am
I don’t equate a nation bristling with guns with the concept of security. How much security did the innocent little kids in Newtown have?
December 15th, 2012 at 10:03 am
Joe: Perfect security is a myth. Life involves risk.
However, to answer your question: they had the same amount of security that the kids in Dunblame and Hungerford had when insane fools killed 17 persons (most of whom were children) in each location some years ago before committing suicide. They used guns in each case. In the UK.
However, had even ONE person on the staff at that CT school been armed and trained yesterday, there’s a reasonable chance all of the kids would still be alive – though the office staff likely would not be.
December 15th, 2012 at 10:04 am
Oh, and by the way, Joe – care to address Switzerland? If you think the US is “bristling with guns”, you ain’t seen nothing.
December 15th, 2012 at 10:07 am
Yeah, and they have mandatory military service, beaucoup training, and well, Switzerland is a civilized country.
December 15th, 2012 at 10:25 am
So if you find the US too “uncivilized” for your tastes, Joe – then move to Switzerland. Or to the UK. The rest of us will applaud as you leave. Hell, I’ll send some $$$ to help defer the costs of your one-way ticket – after you use it and produce evidence you’ve renounced your US citizenship.
If either the UK or Switzerland will have you, that is. I have my doubts.
December 15th, 2012 at 10:25 am
Again Joe–apples/oranges. Compare VIOLENT CRIME RATE between here and GB.
But something tells me you’ve already done that, and didn’t like the result.
December 15th, 2012 at 10:29 am
But here’s a bit for you to chew on, sonny:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1196941/The-violent-country-Europe-Britain-worse-South-Africa-U-S.html
December 15th, 2012 at 10:40 am
@156: Cool figure you’re throwing out there, Joe. So; can you tell me the stats on violent crime per 100,000? How about telling me that it’s morally superior for a woman to be found strangled with her own pantyhose, raped, and killed rather than her explaining to the cop why the guy is laying there properly ventilated. It’s dumbasses like you that think you have the right to tell someone how they are supposed to be able to protect themselves, because you haven’t experienced your life being in danger from someone physically superior to yourself, or a group of people wishing to do you harm. Some day you may understand, but I doubt it. I personally know 2 women that have become armed citizens because of experiences that have caused them to be that way. Go look up Castle Rock vs. Gonzales and then come back and tell us that it should be up to chuckleheads like you to determine whether we have the right to protect ourselves as we see fit. We have that right despite chuckleheads like you.
As for the “automatic” rifle you were blubbering about at the top of the page…….he never used it, because it was found in his vehicle. Plus, you were being your usual lying ass by stating that it was and “automatic rifle” to begin with, when you had no fucking idea what you were talking about (which is SOP for you) from the start. You mentioned the picture that Jonn put up of his firearms that he took to the range……surprise!!! Not one of them killed anyone that day, but it doesn’t fit your pussyassed agenda so you throw it out there trying to make a point that has nothing to do with the tragedy in CT. It was just you being a dumbfuck as always.
December 15th, 2012 at 10:58 am
Now, some reports are saying that Lanza shot his way into the school, that no one buzzed him in. So, how far would he have gotten if there were one armed and trained person in the office? Or, if they’d simply installed security glass in the doors, along with an armed person inside? http://www.swissshade.com/fauser_security_windows.htm
December 15th, 2012 at 12:48 pm
Rupert Murdoch just tweeted about wanting an assault weapons ban:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/12/murdoch-calls-for-automatic-weapons-ban-152057.html
December 15th, 2012 at 12:58 pm
@167: Of course he does, because “assault weapons” were the reason for this………even though NONE were used. That’s like when Mayor Bloomberg called for stricter gun control when he found out about the Times Square bomber. Makes sense to call for bans on weapons not even used. That’s like going to your doctor for sinus issues and he wants to schedule you for prostate surgery. Those that are ignorant, uninformed, and emotional will always wet their pants and make emotional calls for banning things that have nothing to do with the reality of any given situation. It reminds me of a scene in a MASH episode, where Margaret is missing and Frank accidentally shoots BJ. When Col. Potter asks him what happened, Frank says “I think the Chinese have Margaret” and Col. Potter says “I see, so you naturally shot BJ”. Same mindset going on here.
December 15th, 2012 at 1:04 pm
NHSparky: isn’t it interesting how a UK paper documents the fact that the US has a lower violent crime rate (466 total violent crimes per 100,000 residents) than the UK, Austria, Sweden, Belgium, Canada, Finland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and France – all of which have much more strict gun control than the US.
It’s also interesting that the areas in the US with the most draconian gun control seem to in general have the highest rates of violent crime.
Indeed, based on those two facts alone one could conclude that gun control laws are counterproductive, and that the threat of facing an armed citizen capable of defending himself/herself with deadly force actually drives down the rate of violent crime.
And in point of fact, I’d guess one can show can show there is effectively no correlation between the “strictness” of gun control laws (as measured by Brady Score) and the rate of murder by firearms. Oh, wait – I think that someone already has.
But fools like Joe don’t want to hear any of that. Like the Brady Foundation, they’re convinced unconditionally that “guns . . . bad” – even when reality proves otherwise.
I’m certain they also believe in unicorns that shit Skittles and Santa Claus too, and that Social Security is just “insurance” and will be solvent forever – but those are different subjects.
December 15th, 2012 at 1:13 pm
Looks like authorities have email and other evidence from this guy that may shine light on his motives. Wouldn’t be surprised if there was some manifesto.
Like I said before, I’m sure his motive was simply that he was one of those isolated loners that felt alienation at a world that seemed to “ignore” him. He needed to ‘validate’ his existence to the world, and like Choi, the mall shooter, or the Colorado theater shooter, wanted to do it in a way that was so shocking and horrifying, that it would forever be remembered throughout history.
This is the informational digital world we live in where everyone wants to be “famous,” it’s just that some weird ones take it too far.
December 15th, 2012 at 2:24 pm
I noticed that Joe hasn’t been back to refute the facts. Actually, I didn’t think he would, because as I have stated before; leftists and anti-gunners function on emotion, not logic and fact. Rupert Murdoch, Nanny Bloomberg, the Brady Bunch, David Frum, Joe, etc. always use tragic issues to push their emotionally based agenda without facts, or with cherry picked data. Some, like Chuckie Schumer, do it intentionally for their own control agenda.
December 15th, 2012 at 2:58 pm
@ 153 – I agree with you in relation to growing government control. Frankly, it scares the hell out of me too. I came from a country that was still under Communist rule when I was born. It took Poland years to recover from it. I just wish there was an answer to this, especially in relation to preventing such incidents. At one point in my life, I led a less than honorable existence. But it was also an experience that opened my eyes to some truly heinous behaviors. I have no doubt that the people exhibiting them belonged locked up before they blew their gaskets. But how to warn others? What progressive actions to take? Tell the police? And then what? Would a mental health department truly take the time and money to “fix” the person? There are so many issues that present themselves in this CT situation that beg for authoritative involvement. All in all, like everyone else here, I’m utterly shaken by what has happened.
December 15th, 2012 at 3:00 pm
@170 you hit the nail on the head
December 15th, 2012 at 3:20 pm
Look at this unbelievable coincidence. Are we going to ban Ginsu knives as well?
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/15/world/asia/man-stabs-22-children-in-china.html?_r=0
December 15th, 2012 at 3:25 pm
You know what the scariest irony of all is?
That there are dozens, maybe even more, of guys like this across America.
And they are watching the news media, and seeing how it has touched people from across the world.
They see all this media furor and attention, and now in their twisted minds, they want that same attention. But now they feel that they have to “outdo” the previous shootings, and up the ante. It is sickening, but these incidents do seem to have escalated, going from movie theater shooting to mall shooting (which, thankfully, did not go as fully planned as the shooter wanted it to), and now targeting innocent children.
December 15th, 2012 at 3:34 pm
@Tman – “You know what the scariest irony of all is?
That there are dozens, maybe even more, of guys like this across America.”
The only solace is that there are multitudes upon multitudes more of gun owners such as we, who would risk our lives to stop them.
December 15th, 2012 at 3:40 pm
But, CI, these people target places where they don’t think anything else is breaking the rules in order to shoot back. Weapons, any weapons, are not allowed on school campuses. when I had aspirations of becoming a teacher, I was going to have a baseball bat in my classroom. Technically, not a weapon…
December 15th, 2012 at 3:51 pm
CI, Miss Ladybug does bring up a good point, as did Poetrooper’s thread, in that there is definitely a sort of ‘rhyme and reason’ for these shooters, in that they clearly choose a location where there is a presumption that no one is armed.
I’m not sure if this is a conscious thought process on the part of the shooters. By that, I mean, I don’t know if they pick a location thinking no one’s armed, or if they just pick a location based on it being a place where everyone is in a relatively peaceful setting, where there is absolutely no expectation of violence, perfect for catching people unaware to promote maximum damage.
As for a school setting, I just don’t know the answer. I think having regular drills is a start. I read that in the mall shooting, the shooter’s gun jammed, but at the same time people quickly sprung into action when they realized a guy was shooting. One of the mall workers escorted people out.
December 15th, 2012 at 4:02 pm
@177&178 – Absolutely; I wasn’t trying to argue otherwise. What I was partially implying, is that I think we’re likely to see in the near future, instances of intended homicidal violence in ‘gun-free zones’ met with acts of rampant lawlessness by otherwise law abiding, gun-carrying Sheepdogs.
December 15th, 2012 at 6:26 pm
Frankly I think both sides of the political spectrum use these shootings for political gain, the right scream that less gun control would have prevented this tragedy, while the left are screaming for more gun control. It is a very tragic situation we find ourselves in. The only thing that is a fact is that there are a lot of mental cases out there getting their hands on weapons. Maybe it’s the video games these people play day in and day out that desensitize them towards killings or maybe it’s the prescription drugs doctors prescribe kids for ADD that screws them up when they become adults. It could also be the amount of sugars people consume in sodas and sport drinks to take them over the edge. Who the hell knows? To turn to name calling for someone’s opinion is childish and un-American. If you can’t debate the issues with pros and cons for your argument than you need shut the hell up cause nobody coming to get your guns cause of what happen in CT. The government is not going to do anything just like with other problems facing America for example immigration. They’re not sending illegals back it’s all political. No politician is willing to tackle the problems we face because it will be political suicide and they wouldn’t get elected or reelected. That is way we are at a political standstill.
December 15th, 2012 at 6:42 pm
Right now, somewhere in America, some honked-off wanker with a brain the size of a pea is planning another copycat crime. First was the Aurora, CO, shooting in a crowded theater; then comes the Milwaukee-area spa shooting; then the Oregon mall shooting; and now the Newtown, CT, school shooting.
And that’s just this year. We’re due for another some time between the Doomsday date (12/21/12) and New Year’s Eve (12/31/12). Probably a party where everyone is having a good time, and some jerk with a ‘tude didn’t get invited, or his girlfriend dumped him at Thanksgiving and is going with her new squeeze.
Count on it.
And no, no one at said party will have a gun and it will be a ‘closed’ or private affair, with doors that can be shut and blocked.
Count on it.
And when it happens, everyone will be completely shocked.
December 15th, 2012 at 6:50 pm
@180. We’re at a political standstill? The USA? Standstill? Brother (or sister), I wish we were!
December 15th, 2012 at 8:07 pm
200
December 15th, 2012 at 8:30 pm
Blanka: sadly, there is no perfect solution to the problem in this world. A free society allows freedom – for its good citizens, its evil bastards, and its lunatics. And at present, it’s simply impossible to determine with certainty ahead of time when a member of the latter two categories is about to go “off the rails” and commit mayhem.
The only alternative I see which avoids that possibility is a repressive dictatorship that values order over freedom, and enforces order with an iron hand. Uh, no thanks. I’d rather take my chances in a free society – realizing full well that from time to time a lunatic or evil bastard will slip through the cracks and commit mayhem.
December 15th, 2012 at 10:14 pm
Here we go, just HOURS before the Connecticut shooter went on his rampage, a student was arrested trying to pull off his own macabre massacre:
http://news.yahoo.com/okla-teen-arrested-school-shooting-plot-184243533.html
This guy researched the Columbine shootings.
I’m telling you all, I’m sure there are more than a few of these types wanting their own moments of infamy, trying to outdo previous shooters.
Something is seriously wrong with some people in our society, and it has nothing to do with firearms. I can say with confidence though that the internet has only fueled more of these types to seek their 15 minutes of sick infamy.
December 15th, 2012 at 11:00 pm
@185 – Tman, your last paragraph is on the nose. There are definitely more of these people waiting in the wings.
You can analyze this incident all you want to, but it won’t stop the same thing from happening again, and it has absolutely nothing to do with firearms. It has nothing to do with the clothes you wear, how many tattoos or piercings you have, the kind of car/truck you drive, or what kind of dwelling you live in. It has everything to do with these people parking themselves outside the circle that makes up a society.
If it were only about having guns, then someone explain the Oklahoma City truck bombing. No guns used in that one, and a lot of people, including children in the day care center, died in that blast.
Analyzing it do death is not going to get rid of the fear and anger that says “you could be next”.
December 16th, 2012 at 12:07 am
That sad part, Ex-PH2, is that this shooting broke all boundaries of what is considered sacred. That is, the brutal, cold blooded, up close execution of little children in grade school. Certainly attacks against and among elementary school kids is not exactly isolated, as evidenced by those knife attacks in China.
But there’s something about this shooting that is so heinous, that even individuals in Iran are expressing shock and sympathies.
Who knows what the next guy is planning to ‘outdo’ in terms of body count or a mass murder being so horrible that the world media once again sensationalizes the crime?
That guy in Oklahoma who go caught hours before the Connecticut shooting was planning on locking in students in an auditorium and slaughtering them, and booby trapping the doors with bombs. He was researching the Columbine shootings, no doubt ‘inspired’ by them.
I mean, seriously, there’s something seriously whacked about our society, that some young people are so starved for notoriety and ‘fame’ that they want to go out in a horrible blaze of glory, killing as many people as they can.
Can’t blame it on divorce, or abuse, or any other excuse. Plenty of young people with issues like that, don’t go around planning mass shootings.
December 16th, 2012 at 1:31 am
‘Plenty of young people with issues like that, don’t go around planning mass shootings.’
Exactly. The majority of people don’t get drunk and drive when they’re buzzed, or cause accidents. The ordinary person doesn’t walk up to someone’s front steps and open fire on children playing there. Normal people have things that bother them every day, but they don’t plan an explosion that will cover a 16-block radius and kill several hundred people. Nor do they lure people to a remote jungle in South America and slaughter them with cyanide-laced Koolaid, as Jim Jones did in 1977.
But — and this is the kicker — how do you sort the looney tunes out from the rest of us? Well, you can’t.
You can only hope people are alert enough to let someone know, unlike the teachers at Virginia Tech, who knew that one student was off the deep end and did nothing.