Adam Lanza’s mother was a gun enthusiast who took him to the shooting range. She taught him to shoot the AR-15 assault that has made so much money for NRA clients.
So what is the answer? Take away all firearms? Bombings around the world happen on a sickeningly regular basis anymore. A sicko can bomb a school just as easy with the security we have in place. There are a lot of folks that think more people carrying firearms may prevent some of this.
even saw a cartoon advocating this: if everybody was authorized to carry a firearm on board of planes then sept.11 would not have happened …
Few people want our kindergarten teachers carrying firearms in the classroom. There was nothing in place to keep him from killing every child in the school if he weren’t interrupted.
And he had with him enough rounds of ammunition to kill everyone.
Free classes for any teacher to get a carry permit in Oregon.
Not sure about this approach either.
Just read this on the subject… Certainly made me ponder a lot more than the hackneyed gun control debates that always seems to occur after one of these incidents.
This time more than usual though a certain contradiction has really hit home. Certainly seems to me that those against the idea of restricting ownership of auto/semi-auto weapons able to use high capacity magazines tend to stress the need for greater provision of mental-health services seemingly to deflect attention from the issue of who gets to own what weapons, yet in debates on healthcare these same people seem set against any wider public provision of healthcare.
Is it too much to expect people to be consistent with their politics?
Prove it.
Guns kill, that has been proven.
Since there is no test that can be given which will ferret out the killers from the non killers, it has to be assumed that all gun owners have the potential to use them.
I don’t like guns, I don’t trust people who own guns, and I certainly don’t want to be around people who have guns.
Have you noticed any striking similarities in these mass killings:
Male, guns available in the home, access to guns and ammunition.
Shall I go on or is the problem not as plain as the nose on your face?
Yes, American’s have a culture of destruction, we liken ourselves to gladiators, we are “Rambo”, no one will take away our hard earned rights, yada yada yada.
Tell this shite to the parents of those little kids, and the parents of the kids skilled at Columbine, and the parents of the kids killed in Springfield, go ahead, start making those calls.
Or maybe we should give up our toys, give up the fantasy, do the right thing before it gets worse, before it happens again, before it happens to you or yours.
Friggin sad, that anyone could value their right to bear arms more than the safety of children.
You are a teen? Good, so then here’s something to think on:
Why do we have a fascination with games of destruction?
Why do we fantasize about war, death, fighting?
Are we creating a culture of destruction in our everyday lives?
What can you do to stop this cultural perversion?
Stop playing destructive video games.
Refuse to watch violent sports like football, wrestling, boxing, hockey.
Distance yourself from people who enjoy these things.
Give up your weapons, refuse to hunt, refuse to practice
Avoid people who have weapons and tell them why
Notice who commits these crimes and stay aware
Spread the word about non violence and live by it
This is the very same lecture I gave my sixteen year old this afternoon.
Maybe Anonymous needs to go after all the members of the NRA!
Nurse Ben: I agree with some that you say. The violence on tv and the games I think desensitizes people.
25 people died in Iraq this morning in a bombing. It is already off the MSN front page.
A very sad truth is the shooting was heartfelt because it was kids, if it had been adults it would already be slipping to the back of the news.
This simple disreguard for life is what has me worried about the future and
this is snowballing at an alarming rate.
That’s right. And video games? Violence on TV? Along the way, we are teaching our kids to not be responsible for what they do. Even our legal system plays by such rules. Who do I sue? The individual is never wrong when there is someone else to blame. This can lead to a sense of all problems in the world being someone else’s fault.
No, they can’t. To do that they would have to build a bomb. They can’t buy it at Gun Mart. But they can buy an assault rifle there, depending on the state, even if they have a documented history of mental illness.
There are even more people, I’m guessing, that think even more guns out there would make it even more easy for guys like that one to get their hands on them and do bad things. He did not own those guns. Which is not to say he couldn’t necessarily have bought them himself, but the point is that no matter how much you promote responsible gun ownership, not everyone is responsible. You don’t even need to buy your own guns if you know someone who leaves them accessible…
Yes. Check the history books. Why should they start now?
The first one. Because some people are unstable and unfit to own a gun.
Aren’t some people unfit to own a gun? It seems your argument should be about how this is determined, rather than whether or not it’s true. Because it is true. I know a lot of people who should never be allowed to own any sort of firearm. People who hear voices. People who take medication to keep the voices quiet. And other types of disorders that can weaken one’s sense of reality or right and wrong.
Maybe it should work the other way around. Who is sane enough to own a gun? Should there be a test? Should there be requirements of safe gun ownership before you are allowed to take one home? What a concept! Like motor vehicles, guns can be very dangerous even when used correctly. Perhaps less dangerous when used incorrectly but still, why not treat them like cars and driving?
Absolutely, I’m just making the point that having the power to declare someone unfit is something that is just begging for political abuse.
To protect against that kind of abuse of such power you would need so many checks and balances in the system that it might well implode under it’s own weight.
GILD: that’s quite an avitar ya got there…Hmmmm may need profiled:D:p
Rumor has it the NRA gave Thomas Jefferson 20 slaves when they were lobbying him to add “the right to bear arms” to the Bill of Rights.
But most governments already have the ability to deny people more than just the privilege of owning an object, they have the ability to deny someone their liberty based on their thought processes if they’re deemed to pose a serious enough threat to themselves or others.
Never too sure about the violent games/films/sports leading to violent behaviour argument… Japan’s cultural fodder is WAY more violent than anything in Europe or the US, yet they have one of the lowest murder rates of any industrialised country.
Australia has also been very successful with legislation to significantly reduce gun-related deaths.
BillyTheMountain
Anyone who deals with charts and facts knows that they can be presented in a favorable or negative way with the same information. Now the statement about less gun related deaths is absolutely true. This however is only part of the whole story. Murders in Australia overall have not changed and a couple years since the gun ban went into effect have actually increased. When presenting a case for or against gun control all the facts should be presented.
The mother knew that her son was not right, he had been in multiple schools and was known to have mental issues. The fact he had access to firearms with her knowing this is the problem.
Not one of us would let a small child play with a torch, drill, saw, knives etc. for fear they would hurt themselves or somebody else. ALL firearms need to be kept locked up and put away.Mental illness is the issue in this case, not gun ownership. This guy slipped thru the cracks.
Another mentally ill person is out there right now forming his or her plan.
Won’t we all be surprised the next time it happens? Well we shouldn’t be.
So when the mentally ill child puts a knife to your throat to make you open the gun safe …
According to Mother Jones, since 1982, 61 mass murders involving firearms have occurred throughout the country. Of these, 43 of the killers were white males, and only one was a woman. Mother Jones focused on whether the killers obtained their guns legally (most did).