NEWTOWN, CT

[johnl]

24 hours after this horrible event the world is learning more but will the answers ever become complete?  So senseless and so sad and nothing was accomplished except heartbreak and evil.

God Bless those 26 innocent people, their families and friends and that community...........   

[speedwell]

ok it's a dramatical thing john  ,I am to sadden, but weapons in the United States are always freely sold there is nothing which governs this market, here in Europe it is very different , i don't said than there isn't similar thing here , but less often as in the USA

just my thoughts

[glenn]

I can't watch the news, it makes me want to cry every time I hear someone there talk about it.

[johnl]

ok it's a dramatical thing john  ,I am to sadden, but weapons in the United States are always freely sold there is nothing which governs this market, here in Europe it is very different , i don't said than there isn't similar thing here , but less often as in the USA

just my thoughts

It is not my intention to get something started her but I feel this needs to be stated.  One of Americas founding items is the right to bear arms.  It has been this way for over 200 years and for the most part it works.

People with thoughts and ideas such as the shooter in this instance will do what they will do no mater what and they will obtain weapons, legal or not.  It is not guns that kill people but people who kill people.

My previous post was based on my own sadness over these events but rest assure I'm still very proud to be an American and still believe in her.

[glenn]

Guns are not the problem in this case. The 3 guns were legally registered to his mother.

And when guns are not available, they'll use something else.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-12/14/c_132041711.htm

22 students stabbed in central China attack
English.news.cn   2012-12-14 20:46:01    

ZHENGZHOU, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Twenty-two school children and a villager were injured in a knife attack at the gate of a primary school in central China's Henan Province on Friday morning, according to local authorities.

All the injured people have been sent to three local hospitals and at least two of them, one student and an 85-year-old woman, are in serious conditions, said police.

The attack happened at around 7:40 a.m. at the entrance of Chenpeng Village Primary School in Wenshu Township of Guangshan County in the city of Xinyang, a police officer said on condition of anonymity.

Local police said they had seized a suspect, a 36-year-old villager named Min Yingjun.

At around 7 a.m. on Friday, Min burst into the 85-year-old woman's house, which neighbors the school, and an argument ensued, according to the woman's daughter.

Liu is thought to have seized a knife at the house and attacked the elderly woman. He then left, rushed into the school campus and slashed students, according to villagers.

The suspect was unknown in the village and might be mentally ill, some villagers said.

The elderly woman and most of the injured students suffered head wounds. And some of them were in shock, according to the People's Hospital of the county, which received most of the people injured in the attack.

"I want to go home!" cried a 7-year-old pupil surnamed Wei, who arrived at the hospital in a serious condition with a skull fracture.

The boy's coat was stained with blood and he was quite scared after being wounded, according to the boy's relatives.

The case is under investigation.

You just can't stop CRAZY

[javabug]

And when guns are not available, they'll use something else.

You just can't stop CRAZY

Both statements are the sad, and scary, truth. I normally wouldn't weigh in on such discussions, but I find the increasing regularity of these events alarming and have no ideas for a solution. Not only unforeseeable, but it's beginning to happen in any location, big city or small towns.

Please friends, stay alert and keep your wits about you no matter where you find yourself. Some things you just can't control.

[Speed-Randy]

If you think back to the early 80's, the US government started closing down federal mental institutions. Places where the very disturbed or unstable people went for help, are now gone. The theory was that they would and could stay on their meds and join the communities outside the gates. Not so much, and sadly we get incidences like this, which becomes sensationalized by the media, fuels the gun control advocates and copycats like the guy in newport beach tonite, who was "not happy with HIS life", so he took it upon himself to ruin others. i do agree gun control is not the answer, they will just choose something else, that is perfectly legal, to accomplish their plans

[Lids]

I agree that you cannot stop mad people doing mad things, but you can make it more difficult for them.  It just looks like this is more common in the states than in most other countries, even if it isn't.  When you have access to the type of weapons you can get in the States it allows more lives to be taken in this senseless type of rampage.

Look at this incomplete list, it shows how many lives were lost in each separate massacre in the USA, as you can see in some years there have been more than one.

1991 - 23
1999 - 13
2005 - 7
2007 - 32
2007 - 8
2008 - 8
2008 - 6
2009 - 13
2009 - 10
2009 - 13
2009 - 8
2011 - 8
2011 - 6
2012 - 12
2012 - 27
2012 - 6

I'm sorry but just because something is written in law doesn't mean it shouldn't change.  I don't watch news reports about these types of events as they are too upsetting.  My thoughts and prayers go out to the families.  Lets hope this is the last.

[tikimadness]

TURN OFF THE NEWS.......

Morgan Freeman's brilliant take on what happened yesterday :

"You want to know why. This may sound cynical, but here's why.

It's because of the way the media reports it. Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall shooter like celebrities. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you know the name of a single *victim* of Columbine? Disturbed
people who would otherwise just off themselves in their basements see the news and want to top it by doing something worse, and going out in a memorable way. Why a grade school? Why children? Because he'll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody.

CNN's article says that if the body count "holds up", this will rank as the second deadliest shooting behind Virginia Tech, as if statistics somehow make one shooting worse than another. Then they post a video interview of third-graders for all the details of what they saw and heard while the shootings were happening. Fox News has plastered the killer's face on all their reports for hours. Any articles or news stories yet that focus on the victims and ignore the killer's identity? None that I've seen yet. Because they don't sell. So congratulations, sensationalist media, you've just lit the fire for someone to top this and knock off a day care center or a maternity ward next.

You can help by forgetting you ever read this man's name, and remembering the name of at least one victim. You can help by donating to mental health research instead of pointing to gun control as the problem. You can help by turning off the news."

[Fritter]

I agree with Lids.  This country needs to look at it's gun culture. 

Guns are romanticized in movies and media.

Guns don't kill people, but they sure make it a lot easier to do so.

The 2nd amendment is as outdated as a horse and buggy, or loading a musket with a rod.

Look at Japan for a gun control example.  Very very hard to get a gun, and virtually no murder.

[Taylor]

At the State of the Union Address in 1941 FDR said "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."   This is clearly one of those times.  As awful as it is changing the Bill Of Rights is much more long lasting and just another way of eroding our rights. I can't say I have the answer but a blanket piece of legislation isn't it.

[Lids]

I forgot to add, I can only see two reasons to own a gun

1. hunting

2. Protecting your life/property.

Which of these require a semi automatic/automatic weapon capable of 700 rounds per minute?

The US has 3.2 firearms homicides per 100,000 population compared with 1.6 for Canada, 1.0 for Australia and 0.1 for England and Wales, according to a 2012 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

[Taylor]

This is obviously off topic and if john doesn't like it please remove.
But,

When the Second Amendment was drawn up, hunting was how you ate,  so that only leaves protection or enforcement as the reason it is in there.  Also, not necessarily related but the U.S. also has a higher percentage of religiosity than those other countries listed.  Hard to reconcile.

[Jeff68]

Somewhat close to home for me.....I live in Florida now but up until the age of 30 used to go to Newtown / Sandy Hook very often growing up especially in the spring and summer. My family had a cottage on a lake in Sandy Hook. You could blink your eye and drive through that llittle sleepy town.  When I heard about this I could not believe that this would happen there. Prayers for the families and that community.....

[Rick Meredith]

I think that Randy nailed it. This incident was more of the lack of care for an individual with mental health issues.