Here's what I think....as if it matters.... (Page 3)

I agree.  We should punish the CT murderer for breaking the law...WTH?

These laws and rules are in place already.  He stole weapons and used them in a manner that no law in the would world have prevented.  Remember the Norway shootings?  77 dead.  In a county with some pretty tough gun laws.  The point is there will always be evil in the world.  And they will find a way to express that evil.  Blaming the instrument of the crime is like blaming the fork for making you fat.

It's a breakdown of the social and ethical way of life in the US.  We are becoming more violet as a people.  Laws will not fix this.  It's up to us to fix this as a society.  How?  I have some ideas to start but don't have the ultimate solution. 

But it's Rome out there and it's falling quickly...

Thanks for posting that. Being a parent is difficult, being a parent of a child with special needs is even harder (I am one), but I cannot imagine having to do what that parent had to do.

Honestly, these mass killings are a combination of forces. Access to affordable mental health, social and societal pressures, and easy access to the means for committing multiple murders. No knee-jerk legislation can immediately address all of these things. There is still a massive mental health stigma in this country. There have always been latchkey kids, but parents need to make quality time and actually engage and listen to their children. And yes, access to guns is far too easy, and you can say whatever you want about that, but it's a fact.

Jobaxes - May I ask what Australia does?  A friend of mine who recently moved to Australia mentioned the Port Authur massacre and that Australian laws changed after that.  Is that true?  How was it handled?  It was her opinion Australia dealt with something so horrible different from Americans when it comes to gun control/laws.

Great post!

I would guess zero, because most school districts have a zero tolerance policy. I find the idea of answering the question of how to curb gun violence by arming all the teachers terrifying. Escalation is not the answer.

It could also be said our foundering fathers couldn't come close to comprehending a semi-automatic or fast fire hand gun either.  Their idea of weaponry was MUCH different from what is available today.

Somebody on FB posted the pic of the Israeli teacher with the gun slung over her shoulder.  I doubt any of us want that.  My thoughts are that if the gun is close enough to you that you could use it in an emergency it is too easily accessible for someone to take it from you.  If it is in a safe place it is unlikely you would have time to get to it, unlock it, load it and fire.  Owning 4 guns didn't do this guys Mom any good and she prided herself on her guns and went to the range regularly.

x2!

I would say this is much less of a "what if" question and much more of a reality.  We've had approximately 125 school shootings since 1927.  90% have occurred within the last 30 years.  Not all have had fatalities, but there has been some sort of shooting at a school a little less than 4 times per year on average every year for the past 30 years.  This is not the first time it has happened at an elementary school.  The lack of action over an extremely long time frame tells me that we have accepted this as part of the fabric of our society.

This one raised the bar and I imagine that it won't be to long before another teenager/young adult with delusions of grandeur tries to top this one.  And if you really think about it, how hard is really going to be for them to do that.

By that same logic all rapes are "vagina issues". (I'm 100% sure that's going to be misunderstood by someone) 

It's not about the body part.  It's about the act.  All of these acts listed involved people with deep seeded problems.  The instrument of their outlash is secondary.  To try to pin it on an inanimate object ignores the larger problem.

You mean like I said in the sentence after the one you bolded?   

Gearboy - I'd like to hear a suggestion from you on what to do about the mental illness side of the issue.  My department is extremely pro-active when it comes to threats of violence.  Like I said, we had a mass shooting, we learned.  If you make any type of armed threat that gets reported tous we will be at your door, or your work, or wherever we can find you.  We will do a full investigation to verify the threat and see if you are capable of carrying out the threat.  Many times that ends with an involuntary commitment.  We never know what happens with that....HIPAA laws prevent us from getting that information in all but the most extreme cases. Most of the time we see the person back at home, or on the street, or wherever within 48 - 96 hours.  Even if every rational person on the planet knows they are not.

Yeah, you got me there, the police never have to calm people down, or run toward the gunfire.

Alright.  Enough already!  Securing my guns better or be penalized?  How about we actually start penalizing the thieves?  In Connecticut this wouldn't have solved the problem but how many others would have been solved if our jails weren't Club Med's?  There is no one that can dispute that many criminals have it better in jail than they have it outside the walls.  They get good meals, they really don't have to work for any reason (if they don't what's going to happen to them?), their housing is paid for, they receive top notch medical care and the list could go on an on.

The problem I have with more laws is that the ones breaking them DON'T CARE!!!!  You make another Clinton library full of new laws and the criminals will still NOT CARE. 

Start truly penalizing these criminals!  Put them in jails with no air conditioning, no weights or color TV's, give then canned foods to eat or MRE's.  Make them "make big one's out of little one's!"  Make them do hard labor!  Make the prison system a place they DO NOT want to go back to.  Make it painful for them.

I would also disagree with your point that none of the issues were "gun issues."  If that were the case there wouldn't be people 30 seconds after an incident screaming for more gun control.

BTW,  I have all of my weapons secured in a 350 pound safe but that won't stop a criminal that wants to get in bad enough.   a small torch set would cut through the metal and he would have access.  So, are my guns secure enough?  Or who decides what's secure?  More government?

Huh Got me too.

The weapon used in CT was not an assault weapon.  In fact outside of police or the military assault weapons do not (for the most part) exist in the hands of civilians.  People really need to understand the difference between assault weapons, riles, semi automatic and automatic before making their arguments.  It's not just you.  Lots of people do not understand the differences.

This same argument came up in another thread.  I'll say what I said there: I can buy a Bugatti Veyron that will do 253 mph (faster than an F1 car) and drive it on public roads.  Just because you feel something is not safe does not mean that it cannot be used safely.

We already had an "assault weapon" ban.  It did nothing to lessen crime, or shootings.  In fact, when it came up for renewal there was no support on either side of the isle.  In short, it was useless.

I can see your opinion and I had a lot of the same thoughts but I always try to think of other instances and came up with something somewhat similar:

Drunk driving deaths.  We could easily say "blame the guy driving/drinking".  But as you know, bars are legally responsible if they overserve and someone kills someone.  If you let someone leave your house intoxicated after a party, kills someone, they can come after you.  Is that FAIR?  Probobaly not.  I never like putting the blame anyone other than the person commiting the act.  But there is precidence to go after those who are careless with over serving that had nothing to do with the actual act.

I guess this as the same thing.  If you don't excersize precaution with your firearms, and someone takes them and goes out and kills someone, they can come after you.  Yes, someone can still get to your guns if they want to bad enough just like someone can still drink more in the parking lot or smuggle in a flask.  But they still go after those who don't show responsibility for their "products" alcohol or guns.

I can tell you that a gun being stolen in a burglary is the worst thing.....because it is automatically in the hands of a criminal.  Not locking your guns up when you aren't home is dumb in my book.  While I agree that your home should be safe from burglary, that  has never been the case in the history of homes.  In my mind, you can't call yourself a responsible gun owner if you don't lock your guns away when they are left unattended.