Another school shooting

[rrhill]

06:44 PM ET


[h=1]Children and adults gunned down in Connecticut school massacre[/h]

• 20 children, six adults and the shooter are dead after shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut
  
• Gov. Malloy: "A number of our citizens, beautiful children, had their life taken away from them"

[Updated at 6:44 p.m. ET] Three U.S. law enforcement officials, from different agencies, separately tonight identified the shooter as Adam Lanza, contrary to what investigators had said previously. It is not clear what caused the confusion among investigators.

His older brother, Ryan, was taken into custody for general questioning from a home in Hoboken, New Jersey. Officials did not label Ryan Lanza as a suspect. It is unclear when he may be released.
source: http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/14/shooting-reported-at-connecticut-elementary-school/?hpt=hp_t1

---
The guns were bought by the mother+ (Nancy), her son used them to kill al those souls.

In Holland we have crazies too. But it is not easy to get hold of guns, let alone automatic guns.

How is the US going to stop these killings?

 

[tampa24]

How is the US going to stop these killings?

We're not. There is no political will for making gun laws strict enough to keeep them out of the hands of crazies. After Columbine the bar was raised as to how high a death count a sicko had to reach to achieve international celebrity. (Even posthumously) Now this shoooting has raised the bar higher for other would-be killers who want to make a name for themselves.

 

[rrhill]

If that's true Tampa, better place an armed guard at every school building.

 

[mikeyank]

And we are supposed to be a civilized country. It is very sick and very sad.

 

[BenBen]

There are already man schools that have guards, I'm not sure if they are armed. Some schools have metal detectors at the doors there are some schools that have police officers stationed at the entry doors. I think most schools have very limited access with 1 or 2 sets of entrance doors and all the other doors are kept locked. They said this schools doors are kept locked after school starts and in order to get in someone form the office has to talk to you and see you on camera before they will unlock the door.

I am sad to say that several guns that have been used in some of these shootings have come from WI ordered through the internet. There are a lot of people who are begging for tougher gun laws and more control but the NRA spends Millions of dollars buy off politicians and paying lobbyist to prevent tougher laws being put in place. It becomes a very ugly argument when anyone mentions gun control. Instead of things getting harder they are actually getting easier, Wi just passed a concealed carry law last week a man with road rage pulled his pistol out and pointed it at a woman, it's just a matter of time before someone with road rage actually kills another driver. The license fees are cheap or reasonable background checks aren't always required in some states and they aren't always done when they are required.

I don't now how many children and adults will have to die before the politicians stand up to the NRA and pass stricter laws but I am afraid it will have to be a very large number.

Another aspect of this problem is that most of these shooters are mentally ill and at some point did try to get help but the state of our health care system and our insurance system it is almost impossible to get good mental health care. Since it is so difficult to get help paying for mental health there is also a shortage of mental health Dr.s even if you can pay for mental health good luck trying to find a qualified Dr.

 

[bobbity]

I used to be on the fence about tighter gun control, but recent times and countless, pointless tragedies have shown me that this is not going to stop. Unless we make it stop. It's a sad day indeed when innocent children die, massacred and executed because some sick man wants to make a name for himself. So I do believe guns should be banned in the US and I will gladly give up the right to own firearms if it means I never have to see or hear another one of these heartbreaking stories again. And yes, I am aware that most people who own guns are responsible with them, but unfortunately the the insane minority is going to rob us of one of our constitutional rights. I just have to wonder how many more lives are going to be claimed, and just how bad does it have to get before we wake up and join the rest of the civilized world? Because, let's face it, most developed countries have already outlawed guns for just this reason: killing is too easy when all you have to do is pull the trigger.

 

[grace17]

In April 1996 Martin Bryant killed 35 people and wounded many more with an assault rifle at Port Arthur, a popular tourist destination in Tasmania. I was there. I was very young, I had my six year old niece with me and I thought we were both going to die.

The US isn't my country so I try to keep out of controversial topics that don't directly affect me, but gun control is a subject very close to my heart. After Martin Bryant's rampage Australian gun laws were dramatically changed making it impossible for everyday people to legally own a firearm. Of course there's the very valid argument that they can be obtained on the black market, but as far as I can remember Australia hasn't had a gun related massacre since gun law reform and it's been almost twenty years.

I don't know what the answer is to getting gun control in the US, but I do know it works, so don't give up trying.

 

[joninliverton]

Each time this happens we get the same reaction on the forum. How many more lives will be lost whilst the US gun laws remain the same ?? I feel so sad for the families of the murdered, and at Xmas too

 

[joninliverton]

 

[rrhill]

Chinese man goes on stabbing spree at a school: 22 kids hurt

Fri Dec 14 2012, 20:19 hrs
Armed with a knife Min Yingjun, 36 attacked group of children at the gate of a primary school in central China's Henan Province setting off panic in the village.

The woman and most of the injured students suffered head wounds.
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.
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 condition, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/c...bbing-spree-at-a-school-22-kids-hurt/1045394/

Yesterday, in China schoolchildren got attacked too. That the attacker did not own a gun, but a knife. All children survived.

These crazies live in every country. Stringent gun control protect innocent lives. If more guns would offer more security, the US had to be the safest place on earth...

 

[rrhill]

[h=1]Gunman dead after Alabama shooting[/h]
[h=6]11:44 AM, Dec 15, 2012[/h]Birmingham, AL (CNN)A shooting at a hospital in Alabama early Saturday has left one person dead and three injured.
It happened at Saint Vincent's Hospital in Birmingham. Police say a man shot two employees and a police officer on the fifth floor around 4 a-m. A second officer shot and killed the gunman.The three victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

There's no word on why the suspect opened fire.
source: http://www.wzzm13.com/news/article/235302/14/Gunman-dead-after-Alabama-shooting

 

[BenBen]

After watching the Sunday morning political news shows I can see that politicians think there should be a discussion but if there is a discussion that's all that will come of it. I don't expect that any action will be taken to either improve mental health care for the needy nor will anything change about gun control. Even after Senator Giffords was shot in the head there was outrage but no real changes. The NRA is too powerful to allow any stricter gun control laws to come into affect and the republicans are too tight fisted to allow government spending on mental health care.

 

[joninliverton]

Well judging by the lack of discussion, it would seem that you guys and gals have given up.. There were 35 gun killings in the uk last year whilst in the USA there were 12000.

 

[rrhill]

If guns would make safe, the US should be the safest country in the world.

Now gun fanatics tell more guns are the solution...
Even if the school director had a gun in her office... she was not in her office but in a meeting at the other end of the building. To get to her office she had to cross the killers path. And she did. This hero of just 5ft2" tried to subdue the killer, ordering others to go to 'lock down'.

People kill they say, not guns. Indeed people kill, and guns make it so much easier. You would not sell Kaïn or Abel a semi-automatic.

Sales risen sharply for semi-automatic rifles! Just in fear of a boycott.

Strange fellows, some Americans, pro guns is pro death.

 

[joninliverton]

If guns would make safe, the US should be the safest country in the world.

Now gun fanatics tell more guns are the solution...
Even if the school director had a gun in her office... she was not in her office but in a meeting at the other end of the building. To get to her office she had to cross the killers path. And she did. This hero of just 5ft2" tried to subdue the killer, ordering others to go to 'lock down'.

People kill they say, not guns. Indeed people kill, and guns make it so much easier. You would not sell Kaïn or Abel a semi-automatic.

Sales risen sharply for semi-automatic rifles! Just in fear of a boycott.

Strange fellows, some Americans, pro guns is pro death.

I think we're batting for the same side here RR...

 

[mikeyank]

Well judging by the lack of discussion, it would seem that you guys and gals have given up.. There were 35 gun killings in the uk last year whilst in the USA there were 12000.

I think we're batting for the same side here RR...

Jon, this latest tragedy has caused front page headlines calling for new gun control laws. With the exception of hard core "gun nuts", I would have to believe that every American would like to see it become much more difficult for anyone to obtain powerful firearms,

It is an on going situation that is getting worse, and hopefully some good will come from these horrific tragedies.

 

[tampa24]

Well judging by the lack of discussion, it would seem that you guys and gals have given up.. There were 35 gun killings in the uk last year whilst in the USA there were 12000.

I have given up Jon. This kind of thing will have to happen several times a year before anything would really change. The Constitution would have to be altered for any real limitation on weapons. And that's not going to happen. The NRA is ready with money and all kinds of useless sound bites. like, "If guns are outlawed, then only outlaws will have guns." And, "Guns don't kill people. People with guns kill people."

 

[joninliverton]

Yup if guns are outlawed only outlaws - we call the criminals, will have guns. But they wont have them for long because there will probably be an amnesty and a thorough intelligence gathering operation to catch these people. It's like us in the UK saying in the 70s and 80s that we would arm everyone up because the IRA are attacking us. The security services and the police are there to protect the civilian population and they are there also to hunt down the killers of innocent people I hope Obama uses his special measures but sometimes I think you guys think that a Superman or Batman is going to come down and sort it out for you...

 

[rrhill]

[h=1]Gun sales surge across US after Newtown amid fears of crackdown[/h] From Oregon to Connecticut, gun shops reported soaring sales over the weekend as national attention returns to gun control.
read: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/dec/18/gun-sales-surge-newtown-crackdown

 

[lovelumps]

That's just what we need, isn't it? More people with guns. I wonder if anyone out there looked at their weapons and decided to get rid of them? I'd like some statistics on that!

This is all so horrifying! Who do we think we are? I'd say the average American believes himself to BE superman, which is why s/he doesn't worry about death by bullet.