Ax I am from Chicago and lost 3 cousins in the lady of angles fire But the CT tragedy is worst -- in time you can understand an accidental fire but how do you figure out why this happened. My daughter is a doc film producer and did a follow up story on Colombine Co killings. The kids that survived are still having a hard time but everyone of them said it helps to talk with people about what they went thru. Just talking to them after all this time gave my daughter nightmares. So, Gary never apologize for expressing your feelings after what you and your family must have gone and still go thru. We all just hope someday you will be able to be at peace. Our prayers are with you and all of these victims families dave s

 

When I heard of this I was very upset. The thought's of my kid's in school, and feeling, living where we do, we are very safe. When I got home from taking my 14 yr old to hockey last night I wasted no time to go to my 7yr olds bedroom and give him a long cuddle. With tears in my eye's I went to bed and could not sleep. I tried to think of better thing's but I couldn't help thinking of those poor innocent kid's and what thier families are going through. The sad thing is, this will happen again. In this day and age there is a very fine line between fantasy and reality. The show's we allow them to watch, and what the media puts out to us, leaves very little room to control what happens in every day life. It is up to us as parent's, uncle's, aunt's, grandparent's and friend's to bring our society back to where human value's should be respected. This could happen in anyone's back yard. When I was 17 a guy I knew was blown away in school by a shotgun for teasing the guy about liking the rock band KISS. He said the day before " I'm going to blow your brain's out ". You never take it seriously ( 1978 ) He came to school the next day, and blew his brain's out right in class. This was never to happen in a small city in Canada, but it did. Please pray for all involved in this tragedy, and keep hoping we can keep our loved one's safe.

 

If a 20 year old doesn't know the difference between fantasy and reality, he is already living in a fantasy world that has little to do with video games or TV programs. If you blame their environment, the you have to include government's willingness to blow away anyone who's ideology or politics don't agree with theirs, and the news reporting on it in a very casual detached "they probably deserved it" justification with little to no compassion for the reality that it is the taking of a human life.

 

Firstly, sympathies to all who sadly have experience in these matters.

As an Aussie, who sees Americans as our closest brothers, every time this happens I am just baffled.... why does this not happen here?

In Australia, we are so closely matched culturally with America, and yes, my 12 year old plays video games that horrify me too, and he watches prime time tv showing movies of incredible violence and casual attitude to murder!

I think, the big difference is - he has NEVER seen a real gun, and would not knoe where to get one. Also, I do not even know where I would go to buy bullets?????

Our farmers all have shotguns etc, and it's all legal and policed - including mandatory requirements for locked storage of weapons & ammunition......but NO automatic weapons, under ANY circumstances.

We still have plenty of single gun murders.....just not so many 'kill everything within eyesight range' murders.

I heard that this guy did the killing with his MUM's guns......why the hell does a 40ish year old school worker need a variety of automatic weapons?????

I know these opinions will not be well accepted on an American forum, but please, instead of wondering if I'm some sort of Lefty commie, etc, please try to imagine what life might be like if less than 1% of your people had guns......

don't get me wrong.....if someone goes near my truck at night, I will still wrap a tire iron around his skull......i just don't need a magazine with dozens of bullets to make my point.

 

Well said Oz.

 

I left work early yesterday to do some christmas shopping but couldn't get this story out of my head.
thinking about those little kids, I have a 7 and 10 yr old, all I wanted to do was go get them from school and give them hugs.

I cried yesterday, and. I can hardly even type this out now.
my friend and coworker from work lost his wife suddenly last month. leaving him and five kids 1.5 yrs to 11. she was 32 she was taken from him suddenly with no time to even talk. Im trying to be a support for him but I cant even imagine how hard it is, let alone for these parents in CT.

I wasnt going to reply to this thread because im a big crybaby, and I havent talked to anyone else (including my wife) about this tragedy, other than just mentioning the news to her. I just cant understand why or how anyone could do this.....

and a comment about the gun issue above, That 1% of the people owning a gun will never happen here, I own guns and have talked about getting a concealed carry permit. I dont want to carry but maybe these days its a good idea. take out a crazy and save some innocent lives.
thanks for listening to me and make everyday a good day, for you and anyone you may encounter. thanks FTE family.

going to go organize the toolbox now and dry my eyes.

 

I just posted this up on Facebook:
After the tragic events of yesterday a hot topic in Washington becomes gun control. That made me curious, so I did some very brief research. The per capita gun ownership hasn't changed much over the last 40 years (I didn't locate older data) but mass murders have increased (I didn't verify that, it was assumed by me) So maybe our society is focused on the wrong thing, maybe it's not the guns but the direction of our society.
Another bit of info to ponder:
US gun ownership 88.8 per 100, firearms murders 2.97 per 100,000
Mexico: ownership 15 per 100, firearms murders 9.97 per 100,000
Canada: ownership 30.8 per 100, firearms murders 0.51 per 100,000
IF I add Australia:
ownership 15 per 100, firearms murders 0.14 per 100,000

Next would be to compare state by state numbers, I bet you would find the firearms murders more closely relates to population per square mile than gun ownership or firearms laws.
Those types of numbers don't fit the politicians (of both parties) and mainstream media's narrative.
So, anyone willing to actually think about why we are having more mass murders lately. Solutions might have to involve personal accountability, and we can't have that can we.

The data doesn't seem to support gun ownership as the issue, there is something else going on. I don't know what it is, but it is very scary.

 

I'll be honest, this one is hitting me very hard. This one ranks right up there with 9/11 in a variety of ways. I feel angry and hurt and I am hundreds of miles away and don't even know any of those people or those children. I have children of the same age, and I'll be quite honest, if that was my one of my kids, I'd have a really hard time trying to cope and restrain myself and not look to hurt somebody who might be at least partially responsible for what that evil fool did. Where's his father? What did that brother know? Other family members? I'll guarantee you that we'll eventually hear news stories about how teachers or employers noticed red flags for years. And I'll guarantee you that we'll eventually learn that he had a psychiatrist or psychologist who was "concerned".

The gun thing is also a very big issue with this one. Harrier, the unknown "scary" thing about this one is the fact that our society has lost its damn mind--plain and simple. There's no sense of right or wrong in this world anymore. These evil cowards don't just wake up one day and decide to go shoot a room full of first graders. People around them usually see warning signs and they seemingly always look the other way because they don't want to get involved. I'm a gun owner. I see both sides of the debate. But folks, in this particular case, it cannot be denied that the death toll might have been less if he didn't have those 30-round clips and that assault rifle. Yes, he would have still done what he did, and unfortunately people would have died, but I would imagine that he would not have killed that many kids if he wasn't armed to the teeth with that gun and those magazines. I have fired an AR-15 (and AK-47) many times with a 30-round clip. It is downright scary to witness what damage can be done with those guns in just a matter of seconds. That psycho coward could have used a bomb, shotgun, or even those pistols or knives. But he inflicted maximum damage in a matter of seconds due to the weapon he chose. The adults who tried to stop him stood no chance against that particular gun.

On the flip side, a properly-trained armed guard MIGHT have made a difference, but we'll never know. "Monday morning quarterbacking" won't bring those precious children back. My children have asked me multiple times already--"Daddy, why did that man kill those kids at their school?" What on earth are we supposed to tell them?!! When I was their age, I was worried about what we would eat in the lunch room or how long recess would last. I damn sure didn't think that some psychotic evil fool would walk into my classroom and try to kill all of us.

 

Doc
very well stated.
Larry

 

here i go, pissing people off, but i stated before that its a sociatal problem. meaning that we are a group of cowards, yes, cowards, that won't blow the whistle on a misfit like that teacher's kid. he was obviously a problem, it will come out. so, open you mouth when you see something amiss PRIOR to when something bad happens and be willing to take a personal hit from other cowards who won't. be willing to be different to maybe avoid another tragedy. my heart is broken like yours.

quentin

 

I agree. And, for the record, my statement above comes from a gun owner (including an AR) who has school-aged children. I think all of our hearts are broken.

 

i'm with you, doc, i just want people to stand up and take action even when its not a popular thing to do. i don't own any guns and never have, but maybe now i want a consealed weapons permitt for my own peace of mind====sad, isn't it

q in 'cuse

 

It would be a very wise move. I highly recommend it.

 

I agree with you Shane..completely.
I had to go to the High School last week. I have to register my biological daughter here. (she has lived with her mother and has decided to live with me now! Long story and a good one for me and my daughter!)
I drove to the school, went to the doors and they are locked...so I push the intercom button...CAN I HELP YOU?.....I'm here to see the principal...The door unlocks with the simple push of a button....I AM IN...? that's all it takes?
No metal detection...no guard...apparently no camera, cuz if I saw me standing there, I might need to ask a few more questions...

 

We really need to address security at our schools...it is sad that we have to...
its gonna cost money...its gonna take time...its gonna be a hassle...but it is going to have to be addressed...Sadly we have failed...thats who has to do something about it...