School shooting...damn scum

[mikewint]

I can only echo all of the above. This is a tragedy beyond words my heart and prayers go out to all involved it is beyond comprehension. I own several guns including the so called "high powered" Bushmaster .223 that this cretin used. He apparently shot his mother in the face which says quite a bit about his mental state towards his mother who was the actual owner of the guns. How different the outcome had the principal or one of the other 5 women had their own weapon.

 

[Glider]

Proably little different. They were at school teaching, he had the guns, the intent, the advantage of surprise and the vest.

 

[paletteone]

It's really sad thing what happened .I have to wonder though at times as more and more young people commit crimes like this "what has happened?"Is it the fact any mention of God in school at home is being tossed out?I sent my child to a Catholic School as long as I could afford to till he hit the 7th grade.I did this for a couple reason one it's a harder school to learn in,the expectations are higher,second I wanted him to have some extra faith and social bachground of good and evil lets say.He had to attend mass twice a week once with the school and the other with us.This gives one the foundation I hope for life thus should one stray from the path of God they always have a home base to return too and we all stray at times.With Church attendance getting smaller and smaller in the US over the last 30yrs or so and the constant bombardment by communication devices one loses what life really is Family,Love and Hard work,that simple,at least in my eyes.I pray for these Parents thier young children are in God's hands now.

I agree with your insights, we've strayed from a guiding moral and spiritual presence, regardless of anybody's faith, creed or denomination!

 

[tyrodtom]

I always considered it my responsibility to teach my kids about God, not the schools. There's so many forms of the Christian faith out there, if the schools did teach it, what denomination would they teach? That might not matter to sme parents, but to some others it matters tremendously.
I went to school at a time when some religion was taught in the classroom, but the way it was taught was IMO counterproductive.

 

[javlin]

I always considered it my responsibility to teach my kids about God, not the schools. There's so many forms of the Christian faith out there, if the schools did teach it, what denomination would they teach? That might not matter to sme parents, but to some others it matters tremendously.
I went to school at a time when some religion was taught in the classroom, but the way it was taught was IMO counterproductive.

I hear ya Ty it was not taught much in the 60's-70's when I went but was lightly observed with a "Pledge of Allegiance" and an "Our Father" up till about the 3-4th grade in the morning.The schools also had CHRISTMAS Plays not holiday or some other goofy thing.The Country as a whole had a better moral compass that started to being lost in the 70's somewhat and has denigrated from there.Personally I sometimes think it may of really started folding with the advent of the government taking over education in 1979 Just notice the age of the killers though lately they are almost all under 25 and alot of them younger than that....is Life really that hopeless and useless?

 

[N4521U]

The thing that really breaks your heart is when you hear the little brother or sister....
"who am I gonna play with now"??????????

 

[Torch]

This strikes a little close to the heart, my nephew has a combo of autism and Arnsparger syndrome, he's 20,has had an issue in high school where he was being picked on and said he was going to shoot the guy(supposedly said by the bully), now has a police record, was tossed from school and sent to a different one. He's a good kid but would match the description of any of the shooters.Been to shrinks,on meds etc. Parents went to the Govt to get disability for him since he will never really be able to live on his own. He's with his brother now while they go to school. All's good except he can't stay under his brother's wings for ever,Govt taking away the disability status, parents won't be around for ever. What's he going to do with him self? How's he going to get help? He's very smart. He's just not self sufficient. Unless you personnally deal with these issues it's hard to understand how these kids work. Easy to call them wacko's,they are not. Thou I hope Lansa rots in hell for what he did I know this will happen again.Sorry for venting.

 

[mikewint]

A goodly chunk of the country is focused on the obvious the EVIL GUN. Seldom does anyone/agency look deeper. The Evil of the Gun is an easy cure, more prohibitive laws, but the root cause, the untreated mental condition that allowed this creature to grow and develop. Now we're talking big bucks for testing, screenng, treatment, ect. It's like putting a bandaid over an erupting cancer: treat the surface wound and ignore the deeper malignancy.
I had posted earlier oncerning a school I was at, One kid was obvisouly having a problem, he refused to talk or answer questions, confronting him, he stated "Right no I'm just sitting here trying not to get up and start killing people" Sent to the office, he was back the next day. Going to the principal I asked what had been done, "Well we notified his parents." Another timebomb, unadressed

 

[Torch]

I'm with you Mike about guns etc. Sad thing is something like this will happen again, I think the Doctor/patient priviledge thing has got to change,if someone is spouting off about doom and gloom I'm sorry,someone has to speak up....

 

[bobbysocks]

it is horrendous and it does break my heart to think of the terror these children faced. i can only imagine what the parents and surviors feel. when i first heard this story i understod it that the killer went tothe school to kill his mother and ended up killing the principal, office workers and the children. then i come to find out the had killed his mother at home, taken her guns and evidently went to this school. i began thinking that his experience at this school was somewhat traumatic and thus why he targeted it. that is in no way to justify what he did. there were a LOT of things that went wrong..not just one. but politicians will take the easiest target to appease the people and show they are doing something so it will never happen again.... my wife is a teacher and i asked her what kind of training have they recieved or steps has the district taken. what instructions had they told her to do in the event something like this took place. they really didnt have much of a plan other than lock their doors. we keep saying education is the key but we dont educate or train for disasters or situations like this. its not a pleasant thing to think it can happen in your quiet neighborhood. but it does. we had to watch this training video at work and i believe every school, college, institution, business......person should see this. i gave this link to my wife and am emailing it to the principal of the school and director of the area schools. you will never be able to prevent someone intent on doing harm from trying but you can take steps to know what to do if they try.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VcSwejU2D0

 

[Torch]

If you look at history,this only gets worse. Humanity is out of control for what ever reason. I'm sorry but even with officers arriving very quickly he still managed to kill 26 people, in every shooting there has never been an officer,CCW there to try and stop the bloodshed. I will continue to do what ever it takes to protect myself and my family because in reality cops(no offense at all) are usually 15 mins away at best. Whether it be guns,knives,bats, mobs etc. law abiding citizens have no chance. Sad that the media does not publish the lives that are saved by CCW. With this economy,more layoffs coming(not being political) I fore see an ugly future...

 

[RabidAlien]

Torch, I want to "Like" your comment because I wholeheartedly agree, but somehow clicking the "Like" button just seems wrong, considering the subject matter. But +1 to what Torch said.

 

[buffnut453]

For pity's sake can we please lay off the "we should all carry weapons" diatribes and simply take the time to offer whatever thoughts or prayers we can for all families involved in this unspeakable tragedy? This is too appalling for words and the prospect of even more weapons on our streets simply fills me with despair.

 

[Torch]

Well go be despaired, This is a conversation about the realities of the situation. I feel for all the victims as much as anybody else so please don't go there, i also went thru Columbine here,Platte River high school etc. Jessica Ridgeway, and on and on,we live in a disfunctional society. You have prayers for these poor kids and families as do I. Are abortions any better?

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Alright guys, the topic of gun laws is a very sensitive subject. Don't get into a **** storm over it and let it get out hand.

I will say however that the problem lies in our society and not in our weapon laws. There are countries such as Switzerland that have much more liberal weapons laws than the United States, and weapons per person probably even a higher percentage of weapons (since all males between 18 and 34 have a semi automatic assault rifle at home), and they do not have the problem of mass shootings as we do. The problem lies in our failure as a society. Society is declining here in the United States.

As I said though. The discussion of weapons in private hands is inevitable, lets just not let it get out of hand. I am willing to let the topic be discussed as long as it does not get out of hand. As I am sure the other mods will agree with (if not guys, feel free to jump in).

 

[buffnut453]

We don't know "the realities of the situation" unless you have insider knowledge from the Newtown Sheriff's Dept? Lanza's mother apparently owned the weapons used in this tragedy - they didn't help protect her. There is no easy answer to this problem but, equally, I don't see how throwing more petrol on a fire makes the situation any better. If you want a wider discussion on gun control (or not, as the case may be), please by all means start a thread on that topic but I, for one, would prefer this thread focus on the poor victims, including Lanza's family who are as much victims here as anyone else.

 

[Torch]

Trying not to go there,don't want to. This is about emotions. There are certain subjects that tear at your heart one way or the other. Like I said I have a nephew that holy **** i hope he never goes that way, rather hear about what possible fixes there are that focus's on the issues at hand,guns,cars,knives etc are just tools used in the process of someone's irrational motives....

 

[buffnut453]

hand,guns,cars,knives etc are just tools used in the process of someone's irrational motives....

Entirely agree but there is a balance of risk to be had for all weapon types that encompasses ease of access and potential to do damage. There's a difference between stopping ownership of a weapon -vs- imposing controls to reduce the risk of misuse. I also agree that society needs to take a long hard look at itself and the values it supports. Like I said, no easy answers.

 

[GrauGeist]

The problem here, is 20 little children suffered at the hands of a distraught cowardly douchebag, whom I refuse to name because this piece of crap and his kind need to have thier names stricken from memory and buried in a nameless grave near a landfill or a sewage treatment plant....

And this is not a problem unique to the United States, but globally. The United States gets so much more attention because this is the "wild west", but China has had an ongoing school assault plague for MANY years now and tiny little children have been the targets of these brutal attacks. Now bear in mind that China has STRICT gun control policies in place and yet these brutal attacks are carried out with knives, machettes, a sword, meat cleavers and even a hammer. Yes, a hammer was used to beat 3 children and a teacher to death.

Elsewhere, there have been attacks by bombings, stabbings, burnings, vehicles, acid and blunt-force attacks with wood. Sadly, when a person has made up thier mind to do harm to others, they will find a way by whatever means they have at thier disposal, wether it be a flamethrower or a screwdriver...they WILL do it.

This problem is not about gun control...not EVEN close...it's about the decay of morality and social self worth around the world. There used to be a time when a man regarded his fellow man and society as a whole endeavoured to protect women and children above all else. Those days are long behind us now and it's up to us as a society to stop this madness and get to the root cause of why the life of a child is no longer a treasure.

 

[buffnut453]

GrauGeist, I entirely agree that we can't stop violent, irrational crime but we can strive to reduce the extent of its impact and that extent is so often defined by the weapon that's used. You're absolutely right about the knife crimes in China, indeed there was a similarly horrendous attack in China on 14 December when 22 elementary school children in Chenpeng, Henan Province, were attacked with a knife - the key difference is that all the kids there survived. The events in both Newtown and Chenping were unfathomable but, per my earlier post, I think there is a need for a more balanced evaluation of how we, as a society, measure the risk of such events and then start implementing measures that, as much as humanly possible, reduce the risk without onerously impacting civil liberties. There isn't a single solution. Banning weapons won't work but, equally, promoting more weapons is (IMHO) equally flawed.