O/T feel sick inside - CT Elementary shooting

[xdrx]

[QUOTE=sdkammeyer;1062924...
So close to Christmas. Plans have been made, presents have been bought.

Sad.[/QUOTE]

I've been through this, though in a very different way, with presents being purchased and never opened. One of the saddest things I've ever experienced. Somehow those prettily wrapped boxes just symbolize the potential lost with that life. A piece of that sadness never goes away. I can't imagine what the circumstances of these deaths add to that. Beyond what I can comprehend.

Leon, I give you great credit for letting this thread run the way you have. I'm not here much, but clearly to me it is a good thing for a close knit bunch like you have to be able to "let it fly" when something like this occurs. I imagine it has helped some folks deal with it in some small way, me included. Thank you for that.

[sdkammeyer]

Originally Posted by xdrx

I've been through this, though in a very different way, with presents being purchased and never opened. One of the saddest things I've ever experienced. Somehow those prettily wrapped boxes just symbolize the potential lost with that life. A piece of that sadness never goes away. I can't imagine what the circumstances of these deaths add to that. Beyond what I can comprehend.

I am sorry for your loss and your experience.

As far as the hunting thing goes..... I have never touched a gun in my life. I have no desire to. Call me ignorant, but I am VERY thankful for those who do hunt. Without population control on animals such as deer, the human death toll would be astronomical.

I live in a rural part of Northwest Ohio. Farmland and forest around here. I can walk out my back door on any given morning and see numerous deer frolicking in the fields around my house. As pretty and naturalistic as it is..... the simple fact is that without a hunting season every year the United States would be overrun by deer. There are a few human deaths around here every year stemming from a car hitting a deer on the highway. I'm a numbers guy, and I feel safe in saying that 10 times more deer around here would mean 10 times more traffic fatalities.

Don't get me wrong, I am an animal lover ..... but I am also a people lover.

Furthermore, I am a firm believer that "guns don't kill people... people kill people". If this psycho kid was hell-bent on breaking into a school and killing 30 people I'm with the belief that it would have happened with or without a gun. Using a sword probably would have taken longer, but the carnage probably would have been much more ugly ...... either way the death toll would be the same.

Ignorance is bliss. In this society of instant information sharing I am forced to think about the way of life 50-100 years ago. Although the media doesn't "glorify" these horrible tragedies, they sure spend enough time covering them. The days and days that the media spends covering these stories is bait for the sick-minded people who perceive this as glorifying. These deranged shooters MUST be thinking "If I am going to go out, I am going to go out in a blaze of glory with guns flaring and tons of media coverage". I am only in my late 30's so I can't speak much about life pre 1970's but how often did these things happen before then?

It seems that since the Columbine shooting, and the weeks of media coverage that followed, this crap has become commonplace.

[bbcarddan]

Ok one thing is certain this nation will never be in agreement on gun control this is a fact! So to argue over it is pointless to me.
In my opinion what resposible gun owners can and should do is always keep their firearms locked and secured. I know some will say they keep a gun unsecured and at the ready for home defense. I can actually understand that reason though I don`t necessarilly agree with it, but ask yourself do I need "all" my guns readilly accesible?
The details of this tragedy are starting to emerge and it sounds as if the weapons were the gunmans mothers, I am wondering how were they secured? Were they really his and in her name to keep it legal?
If it were me guns and ammo are locked and stored separatly and not easy to gain access to. If someone lives in your home who has mental issues remove the guns from your home why give someone who is not thinking clearly access to guns?If it was too difficult to get at the guns maybe this tragedy never happens! I feel gun owners can never be too carefull when it comes to securing weapons in the home it wont stop all of these psycopaths such as the killer in Aurora but it may have prevented this one!
I own one .22 rifle that I inherited from my father it`s old as the hills and I rarely have shot it. I keep it in my home with the bolt action removed,any bullitts are kept at one end of the house in a locked box the bolt acton in another location and the rifle itself in another only I know where they are located not my kids! Since it is my only firearm and I am not really into guns I do not have a gun cabinet to store it in but to actually use it will take a bit of doing in it`s current state it is about as deadly as a baseball bat which by the way is my preferred weapon of home protection!

[dabigyankeeman]

My wife was a teacher then a little higher up in the school system for 37 years, and I am really glad she is now retired.

As to my feelings on guns:

You cant have a total ban on guns, but to me nobody needs an automatic anything. Guns for the public should be limited to 6-shots non-automatic. Maybe that would give some people time to escape while maniacs are trying to shoot them, if the maniacs dont have a ton of guns on them, they will have to keep reloading, and reloading should have to be one bullet at a time, not a clip. The guns we have a constitutional right to have was because back in those days you needed a civilian militia plus most people had to hunt for foods. Those are basically not valid reasons anymore except for the few who hunt for food. I also think that the founding fathers wouldnt want the whole population to have the incredible weapons we have developed. So have your guns, but have a 6-shooter that has to loaded one bullet at a time.

[bbcarddan]

Originally Posted by dabigyankeeman

My wife was a teacher then a little higher up in the school system for 37 years, and I am really glad she is now retired.

As to my feelings on guns:

You cant have a total ban on guns, but to me nobody needs an automatic anything. Guns for the public should be limited to 6-shots non-automatic. Maybe that would give some people time to escape while maniacs are trying to shoot them, if the maniacs dont have a ton of guns on them, they will have to keep reloading, and reloading should have to be one bullet at a time, not a clip. The guns we have a constitutional right to have was because back in those days you needed a civilian militia plus most people had to hunt for foods. Those are basically not valid reasons anymore except for the few who hunt for food. I also think that the founding fathers wouldnt want the whole population to have the incredible weapons we have developed. So have your guns, but have a 6-shooter that has to loaded one bullet at a time.

I share your feelings on this but they are not realistic. How do you remove all the guns out there already that do not fit your 6 shot limit? Maybe we should make all guns fire gumdrops? Thats not gonna happen either.
We really need to focus on keeping guns out of the hands of mentally unstable individuals when the courts identify someone as unstable or violent any weopons they have registered need to be taken away! Gun owners need to stay proactive and keep guns and ammo under separate lock and key,if you can`t load it you can`t shoot it.
Gun owners need to ask themselves how would they feel if one of their guns were used and someone was killed with it! Take a look at how you keep your collections stored and see if security needs improving.We read about it all the time, a child plays with a gun shoots a friend or sibling,a stolen gun kills an innocent person ect ect ect there are too many different scenarios to list. I wouldnt want it on my conscience that I could have done something more to make sure my gun collection was as safe as it could be.

As most responsible gun owners know already gun education and safety with your children is very important as well!

[calvindog]

For the most part everyone's ideas on how to solve the gun problem is based on personal feelings about what they believe is right. Unfortunately, this is not how the process works. And sometimes it helps to be objective and imagine what the other side on the issue is thinking.

Politics play a big part in this which is obviously a shame. President Obama never made gun control an issue during his first term because he was terrified of losing votes because of it; now that he's a lame duck I suspect this will change. It's sad that politics have such a huge impact on what is right and wrong on issues such as this -- the safety of our children; however, BHO is hardly the first president to be influenced by political concerns and I can't rightly blame him solely because of that. On the flip side, the Republicans are beholden to the NRA (and, of course, more non-NRA gun owners are Republicans as well) and God forbid the issue of gun control is even discussed for fear of losing votes or having that lobby after you.

No matter what is said on this or any other chat board, guns are not going away as they have in parts of Europe and Asia. Our country was built on guns -- they're not going away. However, I don't think it's so crazy for both sides to get together and recognize that there is a problem in this country with guns and the maniacs who are getting access to them and that something should be done. Getting rid of assault rifles is the usual first idea but assault rifles were not to blame in yesterday's massacre in CT. I still have yet to hear a cogent explanation on why such guns are permitted to be sold to private citizens but, again, making them unavailable to the average American will not end the recent spate of shootings. Until both sides of the issue sit down and discuss the matter honestly, without politics being in play, nothing will ever truly get accomplished.

Of course, more people are killed each year due to obesity and we're not clamoring for the removal of fast food chains from the landscape.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Jeff, assault rifles are very useful in hunting wild boar, your response is typical of an elitist New Yorker.

[bigwinnerx]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Jeff, assault rifles are very useful in hunting wild boar, your response is typical of an elitist New Yorker.

Think this proves the answer is banning hunting of wild boar. No assault rifles needed then. Problem solved.

[Matthew H]

Great post Jeff.

[dabigyankeeman]

Originally Posted by calvindog

Of course, more people are killed each year due to obesity and we're not clamoring for the removal of fast food chains from the landscape.

That idiot (who i used to like) Mayor Bloomberg of New York has decreed no soda's over 16-oz in restaurants and other similar places. However you can still buy 5 large pizzas and eat them all in one sitting. What a jerk.

[bigwinnerx]

Garry Shandling: "Why doesn't the NRA get behind allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon? Because, nuclear weapons don't kill people. People kill people."