When people have little or no control over an event like this, they rant on the Internet. It makes them feel better to vent. With most on here agreeing with every word.

Truth being that you could pass laws all day long and it wouldn't stop people like this. You may feel better in your own mind and that is fine, but people who have done this type of thing couldn't care jack about the law. They are sick and those laws are the last/least things on their mind before they pull their evil deed.
Don't let sick people's actions take good people's rights away, no matter how bad things seem to be.

What a hard way to remind us what is really important in life IS Life itself.

Peace and love to you all in the New Year!

This has been explored. Everything else has been explored except mental illness/medications. There has been shootings before pong came out, and while it was out. The only problem there is with video games is the fact that parents would use it to 'babysit' there kids.

Another thing too, cable tv started around the same time as video games. Then we have the 24/7 news channels that shove every violent crime in our faces. Because of this we think that kidnappings are happening more, that shootings are happening more, etc.

with regards to gun control, the one thing that has slipped through the minds of many is this person tried to purchase the guns legally, and was denied. how he got them from his mother is still speculation. like i said earlier, if he was crazy enough to do what he did, he could have forced his mother to hand them over. people need to keep thier weapons secure, but what is the solution to that? keep them locked up in a safe 24/7? that defeats the whole purpose of self defense, and for people who always throw out the "this gun has no use for hunting ect" logic, the second amendment has nothing to do with hunting at all.

How about people just use some good judgement. If you have a son with a learning disability and mental illness living at home with you, you don't have an arsenal of guns in the house, and you don't teach him how to use them.

The difference with owning a gun and raping someone is, that you own a gun, you're a collector or using it for personal safety. And if you're raping people then you got some mental problems or you're a cheap asshole not wanting to pay a hooker for her job.

I own a pistol myself. So what? Now I'm some pshyco who'll go into a school and murder children? No, I'm not. I got my own reasons why do I own this pistol and it has nothing to do with me wanting to kill or even use it against someone.

You don't need to ban guns from everyone, you need to ban guns from idiots. And that's why you got mental tests and everything that you test these people with. And that's why you got the police department that should check on the person if he's holding the weapon according to the law. For example in my country, if you want to own a gun, you need a safe in your house, which is attached to the floor and police comes to check if it's all good there, only then you can get your gun.

Once idiots stop getting guns and normal people keep getting them, these problems should go.

100% this. Parents/legal guardians should be held responsible if they buy guns for there child (especially if they have anger/mental problems).

EDIT: Another thing to note about school shootings. It has been going on since the 1800's in this country. The most deadly was a bomb planted in a school by a school official in 1925. A lot of these issues stem from anger/mental problems.

agreed, but that will ultimately fall to the individual in a free society. all i can do is make sure that what i own is properly secured, i can't do anything about anybody else. the overwhelming majority of gun owners are very safe, and really try to promote safety.

It's just the few that make the group look bad.

I guess you're talking about me?

Well, you're right. But look at my post. I never mentioned the second amendment. Not once. My question is, Who needs an assault rifle?

And please don't tell me that they're "fun to shoot." Because that's as rednecky an answer as there is. If you can list a single reason for a private citizen to own an assault weapon, I'm all ears and willing to listen. I enjoy a free debate, FF. I thought you knew that.

I went out of my way to say that it's probably a coincidence, Bam. But as far as your saying "this has been explored," I think you're overstating it.

hey pizzaboy, that wasn't directed at anybody in particular, and nobody here, i hear comments like that all the time, so it was adressed more to whom it may concern. as for reasons to own one, they are fun to shoot, but again, they are an effective self defense weapon. i'm very pro-gun, so please don't get offended when i say this, but if you(again, not sure of your backround with guns, so more again to whom it may concern) have little or no experience with guns, who are you to decide what is appropriate? just because a weapon looks a certain way or has the ability to hold more ammo doesn't automatically make it way more deadly. it all comes down to the user. the problem is, if we ban all high capacity mags, and god forbid, a shooting happens with a pump shotgun, the response is the same. get rid of them, no need for that ect!

we have roughly 90 million gun owners in this country, with over 300 million guns. the overwhelming majority are upstanding citizens. banning a certain make or model will do nothing. during clintons "ban", were there any less murders than today? no, you had jonesboro, columbine ect. the other issue i have is you never here about guns being used for good, and there are plenty of stories.

I legally own three handguns and a hunting rifle. I'm licensed to carry in BOTH New York State and Florida.

I'm not some sissy, anti-gun, peace-loving, liberal hippie. Okay?

People who do not use guns, have guns or like guns will never understand people who do.
They will just keep demanding why....why do you need them, why do we need them around why do you like them ect ect ect. Owners will always be on he defensive

Many are afraid of just seeing one and they are one item that always seems to get bad side of them talked about but yet there are over 200 million of them around.

and the people who just love to debate will now use this evil event to fan the flames once more. and the media will drive this event till you finally get sick of hearing about it like they always do. Filling hours and hours of airtime with ever detail under the microscope until we are all numb. Most getting things wrong with the wrong terms and speculations that change every hour.

i never thought of you as one. i respect everyone's opinions, whether i agree with them or not. i spent alot of time down south, both when i was younger and now as a young adult. i've been around all kinds of weapons, shot, and done a bit of hunting. never has there been any problems with any firearm, and i just refuse to give up rights because of what a few crazies do. it all has alot to do with the people we grew up around, thus why there are such divided opinions both here and the country as a whole. again, i respect your opinion, even though i don't agree. no hard feelings

Well, yeah. What I really hate more than anything is how an event like the one on Friday becomes political so fast. Mourn for these beautiful kids first. That's all I'm saying.

And to Obama's credit, he didn't mention anything in particular outside of "things need to change." He was genuinely shaken up and it showed. Between Hurricane Sandy and this, he's shown himself to be very human.

It's cool, FF. I like you. This is just a pretty volatile subject, that's all. And I remember you mentioning the South awhile back. Didn't you write that you feel more comfortable when you're outside of the Northeast? Or did I dream that?

this is what it boils down to, great way of simplifying it. people who are against certain weapons, always want some sort of justification on why others want them. some feel there is no explaination required. when it comes down to what someone "needs", its all very subjective. maybe not the most valid comparision, but does anybody need a corvette that goes over 200 mph? no, and while cars and guns are vastly different things, the bottom line is things can go wrong with both so its a valid comparision in a way. to the people who say guns only exist to kill, not true. guns are a means to end a violent confrontation, although killing is a likely outcome.

Sure, just let things get worse. The only one who wins is the undertaker.

Hmmmmm....

nope, you didn't dream it, very sharp memory grampa i love the more independent spirit that seems to exist there, and i feel more at home there. that's why i've been doing my best to save as much money as i can so that sooner rather than later i can move there. i don't like when people shit on people from down there either, as regardless of what anybody thinks about the "good ole' boys", they are the ones protecting us overseas. granted soldiers come from all over, but a very large % come from down south!

Well as you know, we live in South Florida part time. But in Florida, the farther you go south, the more northern it becomes .

But I really do enjoy traveling through the southern states when we drive down. Although to be honest, driving down is becoming a rarity for us. Bottom line: Just getting too old for that. Gotta pee every other rest stop .

if you are ever anywhere near west virginia, take a drive into pendleton county. about45 minutes west of harrisonburg,virginia on rt 33. i think its the prettiest area in the whole country, and the drive over shanendoah mountain through the 1.2 million acre george washington national forrest is simply stunning!

I do think it's worth noting that half of the nation's deadliest shootings ever have occurred in the last five years.

1. April 16, 2007: Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg; 32 dead + shooter
2. December 14, 2012: Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut; 27 dead + shooter
3. Oct. 16, 1991: Luby's Cafeteria, in Killeen, Tex.; 23 dead + shooter
4. July 18, 1984: McDonald's restaurant in San Ysidro, Calif.; 21 dead + shooter
5. Aug. 1, 1966: University of Texas at Austin; 16 dead + shooter
6. Aug. 20, 1986: Post office in Edmond, Okla.; 14 dead + shooter
7. April 20, 1999: Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.; 13 dead + 2 shooters
8. April 3, 2009: Immigration services center in Binghamton, N.Y.; 13 dead + shooter
9. Nov. 5, 2009: Soldier Readiness Processing Center at Fort Hood, Texas; 13 dead
10. Sept. 6, 1949: Camden, N.J.; 13 dead
11. July 20, 2012: Movie theater in Aurora, Colo.; 12 dead

I get defensive around this subject mainly because fox news keeps blaming videos games for everything that has happened since columbine, and also trying to say those monsters trained from video games. Anyway's what I was trying to say was that they have done tests and statistics. Just ammo for both sides of this argument. For all I know you could be right, I could be right, we both could be right, or wrong.

FWIW, CNN also reported that the shooter was an avid player of "World of Warcraft"
and other shoot 'em up video games.

Solutions can be had without taking GOOD people rights away my friend. Smart people in the past have found the solutions before.

Oh, and if you looked behind all the reporting you may find that hundreds stepped up and offered their help from our profession without needing time before the news camera or a paycheck. Their only wish to be a help to these family in time of need.

If you read back a few pages, I mentioned video games. My daughter just did her psych rotation in nursing school and had to do an in-depth research paper. Her hypothesis was that overexposure to those shoot 'em up video games made one more violent. Every study that she found proved her wrong. While they desensitized the players to violence, they did not make them behave violently.

As for the freedoms, everything comes with responsibility. If you own a car, you must get it inspected annually, you need to have insurance, you must study to get your license, you can't drive recklessly. Why? Because, as my driver's ed instructor told me, a car is a lethal weapon and you must operate it safely. If you don't, you lose the right to drive it.

What oversight is there in place once you own a gun? I don't believe that you need to have insurance in case you accidentally shoot someone, or if someone borrows your gun and shoots someone in the leg. Do you? Do you need to bring your gun somewhere to have it inspected once a year? Is there such a thing as SWI, shooting while impaired, since many hunting trips also involve beer? Please, inform me of all the tight controls that are in place to protect others from THESE lethal weapons.

As for the second amendment, it refers to a well-armed militia, not a well-armed suburbanite. Also, when it was written, I'm pretty sure that the founders were thinking of MUSKETS not assault rifles or handguns with 30 round clips. These are military weapons that have no place in the home.

Our children are being senselessly slaughtered and don't tell me that anything is more important that putting an end to that.

car insurance is not required in all 50 states. cars only need to be registered/inspected if you operate them on a public street,much like a license to carry a concealed weapon. hunters don't hunt drunk, thats nothing more than silly stereotype. if you are deer hunting with beer or whiskey on your breath, good luck, deer have notoriously good smell. as for the second amendment, of course the founders couldn't see into the future and predict modern weapons, i don't know anyone that can.

Something definitely needs to be done so this tragedy never happens again. But as long as there are evil people in the world things like this will keep happening sad to say.

I can attest to that being false. I've played those kinds of games since I was little, hell i remember playing Doom and Wolfenstein when i was like 5, and I don't go out beating people up or killing people.


30 round hi-cap mags are used for competition shooting and like I said before, most states have made those illegal anyway. Tightening regulations on guns isn't going to exactly get rid of the problem because you can easily go into any major city and find someone who can get you a fully automatic tec-9, mac-11 or AK47 with 50-100 round mags, and tightening regulations on law abiding people isn't going to get rid of that problem.

Again as I proposed before, let's legalize murder then with your logic. Find a better argument.

This is worth nohing. In 1996, Australia banned semi-automatic and automatic firearms after a similar shooting massacre happened. This reform also included gun buyback, which resulted in the government buying back about 20% of the firearms being circulated in Australia at the time.

The result? A large decline in suicides and reduced homicides in the nation of Mad Max and baby-eating killer Dingos.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/08/02/did-gun-control-work-in-australia/



Which in essence you also mean keep BAD people rights.

Please people, try to think. Apply common sense.