Newtown, Conn

Quote: FarFromVegas

You and I have such opposite ideas of what constitutes dangerous. Can you at least admit guns and bullets are dangerous, too?

No, not when used responsibly. My gun has never hurt anyone as the majority will not hurt anyone

You will never live a life that is 100% safe. You have to learn to deal with that. You have a bigger chance of a car killing you than a gun.

Even animals lose their minds. Some elephants appear to lose it and go on killing sprees.

I wonder if these elephants are evil? Evil is something that destroys without good cause isn't it? But yet sometimes the cause seems to be a trainer.

Well, anyway, something to ponder.

The sky is crying, and the flags are at half-mast. It is a sad, sad day. But it is also your day, Noah, my little man. I will miss your forceful and purposeful little steps stomping through our house. I will miss your perpetual smile, the twinkle in your dark blue eyes, framed by eyelashes that would be the envy of any lady in this room.

Most of all, I will miss your visions of your future. You wanted to be a doctor, a soldier, a taco factory manager. It was your favorite food, and no doubt you wanted to ensure that the world kept producing tacos.

You were a little boy whose life force had all the gravitational pull of a celestial body. You were light and love, mischief and pranks. You adored your family with every fiber of your 6-year-old being. We are all of us elevated in our humanity by having known you. A little maverick, who didn’t always want to do his schoolwork or clean up his toys, when practicing his ninja moves or Super Mario on the Wii seemed far more important.

Noah, you will not pass through this way again. I can only believe that you were planted on Earth to bloom in heaven. Take flight, my boy. Soar. You now have the wings you always wanted. Go to that peaceful valley that we will all one day come to know. I will join you someday. Not today. I still have lots of mommy love to give to Danielle, Michael, Sophia and Arielle.

Until then, your melody will linger in our hearts forever. Momma loves you, little man.

— The New York Times

Quote: AZDuffman

No, not when used responsibly. My gun has never hurt anyone as the majority will not hurt anyone

You will never live a life that is 100% safe. You have to learn to deal with that. You have a bigger chance of a car killing you than a gun.

I don't expect 100% safe. I do expect to send my kid to school and not wonder how many people will decide they want use a gun designed to kill efficiently the way it was designed. Those guns aren't meant to be safe. They are meant to kill. A lot of people, quickly. They are appropriate for military use and do not belong in the hands of suburban housewives.

Quote: FarFromVegas

I don't expect 100% safe. I do expect to send my kid to school and not wonder how many people will decide they want use a gun designed to kill efficiently the way it was designed. Those guns aren't meant to be safe. They are meant to kill. A lot of people, quickly. They are appropriate for military use and do not belong in the hands of suburban housewives.

Not for nothing but one person does this at one school and you have to worry if it will happen at your school?

You have to figure the chances are so small as not to measure a d go on with life. Tens of millions of kids will come home safe today and every day.

Quote: AZDuffman

No, not when used responsibly. My gun has never hurt anyone.

I do think there is a carrot and stick approach to guns. For instance, people with long term safe use, non criminals should be "freed up", for instance; you should be able to pass state to state in good fairth, and where ever you live you don't get rescrutinized..

In turn though, we really need to put the energy into screening new gun owner purchases. New gun owners shouldn't be purchasing under the radar.

That's about the best I can do as far as a compromise idea.

Quote: AZDuffman

Not for nothing but one person does this at one school and you have to worry if it will happen at your school?

You have to figure the chances are so small as not to measure a d go on with life. Tens of millions of kids will come home safe today and every day.

This keeps happening over and over and over, and real people have had enough. I realized you misjudged the popular sentiment before the election but you really shouldn't misjudge it again. Moms have had it. One person at a school. One person at a mall. One person at a theater. One person at a college. So now that's 4 people in places where everyday people congregate.

Enough. Too much.

In the interest of fairness and balance, here is a report of a youngster who defended herself and her home using a rifle. Not surprisingly, these stories don't get much airtime.

Quote: FarFromVegas

This keeps happening over and over and over, and real people have had enough. I realized you misjudged the popular sentiment before the election but you really shouldn't misjudge it again. Moms have had it. One person at a school. One person at a mall. One person at a theater. One person at a college. So now that's 4 people in places where everyday people congregate.

Enough. Too much.

Pretty much sums up my feelings as well. Why our country has this fascination with weapons (like semi-automatic assualt rifles) that are intended for offensive purposes, I will never understand. What possible purpose can an assault rifle serve that something with less destructive ability can't address. The time is now for a change. It's not just moms either, this is one dad that's had enough, and not so much that I worry about my children at school, but more that they have to grow up in a society where mass killings are become more regular and 'normal'. What does that say about us as a society? Of course we'll never eliminate all violence, but let's make the effort to try those things that may work.

Punish the bad guys, abosolutly. Establish mental health protocols and facilities to identify, treat, and in high risk cases, detain those who may be disposed to kill, you bet. Put restrictions on firearms to decrease the chances of these type of events, I'm all for it. And this may surprise you, I'm a moderate conservative, but on this topic, enough is enough.

Quote: FarFromVegas

This keeps happening over and over and over, and real people have had enough. I realized you misjudged the popular sentiment before the election but you really shouldn't misjudge it again. Moms have had it. One person at a school. One person at a mall. One person at a theater. One person at a college. So now that's 4 people in places where everyday people congregate.

Enough. Too much.

So you are saying 4 incidents in a nation of 300 million is some kind of epidemic
?

If they ban guns and instead crack skulls with a baseball bat then what?

And we have a society that says banning drugs doesn't work yet ban ing guns will?

Seriously your chances of dying in a car accident are higher. Worry about something worth worrying about.