I live in CT and have kids in middle school. This has really effected me. This is just so tragic on so many levels.

I don't own a gun, nor am I opposed to gun ownership. But I have to ask the question, why is it necessary to own an assault rifle? That gun is a killing machine plain and simple. In this case, had his mother owned a couple hand guns and that was it there would be far less lives lost here. But because of the semi automatic assault rifle we have major carnage. I don't get it, and I never will. There will never be a rational explanation to me as to why these guns need to be owned by the general public. I know she owned them legally, but that doesn't change anything for me.

I do think everyone has a constitutional right to bear arms. But an assault rifle, really? You aren't using that for target practice, or hunting. It has one intended use. Tragically in this case it was used exactly as it was designed.......

I believe he used hand guns. The rifle was found in his Mothers car.

i went to church this morning in newtown. My parents were married there, my wife and i married there, and our child had her christening there. They are planning 8 funnerals right now. One of the girls was going to be in the christmass show at church.

My freind whom i played football with, hung out with, spent hundreds of hours on and off the field lost his niece.

My wife works in Newtown (hairdresser) her client lost her daughter. She has cut both their hair.

There is no one in this community that isn't directly impacted by this. I am still broken up. Thought and prayers right now.

Regarding the saftey of firearms. I carry all the time and sit here wondering how to make the system better. At a minimum education and securing them when not in use come to mind. Also the high school has a full time resource officer there.

Thanks Nick

Go back and read post number 12


Guns don't kill people. People kill people. It seems to make little difference what's used - if the intent of the person is to do such atrocities they'll figure out a way to carry out their intent. That's why I said -- what should we do? Outlaw mental illness? That's what really caused this. The semi auto gun made it relatively easy to carry out... but we don't know that he wouldn't have chosen to drive his car on to the play field at recess and mow down everyone he could have.

There's just something really really wrong with these people... and I just don't see how anyone thinks we can legislate or regulate them and what they may do.


We have 300 million people or more in this country -- some of whom are whack jobs. Laws only stop law abiding citizens. They never stop someone from breaking the law.


Go here

http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comp...?ind=118&cat=2

and compare state by state the AUTO death rate per 100,000 and you'll see that it's TWICE and more in almost every single state in the union than the murder rate of the US. I don't see any discourse on banning cars and trucks.... nobody is outraged... yet deadly accidents happen day after day regardless of the hundreds of laws around driving - and all the safety equipment - and all the police around.


If guns are to blame for the death rate -- then with the highest guns per capita in the world - we should then have the highest murder rate/death rate by gun in the world... and we don't. We're not even close. So the numbers / justification just don't add up.

I agree with Morgan Freeman.... it's the news and the sensationalized reporting which people are drawn to like moths to a flame. But maybe even then you can't explain these tragic events. I mean seriously - who in their right mind kills their mother?

Mind you -- I've now cried TWICE over this immensely disturbing event. I'm a father of two - I can't even imagine the sorrow people are feeling. But I don't connect the weapon of choice to the causation, or even the result.

The medical examiner stated yesterday all mortal wounds were done with the rifle. The information was just too scattered at the time that was announced.

Some other stories from friends first hand.

My brothers freind dropped his wife off at the school she was the last person into the building before the gunman. this is the first year in a decade that they havn't had a child in the school. She survived.

My cousins daughter hurt her ankle the day before the shooting. She stayed home to go to the doctors office. Thank god she wasn't there.

A Janitor at the police station jumped into a cruiser with a police officer to help evacuate children. He is a freind of the family.

You can't prevent them all, but improvements can always be made to the sytems in place to prevent some future occurences. Like your own life, you have adapted to your enviroment by neccessity. There is a clear history of school massacres. It's time for things to change at our schools.

To have such innocence with NO protection is no longer going to work with modern society. We need to start with a highly trained officer/troop at each school to help deter or take care of business. It's just common sense and we have the resources to easily make it happen.

My letter is done and going out tomorrow.....

This I like. The school had 600 children there. I thinks its worth the overtime.

If I have "intent" -- the first guy that gets taken by surprise is the guy with a gun. There's so many doors in a school - they're large places - they're "porous" with windows (usually low) etc. They're porous with people coming and going at all hours. I worked playground duty for 5 or 6 years at our kids elementary school. The traffic in and out was constant - and from multiple doors. Look at Columbine... that was a GROUP of students! That wasn't a random insane adult from outside. That was planned... So to me - if they knew there was armed resistance - that would have just been incorporated into the plan - a simple distraction at one end of the school - draw the officer into a trap... and now we would have just added to the death count and added another weapon and ammo and armor to be used at the scene.

I'm taking the stance by the way -- not because I'm in complete disagreement... I'm just trying to point out that you can't defend from every thing that happens in life.


An officer is a "feel good" mechanism -- it would make law abiding normal citizens feel good... I feel good because I know there are police - fireman - EMT's nearby. There is someone who will react to my need should the need arise. It won't stop my house from catching fire. It won't stop me from speeding when I want to. It won't stop me from having a heart attack.

I'm an internationally licensed pyro. I can think of dozens of ways I could cause far more carnage in a school or a mall or any number of public places. It's happening in Mosques and shops and cafes in Iraq and Afghanistan... I'm sure there's laws against suicide vests -- and IED's -- and lord knows there's enough military firepower around to prevent almost anything. Except and unless SOMEONE wants to kill people and doesn't care what happens to themselves.