Elementary school shooting

[2PUPs]

My heart and prayers go to all of the childrens families and to the teachers . It`s was horrible to hear about this . But there is a group of individuals that want to protest at the service being held , the name of the group is the westboro baptist church . They have protested at our U.S. soldiers funerals, trying to disrupt the service . Sorry if I got off track with the WBC protest , just that this sick group of individuals gets under my skin . If you never heard of these people , you tube WBC , and see what kind of things they do . Once again my heart and prayers to the families .

 

[BernardSmith]

There is a time and a place to discuss sane gun control legislation and this may be neither the place nor the time but I am heart-sick at the thought of those 6 year olds being shot multiple times, according to the coroner as reported in the NY Times a short while ago. I don't celebrate Christmas, but I cannot but think of the way that this massacre of those children has so destroyed the idea of that festival for so many families as they bury their children. I wonder how many of those parents and relatives had chosen gifts for those children, had wrapped them and were looking forward to seeing their faces as they opened them and now those same families are suffering what must be the most terrible loss any human ever suffers - the loss of a son or a daughter. These are our families, our children. This is our tragedy, our unspeakable tragedy.

 

[Runningwolf]

TURN OFF THE NEWS.......

Morgan Freeman's brilliant take on what happened yesterday :

"You want to know why. This may sound cynical, but here's why.
...
It's because of the way the media reports it. Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall shooter like celebrities. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you know the name of a single *victim* of Columbine? Disturbed
people who would otherwise just off themselves in their basements see the news and want to top it by doing something worse, and going out in a memorable way. Why a grade school? Why children? Because he'll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody.

CNN's article says that if the body count "holds up", this will rank as the second deadliest shooting behind Virginia Tech, as if statistics somehow make one shooting worse than another. Then they post a video interview of third-graders for all the details of what they saw and heard while the shootings were happening. Fox News has plastered the killer's face on all their reports for hours. Any articles or news stories yet that focus on the victims and ignore the killer's identity? None that I've seen yet. Because they don't sell. So congratulations, sensationalist media, you've just lit the fire for someone to top this and knock off a day care center or a maternity ward next.

You can help by forgetting you ever read this man's name, and remembering the name of at least one victim. You can help by donating to mental health research instead of pointing to gun control as the problem. You can help by turning off the news."

 

[Julie]

Grace McDonnell, she just turned 7 last month.

Thanks Dan.

 

[DirtyDawg10]

TURN OFF THE NEWS.......

Morgan Freeman's brilliant take on what happened yesterday :

"You want to know why. This may sound cynical, but here's why.
...
It's because of the way the media reports it. Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall shooter like celebrities. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you know the name of a single *victim* of Columbine? Disturbed
people who would otherwise just off themselves in their basements see the news and want to top it by doing something worse, and going out in a memorable way. Why a grade school? Why children? Because he'll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody.

CNN's article says that if the body count "holds up", this will rank as the second deadliest shooting behind Virginia Tech, as if statistics somehow make one shooting worse than another. Then they post a video interview of third-graders for all the details of what they saw and heard while the shootings were happening. Fox News has plastered the killer's face on all their reports for hours. Any articles or news stories yet that focus on the victims and ignore the killer's identity? None that I've seen yet. Because they don't sell. So congratulations, sensationalist media, you've just lit the fire for someone to top this and knock off a day care center or a maternity ward next.

You can help by forgetting you ever read this man's name, and remembering the name of at least one victim. You can help by donating to mental health research instead of pointing to gun control as the problem. You can help by turning off the news."

I was just about to put this up myself. This really hit the nail on the head!

 

[tatud4life]

Finally!!! A celebrity that gets it!!! Very well said! Thanks for posting Dan!!

 

[Ricky]

Really!!!! Thanks Dan..

 

[g8keeper]

My heart and prayers go to all of the childrens families and to the teachers . It`s was horrible to hear about this . But there is a group of individuals that want to protest at the service being held , the name of the group is the westboro baptist church . They have protested at our U.S. soldiers funerals, trying to disrupt the service . Sorry if I got off track with the WBC protest , just that this sick group of individuals gets under my skin . If you never heard of these people , you tube WBC , and see what kind of things they do . Once again my heart and prayers to the families .

2pups....i didn't know who the wbc was until i looked it up....when i did, i was appalled at the fact that these "christians" were going to be there, picketing....good grief....in the face of such a horrendous tragedy, these people want to show up for no other reason than to bolster their own personal agenda....i personally see absolutely no connection between their "cause" and this tragedy, other than trying to be a bunch of publicity and media attention wh#@$s!!!!!....i completely disgusted at the thought....just my $.02, but these people to me seem more like a group of hate mongers, than a group of "christians"...

 

[g8keeper]

TURN OFF THE NEWS.......

Morgan Freeman's brilliant take on what happened yesterday :

"You want to know why. This may sound cynical, but here's why.
...
It's because of the way the media reports it. Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall shooter like celebrities. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you know the name of a single *victim* of Columbine? Disturbed
people who would otherwise just off themselves in their basements see the news and want to top it by doing something worse, and going out in a memorable way. Why a grade school? Why children? Because he'll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody.

CNN's article says that if the body count "holds up", this will rank as the second deadliest shooting behind Virginia Tech, as if statistics somehow make one shooting worse than another. Then they post a video interview of third-graders for all the details of what they saw and heard while the shootings were happening. Fox News has plastered the killer's face on all their reports for hours. Any articles or news stories yet that focus on the victims and ignore the killer's identity? None that I've seen yet. Because they don't sell. So congratulations, sensationalist media, you've just lit the fire for someone to top this and knock off a day care center or a maternity ward next.

You can help by forgetting you ever read this man's name, and remembering the name of at least one victim. You can help by donating to mental health research instead of pointing to gun control as the problem. You can help by turning off the news."

dan, i could not agree anymore, and that is why i can't even say that i know the name of this monster that pertetrated this horrific act, nor do i even care to drudge it up to find out....but morgan is right, these people do these things in an attempt to get their "15 minutes of fame"....if the media refused to release THEIR names and such, and maybe only the names of the poor victims, then MAYBE we might see a decline in the number of such tragedies that have begun to plague society, but yet i do understand that it will by no means, UNFORTUNATELY, end it altogether...pure evil, i'm sorry to say, does exist in the world...

 

[JohnT]

Dan,

Like your post about the media.

Folks, My heart does go out to the families. It is a REAL tragedy.

But, in looking at how this event has angered people, I must say that the "piece of S**T" gunman has taken more away from us then the lives of 20 children.

The reaction is anger and outrage. The reaction is to stop it from ever happening again. I fear that the steps we take to as a result of this will be far worse then the tradegy itself.

Metal detectors in school? Armed school guards? Will we take what has happened and turn our schools into a prison? What about the kids, will they be growing up in constant fear? At that tendor age, the kids should be more worried about skinning a knee than having an armed gunman go on a rampage.

We need to remain calm and we should not let this event take over our lives. I see that this completely works against what the media would have us do.

We should also try to put this event into perspective. Think of how many children (much younger ones too) that die each year because the parents are too lazy to put them into a car seat? I can tell you that the number of the dead far exceeds those that were gunned down on friday. Where is the outrage there?

I really hope that I am not offending anyone. I am not trying to down play just how horrible this event was. All I am saying is that we should not let this tradegy ruin our lives. We CAN fight back by carrying on.

 

[Wiccan_Lager]

2pups....i didn't know who the wbc was until i looked it up....when i did, i was appalled at the fact that these "christians" were going to be there, picketing....good grief....in the face of such a horrendous tragedy, these people want to show up for no other reason than to bolster their own personal agenda....i personally see absolutely no connection between their "cause" and this tragedy, other than trying to be a bunch of publicity and media attention wh#@$s!!!!!....i completely disgusted at the thought....just my $.02, but these people to me seem more like a group of hate mongers, than a group of "christians"...

g8keeper,

The WBC is a group of savages that are highly educated in the laws of the United States, with fat pockets and have a twisted definition of religion. They use religion to spew hate but know the laws well enough to keep from getting in trouble.

The connection to their protesting the service(s) is this: God hates America because America tolerates homosexuals. So God is punishing the United States by causing wars that kill our soldiers, maniacs to kill our children and so on. Even so far as the the events of September 11th were pinned on Gods wratch on America for homosexuality.

So they protest events such as these services and the services of fallen soldies to promote their message that the only way to stop things like this is to get rid of the gays. That the death of these children should be looked upon as a good thing because their version of god (notice how I did not capitalize the 'g')wanted it to happen, in their eyes.

But I am not here to discuss politics, religion, gun control, gays and straights, laws and criminals. I feel that we need to stop blaming everything under the sun as a contributing factor to explain someone else's behavior. I think I heard some one report on the news one night "It's been known that the mother of the killer brought him to the gun range to shoot guns." Well...if that were a valid arguement then studies show that the probability that he watched a TV show that showed a gun being fired was almost 100%. He may have also watched the news and heard about war. \Who is to blame then? Cancel TV! WHO CARES!? Why point fingers at everything in the world except the indivual that was responisble for the act? Would you blame a womans reproductive orgnans for her being raped? No. Things and people exist in this world on their own. It's how we interact with ourselves and each others that matter.

Rather than look at who to blame, why not take a moment to look on the web for somethingyou can do. Donate to the families effected or remember their childrens names. Say thank you to the teachers in your life. Say I love you to the people closest in your life just a tad bit more often. Randomly do something nice for a stranger, not because you need to feel good, but maybe he or she needs to feel good. Lets honor those who passed by appreciating those who still live.

My heart and prayers to the kids, their families and EVERYONE that this has touched.

 

[GreginND]

Well, I'll just say that the worst school killing in the US happened in 1927. This was the Bath, Michigan bombing that killed 38 students and several teachers and staff. I don't think it is as simple as violent movies, or guns, or mental illness.

I believe there has always been violence. We hear about it instantly now with modern technology and don't have to wait a day to read about it in a newspaper. And we hear about events that take place across the globe instantly. This I think makes it appear that there might be more violence today but I don't know if the facts support that assumption. It could just be our awareness and perception.

Needless to say it is a complicated problem with no single answer. But ignoring it solves nothing.

 

[TonyP]

The thing that pains me about this debate is the regularity with which we're having it. I suppose the Bath bombing was the worst, but how about the years from 1927 to 1940. Can they compare with the period from Columbine to today?

I look at the candles and wreaths, athletes putting SH on their helmets and shoes, and press coverage. It seems to me all we're doing is getting good at grieving.

 

[rezod11]

I think it's time for a little reminder that not all people are bad...

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/moments-that-restored-our-faith-in-humanity-this-y

 

[the_rayway]

As a parent, and a human being I feel sick for those families. I hope everyone will take the time to send prayers, positive energy, love (however you feel most comfortable putting it) to everyone affected by this tragedy.

Because of this, I hold my children just a little bit longer, and take that extra moment just to breathe them into my heart before I see them off.

 

[UBB]

The thing that pains me about this debate is the regularity with which we're having it. I suppose the Bath bombing was the worst, but how about the years from 1927 to 1940. Can they compare with the period from Columbine to today?

I look at the candles and wreaths, athletes putting SH on their helmets and shoes, and press coverage. It seems to me all we're doing is getting good at grieving.

One thing is for certain in this country. Our attention span is very short and our memories are even worse. Columbine took place in the middle of the AWB that took effect in 1994.

The State of CT still has an AWB today.

Didn't work then, didn't work last week and certainly won't work tomorrow regardless of any new legislation. People who are intent on harming lots of people will always find a way. Prohibition does not work.

 

[ibglowin]

If only the first victim, Adam Lanza's mother, had been a gun owner, she could have stopped this before it all started........

 

[TonyP]

One thing is for certain in this country. Our attention span is very short and our memories are even worse. Columbine took place in the middle of the AWB that took effect in 1994.

The State of CT still has an AWB today.

Didn't work then, didn't work last week and certainly won't work tomorrow regardless of any new legislation. People who are intent on harming lots of people will always find a way. Prohibition does not work.

I agree with everything you've said, except the very last part, "Prohibition does not work". I don't know whether the weapons ban works or not and possibly no one else knows, either. We really can't know whether other incidents would have occurred without the ban, because there was a ban.

I don't think that makes trying worthless. Just about every law is violated, that doesn't mean we shouldn't have laws.

Overall, I think this debate is crazy. I doubt most gun owners really care strongly about combat-style weapons, armor piercing rounds, high capacity magazines, and reasonable background checks. Likewise, I doubt the anti-gun crowd wants to eliminate guns used for sporting, target, and self defense.

 

[MonteroRed]

Ban prozac not guns

 

[MonteroRed]

If only the first victim, Adam Lanza's mother, had been a gun owner, she could have stopped this before it all started........

I'm pretty sure she bought the guns... It's not legal to buy handguns until your 21. He was 20..... It's not legal to buy body armor unless you are law enforcement..... Which all three gunmen from the last three big televised shootings had. ????? Anyway question everything or believe the media.....