Hearts breaking all over the US regarding Connecticut shooting.

[DuckiesDarling]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/15/us-connecticut-towns-idUSBRE8BD0U120121215

Today a man killed his mother who was a teacher, then opened fire and killed several children and adults at a school. Just sitting here crying as I type this.. what a waste of human life.

[Realist]

I can't imagine having a child who went to school and I'd never see him, or her again! None of those little kids, or his parents, deserved such a tragic end.

I can't help but think that if only one teacher had a permit to carry a weapon, and was proficient with it, they might have been able to stop that coward from his rage! Creeps like that go into places that are known to be unarmed, knowing they'll have little resistance.

Sickening!

[prettyrabbit26]

just terrible. Someone forgot to take their meds this morning and/or don't know how to express themselves. The justice system is fucked. My uncle has a mental problem and before we could get him in a hospital, he has to "harm" someone else before committing him into one. Which is stupid. However in this situation, its too late to commit the killer because he killed himself.

[bigregory]

What a useless turd to kill children.
May he burn forever in HELL

[tenni]

Yes, it is tragic. Yes, we may weep if so inclined. Does that change a damn thing?

"I can't help but think that if only one teacher had a permit to carry a weapon"

Although I am increasingly coming to a realization that such behaviour may happen anywhere in the world.(ie peaceful Scandanavian mass slaughter of young people by a mentally disturbed individual), I can not help think that statements such as Realist has made shows why this happens more so in the USA than any other Western country. I know there are those from the US who strongly believe in what Realist wrote. I know that 20 years ago, elementary and secondary schools in Buffalo NY had metal detectors and armed guards in a fortress style of school. I know that the kids were "tough" in those schools. They believed that they needed to be armed to protect themselves. I know that some kids in Toronto today think that way. More are dying from gang gun violence and these guns are not legal here. I know that I think that such thinking is "off" to even consider such thoughts as teachers with guns and needing metal detectors and armed guards in public schools.

Even the US president is wondering why this is happening so frequently in the US.

So, we may weep about this. We will wake up in the morning and get on with our lives again. Of course, the unfortunate children and adults who lived through today's massacre will not. I'm sure that we would all like this to stop. The questions is how to make it so?

[Brian]

Heart wrenching. :(

- Drew :paw:

[tenni]

On CTV Canadian news, on Friday a madman broke into an elementary school in China. Twenty-two children were wounded by his knife. None died. Insanity is the probably cause. Similar insane behaviour but the results are a bit different than in the US.

[tatooedpunk]

After such a needless tragedy by a deranged individual with legally held guns. America must give in to gun control.

[TheBisexualProfessor]

"Giving in." Huh. I'm tired of giving in. I think our civil liberties are being eroded so fast we can't even keep track. Here is a great post from a law professor about this entire issue.
http://legalinsurrection.com/2012/12/my-long-car-ride-mourning-the-victimsregardless-of-the-politics/

[darkeyes]

This senseless slaughter brought back memories of the Dunblane massacre here in 1996.. US Open Tennis Champion was a pupil at Dunblane at the time and even after so long it is still not an issue he can talk about... incidents such as this will not make it any easier for him to do so or any who have been involved in such tragedies. I was only 16 at the time but memories of that and the aftermath came flooding back as if it was yesterday. My heart goes out to every child and everyone else at Newtown whose lives have been spared yet so devastatingly changed... this will affect them for the rest of their days.. and I grieve for the loss of so many promising young lives and for all others whose lives have been so tragically wasted..

Measures taken after Dunblane initially by the UK government and since the inception of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 by the Scottish government to deal with gun control have seen Scottish gun crime fall to its lowest level in 32 years.. and in the last 2 years alone it has fallen by 24% and halved since 2006.. America must decide for itself how to deal with gun ownership, but gun control does work and is effective.. we will never eradicate tragedies such as Newtown entirely, but we can do much to minimise a similar tragedy..

[fpb09]

Sorry & now there sheep, there govt. can do what ever they want! & said is the day when a wacky bent on killing people get a gun lots of ammo & goes to kill who will stop him?Cops sorry no guns, wait 4 the army hours away!

[darkeyes]

Sorry & now there sheep, there govt. can do what ever they want! & said is the day when a wacky bent on killing people get a gun lots of ammo & goes to kill who will stop him?Cops sorry no guns, wait 4 the army hours away!
Sheep? Maybe... Govt does wot it likes? No more or less than urs does...but tell me, just as a matter of interest, who stopped the guy at Newtown, babes, in ur country of gun carrying bobbies and citizenry?

[tenni]

Post 9
It is an interesting article that points out to me the media speculation as to the causes of this tragedy is often premature and inaccurate.

Will we address mental health and educational privacy laws, which instill fear of legal liability for reporting potentially violent mentally ill people to law enforcement? I doubt it.
Will we address the sensitive civil liberties issue of civil commitment laws (http://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/legal-resources/state-standards)? I doubt it.

It would seem to me that if the writer believes that these are contributing factors as to why such massacres happen that they would have to be addressed. To write that civil liberties are the cause of such massacres seems a stretch of logic to me that is not logical but perhaps it should be explored. The murderer was 20 years old and I am uncertain as to what educational privacy laws would come in to play as he was not a student of that school.

In some societies teachers must report suspected physical or sexual abuse of their students to authorities. If they do not, they may be fined. Sometimes, the process does break down and the child is not helped though. Teachers are not necessarily psychologist but many are trained in these areas. They know and report (to the parents at least) suspected behavioural problems. Some parents seek help for their child while some "blame" and dismiss the warning signs. To move to a position of becoming a mass murderer is not a one step movement. It is a series of acting out or extreme withdrawn behaviour. A friend of this mass murderer reported that his behaviour was not out of the ordinary and didn't indicate that he would do this? I'm not sure about the "profiles" of such mass murderers but suspect that they are being built by criminal psychologists etc.

A sad fact is that these survivors of such an event may not get sufficient help and may grow in to adulthood traumatized. Children who are abused (psychologically as well as physical/sexual) and do not get the "help" needed continue to hone their "survivor" skills that are inappropriate. They may become "sophisticated" at hiding their deep damage until one day they act out like this individual. Will a society be willing to pay for support for such damaged children or will it deem it the individual's responsibility to pay for their own health needs..and especially mental health needs? Has sufficient money been spent by societies to research how to recognize the signs of potential mass murderers and clinical solutions developed to prevent a person from developing in to a mass murderer? Is such research deemed a waste of tax money and ivory tower nonsense because of groups of tax payers protesting "freedom" need for less government and more individual responsibilities, etc.?

[Bisexual?]

Excellent post Professor, thank you. I hope everyone will read it before responding.

[Cherokee_Mountaincat]

We could have all of the gun control in the world, but its not going to stop one disturbed whacko if he/she is hell bent on causing such destruction. Metal detectors in the schools Would give school officials at Least a small heads up.
I cant comment on this further until my head is a little clearer...
Cat

[pepperjack]

This senseless slaughter brought back memories of the Dunblane massacre here in 1996.. US Open Tennis Champion was a pupil at Dunblane at the time and even after so long it is still not an issue he can talk about... incidents such as this will not make it any easier for him to do so or any who have been involved in such tragedies. I was only 16 at the time but memories of that and the aftermath came flooding back as if it was yesterday. My heart goes out to every child and everyone else at Newtown whose lives have been spared yet so devastatingly changed... this will affect them for the rest of their days.. and I grieve for the loss of so many promising young lives and for all others whose lives have been so tragically wasted..

Measures taken after Dunblane initially by the UK government and since the inception of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 by the Scottish government to deal with gun control have seen Scottish gun crime fall to its lowest level in 32 years.. and in the last 2 years alone it has fallen by 24% and halved since 2006.. America must decide for itself how to deal with gun ownership, but gun control does work and is effective.. we will never eradicate tragedies such as Newtown entirely, but we can do much to minimise a similar tragedy..


I was also reminded of a massacre during the 90's Dark:http://www.oklahomacitybombing.com/oklahoma-city-bombing-pictures-1.html. I toured the memorial site 10 years ago. An adjacent building which was damaged but survived the blast has been turned into a museum. One of the most profound & moving displays within features the actual wreckage, twisted girders of steel & broken chunks of concrete, left untouched except for the placement of a small pedestal in its midst, on top of which rests a single baby's bootie from the day-care center which had been in the building. The sadness I feel this week-end is comparable to that which I felt then.

[matutum]

why don't we just arm the teachers??/

[curious married m]

Awwww Hell, Why don't we just arm the teachers , doctors, grocery clerks, politicians, kids and everybody else and when anyone raises their voice in anger or shows signs of aggression or disagrees with you in any way, shoot there asses on site. And America calls itself a civilized society? OMG they have an open carry law in Kansas. It pisses me off when someone seems to think a law abiding , gun toting citizen is gonna shoot and kill the guy before he gets anybody. Reality is it's over in a matter of seconds and nobody to date ever stopped any of these mass killings in states where there is a concealed carry law. And I agree with Cat, I am not really speaking with a clear head right now , just raw emotion.

[Gearbox]

All involved with that school must be in various shades of 'Hell', and all who know of it feel the ripples. Just one person can do that to so many in short time, IF a gun is used.
It's unthinkable.

[darkeyes]

Awwww Hell, Why don't we just arm the teachers , doctors, grocery clerks, politicians, kids and everybody else and when anyone raises their voice in anger or shows signs of aggression or disagrees with you in any way, shoot there asses on site. And America calls itself a civilized society? OMG they have an open carry law in Kansas. It pisses me off when someone seems to think a law abiding , gun toting citizen is gonna shoot and kill the guy before he gets anybody. Reality is it's over in a matter of seconds and nobody to date ever stopped any of these mass killings in states where there is a concealed carry law. And I agree with Cat, I am not really speaking with a clear head right now , just raw emotion.I just want to hug ya, ya ole goat!!! . and give u 1 of these...:kiss:.. wish I cud make it all go away, Curio... it's my profession; my vocation; my colleagues in a foreign land, but colleagues nonetheless.. it's kids and have the little one not long started primary school at home... how can I not weep and suffer what u suffer,feel what America suffers and those parents and families and friends suffer, and those young children who have lost so many of their friends suffer?

[Cherokee_Mountaincat]

And to make matters worse, the Westboro Baptist Church and the Phelps bunch, are planning to picket the funerals siting religious reasons that this happened, and because Obama allowed Gays to marry....
Bunch of Fucktards.
The Patriot Guard has already began rallying to be the "Shield" between the protesters and the picketers, and have openly invited other like minded folks to cordially come join then, from all over the state and the world. Its a way to keep the protesters at their designated 500 yards away from the funeral(s) and protect the families from being harmed, or spat on.
I hope Phelps and his band of Idjets think better of this.....
Cat

[PulseFusion]

Very terrible, and a bunch of sweet trusting little babies. Makes me feel sick and angry too. I can't help but think about this kind of issue and what can be done. When I was young, this kind of crime didn't exist. I don't think the solution is gun control, I understand many of you do and I appreciate your heart, but it's just that I've been around guns and self-reliant responsible types my whole life and think these modern problems are not related to gun availability. Also looking back to the one similar incident when I was young, the Texas University shooter, it was armed private citizens that ended it, not waiting for SWAT teams to arrive.

I think what disturbs me is that people live in their own cocoons these days, ignore their neighbors, don't see all the private pain and do not act. reading about this 20 year old kid, it just seems like he was internally crying for and needing help for a very long time. My take anyway

[DuckiesDarling]

As I type this I am looking out in the courtyard and our flag is still at half mast, I can only hope that somewhere in Newtown, CT a child will laugh soon and the spell of misery will be broken and they can begin to heal. It's a long road for them and an entire holiday season will be flavored with a tinge of grief for years to come for most of them.

[itsmeandyou]

This thing with these kids is just horrible, to say the absolute least. Unfortunately we can NEVER be rid of the few real NUTS that are out there. AND, the real issue is, was he actually CRAZY or some some lunatic that just all of a sudden came up with this plan to kill everone in his path? Either way, it is the worst thing that I can possibly imagine.