Are any of our kids at this school that had the shooting?

[TerryJ2]

So tragic. Just gut-wrenching. Those kids were so little.
I got a text this afternoon from easy child about how sad the shooting was.
I texted back, What shooting? Then I turned on the radio.
I watched the rest of it while I was at Verizon. They had a wide screen TV.
There is clearly some history there, since the shooter killed his mom, her students and his brother. I would assume the police will go into the house to see if he wrote a note, and look at his FB page.
I am very pro-gun, but I guess I live in a fantasy world, where I know people who collect them from WWI and WWII, or who hunt ducks and deer. Nobody has guns like this guy has. Makes no sense at all to me.
And the prez will probably go on to make it political about guns, when it's about guns AND mental illness. When will someone publicize mental illness? It can't just be because I took the NAMI Family to Family class that this stands out so much for me.

I cannot even imagine the anguish these families are going through.

 

[Nancy]

It is about guns. And I hope they do something about it this time instead of just talk about it. Keep your deer rifles. Stop allowing guns to eaasily get into the hands of people.

 

[donna723]

I've heard conflicting things on the news and it's still very confusing. At first they said that the shooter was the 24 year old brother, then they said it was the 20 year old brother who, for some reason, had the older brothers ID on him when he did this. Then they said that there was another shooting victim at another location but didn't identify the person. Now some reports are saying that the older brother was the victim at the second location, while other reports are saying that the 24 year old brother was being questioned by the police. I guess they will figure it out sooner or later.

 

[svengandhi]

I heard that the mother was the owner of the 4 guns. If this is true, why in heck would a kindergarten teacher need 4 such guns? And before the gun people come after me, I should mention that H is an NRA trained instructor and that my sons all belong to a shooting group so I am not anti-gun. I am anti the lack of laws that make it possible for people with no need for assault rifles, etc. to get them. We do not own any guns like that and never will.

I just don't get why if he killed his mom at home he needed to go to her school and kill her students. The only thought that comes to my mind is that he somehow viewed these children as competition or the enemy.

difficult child was very upset. He asked us to shut off the news because he couldn't bear to watch anymore.

 

[DDD]

I've obviously missed an inning. I thought his Mom was killed at school and then her students were shot also. Really I doubt it makes any difference where, sad to say. I just hope authorities will be able to remove the victims from the school before long as my heart aches for the parents of the deceased waiting nearby. I "almost" lost easy child/difficult child and the memory is burned in my heart. He was 18 and some of these children hadn't even reached 8. So tragic. DDD

 

[Calamity Jane]

Maybe the mom had the guns to protect herself from her son Adam? I don't know.

 

[Nancy]

I thought the same thing DDD. Those grieving parents and their children still in that school.

 

[Star*]

We watched a blurb on the news that reported the shooter had Aspergers?????? WE sat here in total WTH? WHERE in the world did the reporter get THAT from???


For the parents that mourn? My heart breaks.

For the children that survived? I can't imagine their horror. And for the parents that walked away with their children their relief and guilt.

SHAME on the way the news is handling this........SHAME........SHAME......SHAME. THERE IS NO RESPECT IN JOURNALISM anymore. NO ONE .......NO ONE.....needs to know all these details anymore......not to this degree. Just let them mourn....

 

[DammitJanet]

This is just so horrible. I have been gone all day and not able to post. Jamie called me this morning just before noon to tell me about this after the news came down the wire to all the police stations.

Something is so really off about this situation. When I first heard the news they kept saying it was a parent of a child that did the shooting but obviously not. I am so sad for all the families, including the brother who seems to have been caught up in this innocently.

As far as the guns, well I am also a huge pro-gun person but I have never been able to understand the need for the general public to have an assault weapon. They are for one thing only..killing people. You cant hunt with one. Well you can but you would massacre whatever you killed so it would be worthless. I can understand if a true gun collector wants to collect a rare assault weapon then they should have to have a some sort of license as a collector and a form bond on the weapon. Normal people who want to have our Second Amendment rights dont need assault rifles.

 

[Hound dog]

Star, I totally agree. The press sicken me anymore on any story such as this. We do not need minute by minute blow by blow reporting when the facts are not even known yet. That is just irresponsible and they know it. Not to mention tacky, cold, and heartless to do to those involved.

I hate to comment about this very much because we don't have all the facts yet........or even a basic complete picture of what actually happened.

As for the guns, well I'm very pro gun, I admit that upfront. You can outlaw all guns and not eliminate the issue. If someone wants them bad enough, they're going to get them.......and are not going to give a rat's *** if they break the law to do it. Including assault weapons. I'm not keen on assault weapons, but then I've never used one.

I just wish there were some way to shut the press up until they at least had real facts to report instead of speculating and getting the facts wrong and jumbled and causing chaos.

 

[Nancy]

I just don't buy the gun rhetoric anymore. If guns were harder to get shootings would go down.

There is no way I would ever have a gun in my home with a difficult child, even if I agreed with guns which I don't except for hunting.

 

[recoveringenabler]

One of my best girlfriends grew up in Newtown Ct. went to that very elementary school when she was a little girl. I went to her wedding in that town,..........it's all surreal, tragic, heartbreaking and senseless......my prayers are with all those families, I can't begin to imagine the overwhelming grief, all those little children.......all those parents..........

 

[barneysmom]

Star mentioned Aspergers -- the shooter's brother first mentioned that his brother Adam was "developmentally disabled" and I thought uh-oh, here we go. Then he mentioned both autism and Aspergers (according to the press). My heart sank as I fear this will be another messy can of worms in terms of public education (more than a few people that I love are people with Aspergers).

It did seem that Ryan, the shooter's brother, was tossing out those terms kind of randomly, in shock I'm sure, and trying to make sense of it. He also tossed "personality disorder" out there.

 

[TerryJ2]

Oh, no. Asperger's? I hope that the reporters take the time to get it right and don't just start throwing around terms they know nothing about and getting the general public all riled up. OMG. Just when I thought it couldn't get worse.

 

[barneysmom]

Terry, yes, those were my thoughts too.

Jo

 

[barneysmom]

just a heads-up on what is out there
http://tinyurl.com/d4h8ytr

 

[TerryJ2]

In regard to gun control, I found this on MSNBC: "The nonprofit Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence ranks gun control laws in Connecticut and neighboring states New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts as the most stringent in the nation, after California.

Connecticut allows possession of assault rifles, except those with certain features, such as a fixed bayonet type lug, or a collapsible stock, according to attorney David Clough of Southbury, Conn.
Otherwise they are allowed, and like other rifles, easier to acquire than handguns.

 

[Sheila]

Such a tragedy....

 

[Malika]

Truly, one doesn't need to be a maths genius or statistician to figure it out. These figures are from a few years ago but the proportions will be roughly the same now, I imagine. In England and Wales, where gun ownership is illegal other than for hunting purposes, and strictly licensed and controlled, 6.6 per cent of all homicides involve a firearm and 6.2 people per 100 own a gun. In the US, 60 per cent of homicides involve a firearm and 88 people per 100 own a gun. Fewer guns = fewer people dying from guns. It's not all that surprising.

 

[DammitJanet]

Nancy, you can put into place the most stringent gun laws you want but then the only thing that would solve would be is that when guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns. The criminals arent going to suddenly grow a regard for the law and think "oh, they have outlawed guns. I cant use one anymore."

The real problem isnt the availability of guns, it is the availability of morons. (Antonio Meloni)