I think we need to look at the state of our mental health system and the fact that emotionally disturbed people are walking and living among us with absolutely no daily help or guidance because they slip through the cracks and we cater to alcohol and drug addicts while these people are just handed new medicine to try!

I'm sorry but if his mother wasn't advocating for him then how could anyone else? We clearly don't know the whole story but as little details emerge, she knew enough to not want him to be left alone, yet she herself taught him how to use an assault rifle. I agree the mental healthcare system is broken, but in my opinion no one needs to posses a semi-automatic weapon intended for mass killings unless you are a soldier in a war.

Christine, You are correct. This kid was troubled and here is where we might part company.
People will call me a dinosaur, but the institutions that molded society - Church, Family and community are devalued in society.
My Mom stayed home and raised us and my Dad worked, but today, women are told the corporate career is the ideal goal, not to birth and nourish infants, which they are designed to do by nature.
Forget any mention of God or spiritual mentoring, that is looked down on by our American Idol "enlightened" culture.
So here is a kid, isolated, playing violent video games , who's Mother, in an effort to "bond" with him, takes him to a gun range.
When we talk of mental health issues, everything is on the table,- but this is difficult and uncomfortable for society to confront these issues, so instead, it's,..oh, yeah, guns are the problem -and a real opportunity to learn and address these issues - is missed.

The WSJ has an article today (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323723104578185271857424036.html) It says there were:

o 18 random mass shootings in the 1980’s
o 54 in the 1900’s
0 87 in the 2000’s

So as gun control became more and more strict, it had no impact on these terrible crimes; hence this is not about gun control. We have enough gun laws.

What we need to do is reform the laws regarding who can and cannot be “put away” before they do harm to themselves or others. Since the Liberals (or Progressives or Democrats) greatly relaxed the laws regarding committing individuals to institutions in the 70’s; it is virtually impossible to put these potential mass murderers away UNTIL they actually harm someone. In almost all cases of mass shootings the people around the perpetrator knew something was “wrong” with the person, but could not do anything.

Fixing these laws is where we need to begin.

Now is not the time to discuss this issue. Allow some dignity for the dead. The politicians are disgusting as they stand on their soap boxes and do their spin.

I have strong opinions but will hold them for now and let the parents bury their children.

To the original question...YES, reforming gun laws should be a top priority in this country.

There is an old NRA saying, "guns don't kill people, people kill people." Bunk!
People do kill people, and they usually do it with guns. My humble opinion is that no one needs a gun except for possibly law enforcement and military.

It's time to make it nearly impossible for civilians to own and carry a gun.

To quote Chris Rock...we don't need to control guns, we need to control bullets.

And for the record. Yes, it is time to talk gun control. We do need to consider our mental health services. Women are definitely not told that the corporate career is the ideal goal. And the "Liberals" alone are not to blame for greatly relaxed laws regarding committing individuals to institutions...

Many mothers and fathers want their children to mainstream and will give their children leeway for a variety of problems. Some will serve them alcohol, some will let them drive. The problem isn't just children being allowed to do things, we have a larger population of elderly driving and the registry assisting them through the test. Noone wants to be the enforcer for standards. We've created a society which has torn down the barriers to privledge and called everything a rite.
You could ban every gun and still people will die from alcohol, motor vehicles, knives, chemicals, explosives. You'll be busy wasting your time making laws for people that don't understand, respect, or pay attention to them.

I'm beginning to believe that if guns were banned, this tragedy would have been avoided. Here's why: the mother kept five guns in the house and knew that her son was suffering from a mental illness. She even warned a former baby sitter "not to turn his back on Adam", implying her awareness of Adam's unpredictable behavior. An intelligent and forward thinking parent would have removed the guns at the first sign of mental disorder.

Even if guns were banned, there is a chance that Adam could have purchased a gun illegally. But, because he was anti-social, it is highly unlikely that he would be able to find a willing salesman.

I believe a ban on guns would be effective in keeping them out of the hands of the deranged like Adam Lanza. However, determined killers, namely gang members, will still find ways to buy guns regardless of a ban.

Spice, You may want to contact Bloomberg, Reid, Feinstein and all the other politicians who could not wait to politicize this tragedy and make it about their own agenda.

So called gun control is not the answer. In fact, I'm appalled that this topic has overtaken the talk of the families and victims. Banning guns would do squat. We have millions of guns of all sorts in circulation and its a waste of time to come back to the useless topic of "gun control". Don't waste time on something that wont work (and is unconstitutional). What we need to be talking about is improving the mental health care system and delivery of care to those that need it.

England has banned all guns and has one of the highest rates of crimes with guns in the world.

And by the way you can't ban guns with a law; you need to ban guns with a constitutional amendment. Even the Assault Weapons ban only bans 100 out of 1000 possible guns and even when the old AW ban was in effect the number of mass murders increased. See my comment above..

I also want to point out that the picture attached to this article is a low capacity firearm like the one used in Norway and which is not being discussed as something that needs to be banned. Additionally, the 10 GAP glock the Newtown shooter used is a so called low capacity firearm.

Quick quiz How many rounds can a semi-auto gun shoot per min. ?

Hi, this is Chris Helms, associate regional editor for Patch on the North Shore. I just wanted to thank folks in this thread so far for arguing responsibly, citing sources with links, etc.

I'd rather talk about guns getting into the hands of the mentally ill. That is the real issue.

"Is Now the Time to Talk Gun Control?" - I think the answer is no. I think now is the time to gather as a community and figure out what we can do for these poor families that just lost their little angels. Each time I see Newtown in the news I think of our little close knit community because both are so similar. Many of these families have other small children to take care of, to cook for, to clean up after on top of mourning and burying their precious victims of this heinous crime. So I say now is the time to ask what you can do - pray for their souls, pray to God to give the parents and siblings strength to carry on, donate to any of the many charities popping up or go to the Newtown Patch and see what is needed for this community. It hasn't even been a week yet and political issues are already popping up while these families with holes in their hearts are needing our help.

Something to think about: Obama's kids have ARMED GUARDS (the Secret Service) at school protecting them all the time. So while he feels your pain; he does not share your worry.

If all weapons are banned as he hopes; will Obama remove these guards from his kids? After all, banning guns will solve the problem right?

So maybe armed guards in the school are not such a bad idea? It is good enough for Obama.

Focusing on the gun is a distraction from real solutions to protect kids from these types of attacks. We have a gazillion gun laws yet the rate of these mass murders increases. Not all of them are done with guns either. In fact the largest number of chldren killed in a school attack was with bombs in Michigan decades ago. Changing gun laws only changes the weapon of choice, It's dumb to even start there.

People here have commented on the mental health system. That needs attention. THere are reports surfacing that the Newtown Nut ( I refuse to use his name) was on psychotropic drugs. These drugs are known to have side effects including increased aggression and suicide especially among adults under 25. There are also reports that the Newton Nut's mother was about to have him committed and that he was schizophrenic.

Security at schools is worse than most peoples' homes. Security of the classroom is even worse. Adding deadbolts etc. would protect far more children than any gun law.

Another step to take to reduce gun crime is to decriminalize drugs. I don't know what the % is but I'd be willing to bet it is a high % of crimes with a gun are a result of drugs - either users or trafficers.

Focus on what's in the heart,..not what's in the hand.

I am a mental health professional and a supporter of firearms rights! The evil comes from the person behind the gun! We didn't lobby to take all the airplanes away when terrorists slammed them into the trade towers. We didn't ban Ryder trucks after the Oklahoma city Bombing. We need to re-thinkg how we treat mentally ill individuals and how we let severly mentally ill people on the streets. This mother should have had her guns locked up tight when not in use, but with this kid reportedly having aspergers syndrome he most likely had a very high IQ and even if he did not have a gun he might have build a bomb or drove a dump truck and did the same horrible devastation! So I please ask people don't blame the guns keep them from people who should not have them!

Let's take away all the guns in society - starting with the criminals,...Good luck!

^ Dump Trucks, Fertilizer, Ryder trucks etc.. whatever it may be; have a purpose outside of killing. Trucks drive, Fertilizer fertilizes, and obviously misusing things can lead to bad consequences. Guns on the other hand, when properly used, kill. That's what they do. They kill living things. They don't double as a CB radio or some type of Shoe horn, they are used for and invented for strictly KILLING or if not, injuring. Who they are intended for is apples and oranges once you realize they are ONLY for KILLING. When you buy a gun you buy it with the intention of eventually shooting somebody/something with it, I doubt the older folks buy a gun just for looks. There is some type of motive related to it. Nobody has ever in history used a gun to heal a wound or to call the police with. It is an instrument of death. Regardless of how the gun gets directly to the hands of the bad guy, it was originally manufactured in a factory somewhere, in a place where they make weapons for killing. I am not a fan of any type of killing. Afraid of people breaking into your house? Get a trained shutzhund german shepherd if you really feel as you need some form of protection. Having a gun invites the idea of killing, its not the 1800s anymore where people have to guard their farms from local scavengers, we now have modern devices such as alarms, locks, cameras, phones. But I guess youre only safe if you can KILL something.

Years ago, high capacity semi-auto weapons were a rarity. Revolvers were what you saw the most of and they have a capacity of 5 or 6 rounds. They are also much more difficult to reload, especially quickly. I can shoot as fast with a semi-auto pistol as I can with a semi-auto long gun - about 2 rounds per second. The only difference is: 1. in the damage caused by due to the much higher muzzle velocity and the design of the bullet, and 2. the effective range. In Newtown, I suspect neither of those made much of a difference.

I would offer that "smartgun" technology might have prevented Adam Lanza from shooting anyone, and I would advocate immediate passage of legislation that makes "smartgun" tehnology mandatory.

???????????????

Dave, I meant the previous post by one Simon, not yours.

Several variations of this thought on the internet.

One failed shoe bomb, and we take off our shoes; 31 school shootings since Columbine, and no change in our regulation of guns.

We need a leader on this issue.

Hitler was a leader on this, he wanted no guns for his victims, only his soldiers and those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.
All I here are sheep and collaborators who would drop to their knees when told to,...cowards.

Several variations to this thought in our treatment of mentally ill patiants who have expressed Suicidal or homicidal thoughts either with a plan or without, Its called a section 12 and many are written daily on individuals. I also would like to mention it is a system with a revolving door many people have had this section 12 numerous times over and over again they go in and out of care.

If stricter gun control is the answere to all of our problems then we should also bann the ability for fat people to use spoons as spoons make people fat. We should also bann stupid people the ability to use pens, for if we did that, then stupid people could not misspell words...
The answere is not in gun control..."Locks only keep the honest people out." Anti Gun legislation only regulates the lawful citizens. The answere lies with in educating the local populations about weapon safety, family values, and the support for mental health care. All approaches, nothing to do with weapons other than the FACT that such preventative maintenance reduces the chance for troubled kids to enter the fray.

GUNS DONT KILL PEOPLE --- PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE

We have a rooming house in Swampscott that is our new version of mental hospitals where the next crazy person that makes national news may come from.

The police know about it, the owners know about it, but no one does anything about it. Most of these people should be locked up under supervision. They are barely functional, but they are supported by so many government agencies with no accountability.

Newtown has boosted gun sales.

genetic is the answer dont let mental sick people have children they are mental and they pass it on

Nothing but knee - jerk reactions here from liberals who hate the Constitution and want it gone and replaced by a Federal government with more power and control over it's citizens - incredibly dangerous and naive.
We need common sense and practical approaches now.

But remember, Evil can never be overcome in this world,...it can only be resisted.

back in 1692 most people had mental problems witches flying around on brooms and looking at you and making you sick they were hung in back of walgreens on boston st but we dont teach history about that it might hurt someones feelings the witch trial was held in danvers not where the sheriff lived these mental problems were passed on up to date

What happened in Conn. was a tragedy, but no one has yet to address my comment regarding liberal hypocrisy regarding thousands of black on black gun murders that happen every year in the US - no tears from Obama or liberal media or calls for gun control,- sheer hypocrisy.

St. Patrick's day weekend in Chicago, a 1 and a half year old boy was shot through the door and killed with as AK 47 and his killer was never found and that was only one of several murders that occurred that weekend and no one on the left batted an eye - no candle light vigils, no outrage - nothing.
Hypocrites

Maybe less women and pm's.......plus how about the people that I promise billeted the kid........society lives getting there thrills bullying but no one likes the result of there own evil

THIS PLANET IS 8 BILLION YEARS OLD 6 BILLION MORE BEFORE ITS GONE WE ONLY LIVE TO ABOUT 8O PLUS A WOMAN IN FRANCE LIVED TO 122 YRS WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE

Speaking as someone with a serious mental illness and family with mental illnesses I find many statements in these posts offensive and ignorant. Many people with mental illness receive help and function within society. The majority of us do not kill anyone and suffer from the stigmatism that an incident like this causes. There are many who suffer who fall through the cracks. Stop generalizing about the 2nd amendment and stereotyping the mentally ill. This is a terrible tragedy and to make up scenarios about what to do and who to blame is ridiculous since all of the facts are not in. You want to change something? Write your congressman or representative. Join advocacy groups for what you believe in - we all have things to disagree on and argue about but really shouldn't this be a time where we can exist in solidarity and just mourn together in a terrible tragedy? Who needs all this ugliness?

I'm off topic but my liberal pals would want t know 3 State Department officials resigned today.
Divide and divert are the tools of the fascist Godless progressive evil left.

I really think the Patch has done a nice job with this. Today's Salem News was just plain AWFUL between the totally incorrect information about the issues and the nauseating quotes from Tierney. I am becoming a big believer in the world of electronic media, so THANK YOU PATCH!

When there is robust debate and many opinions are heard, society benefits,...this is to be encouraged, not feared.

keep the guns just ban the bullets

It is interesting to see how people can have complete opposite thoughts on this topic. Some say ban guns. Some say we need more guns. I can see the logic on both sides. My first reaction was to wish someone at the school was armed. Other peoples reaction is that they wish nobody was armed. The problem I see with the second idea is that it is impossible. Criminals will always find a way to get guns because they are criminals. If you outlaw guns only outlaws will have guns. Are we expected to just die while we wait 20 minutes for the police to arrive? How are we expected to defend ourselves in that 20 minutes?

Law abiding gun owners practice gun safety and they don't want unstable people having guns as much as anyone else.

Yea, it would be 100% impossible for a law abiding citizen to suddenly fail to abide by those laws.... lets keep guns around and assume that nobody will EVER do anything illegal or harmful with them as long as they obtained them LEGALLY.

It is 100% safe to say that I fear GUN NUTS far, far more than I fear our government.

Coming from someone who sees things in actual life instead of sitting behind a computer, I know for a FACT that local gun crimes around here (such as armed robbery) involve OTHER gun owners (LEGAL AND NOT). Having a gun invites others to have guns. 2 wrongs have never made a right so far, not sure how GUN NUTS are going to change that.

You guys love your guns to "protect yourself from criminals" but you do NOTHING at ALL to try to keep those criminals from committing the crimes in the first place. Now THAT sounds like a quick fix to a big problem.

There are plenty of examples of innocent people legally defending themselves with guns.

"Diesel fuel is used sometimes to make bombs why dont they ban it?" -Because diesel feul's MAIN purpose is for running diesel engines on.

"Why dont we make knifes illegal?" They are used for cutting food and other every day items

"The kid who killed the children could have used anything to kill them" -But anything else he used could have been stopped MUCH more easily than a gun.

"If somebody else in the school had a gun on them this would have never happened" -If guns weren't so easily obtainable this would have LITERALLY never happened.

"Law obiding citizens own guns" -Do you know what you call a person up until the SECOND they commit a crime (or devolop criminal intent/malice)????? -"A law obiding citizen".

"Bad guys have guns so I should too" ......Does this mean that you don't want to take the long time staking process to start to disarm these bad guys, but instead just want to walk to the store and buy a killing machine so that you can be "safe".

Good thing that all you old-fashioned gun nuts are slowly being phased out. "Gun control does not solve this countries problems" Sure it doesnt solve all our problems, but it sure helps to TRY to solve our GUN problem.

And you clearly misunderstood my comment. It is impossible to get rid of all guns. My comment is not about legal guns. Even if you ban them completely and seize all the registered legal ones there will still be millions of illegal ones. We would have fully armed criminals, armed law enforcement 20 minutes out, and millions of innocent law abiding defenseless targets.

p.s. citing religion and old-fashioned female stereo-types sure does not make you look like ANY less of a crazy gun nut

Ok, so your advice is to just be patient while the police successfully disarm all criminals? Yeah, because they have done such a great job of that so far.

Be patient? No way. Do something about it.

but wait that would require more than buying a shiny gun and touching it when you feel scared.

the reality is you don't want to have to do anything difficult. you want your shiny little buddy to become your ego. I am looking into trying to help the community overcome these issues in any way I can. The "right" to own a gun made a lot more sense when we used to hunt for food and have to hide in houses from redcoats. We now currently have: Alarms, security cameras, and some of use have intelligence even. But then again it would be a lot easier and less time staking to just get a gun

Guns dont kill people, people kill people! (with guns that were made in a factory somewhere to be sold "legally")

The changes i'm looking for: People to be killed less, It to be less easy for people to be killed, and for more people to live.
Those are the changes i'm looking for. Sorry if they clash with your colonial state of mind. I don't mean to be so futuristic, sorry if I startled you.

If less people being killed means lonely old men don't get to fondle their guns every night; that's fine with me. But that would mean you would have to find a new hobby...

I'm looking for a better suggestion of how to prevent something like this from happening again other than "Posting people with guns in schools". I'm glad you people are of a dying breed, my children will be taught the evils of guns, instead of being lied to about how much they "help" people.

"They that can give up essential Liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, - deserve neither safety nor Liberty" ---- Benjamin Franklin

I am ashamed of some of the comments I have seen here,...those of cowards, appeasers and collaborators.

"Criminals will get guns no matter what" yes they will, especially when its this easy to do so. Start really beefing up the laws?? It won't be as easy for them to get! That f'n simple! The gun that the gang member is shooting people with??? That gun was created in a factory, more than likely in our country.

Do you mean to tell me that if guns were no longer allowed that it wouldnt reduce the availability of a criminal getting a gun? Do you think these gang members machine guns and rifle out barrels themselves???? Or can you CONSIDER that they came from some sort of "legal" gun manufacturer/salesman

the reality is you gun owners don't want these criminals to be disarmed, you just want to be able to be able to fight back. You would rather play fake cops and robbers than try to keep these weapons out of the criminal hands to begin with! Simple minds create short term solutions instead of thinking of a bigger picture

In fact, to invest in a gun instead of a burglar alarm gives the OPPORTUNITY oto voilence

http://www.standeyo.com/NEWS/12_Pics_of_Day/121214.pic.of.day.c.html

If the United States followed Israel, we would have no gun ownership problems or school security challenges. How simple, yet how complex for stupid Americans

http://www.standeyo.com/NEWS/12_Pics_of_Day/121214.pic.of.day.c.html

YOU CAN NOT TRUST THE FEDERAL GOV THEY MAY TURN ON YOU THAT IS WHY WE HAVE GUNS

Oh wise and just government - please keep me safe, take away all guns and large sodas and trans fat and treat me as a criminal at airports because these decisions are too great for me to make and you should trample individual rights and freedoms to "protect" me from myself and in return, we won't say anything about the NDAA, or Fast and Furious and the Benghazi cover - up and yea, okay, so you can't run anything right and the crushing debt will destroy our children's future, just keep us safe,...please?

you voted for him so now you must pay

I wouldn't let this government watch my dog.

taking away the guns isn't gonna stop people from going postal in a twisted dystopian future.

a year from now this whole thing will blow over just like the other ones we have to arm schools and stores and malls

People will go back to Jersey Shore and American Idol instead of asking tough questions about the society we live in,...until the next tragedy.

I think some are taking a doctoral approach here; trying to treat the symptoms instead of the root problem. The issue isn't gun control. The issue is the person holding the gun. Once we can get to understand why that person did such a terrible thing, and there is always a reason, then we start from there. That is where our work is to be done. Was it poor treatment from parents, losing someone, being hurt repetedly by something etc. We need to come together as humanity and really look at how we are treating people and ourselves. That person with the gun in his hand that shot up the classroom was once one of those innocent young children. What happened to him? Seems like vengeance for a time he felt innocent and unimaginably hurt.

ALL PEOPLE EACH YEAR SHOULD TAKE A MENTAL TEST IF YOU DONT PASS LOCK THEM UP MOST PEOPLE WILL FAIL

Maybe we should build schools like prisons, the good people are on the inside and the rest of the world is bad.

The White House-sponsored bar fight continues. Meanwhile nobody is looking at Libya, Syria, "Fast and Furious," FEMA at Staten Island, or anything else. "The fix" to what happened at that school won't ever come because we are collectively too stupid to figure out the obvious and just do it, but the Bolsheviks will get their gun control.

Wow, some of the nonsense spewed in this thread is amazing.

Yeah, let's ban motor vehicles, gasoline, diesel fuel, baseball bats, steak knives, rope, hydrogen peroxide and even water because they can and have all been used to kill people or have died in their use. Really??? That is your rationale??? How about banning from civilians only those objects designed solely for the purpose of killing or injuring human life, and especially those with the ability to do it en masse, such as assault rifles, automatics and semi-automatics, high-capacity clips, bayonets, modern day swords, switch blades, etc.? Leave out the hunting rifles and revolver's for the sportsman. And leave out machette's, hunting knives and the like that actually have been designed for other intentional purposes.

For those of you in fear that our Government is going to turn our Armed Forces and/or Police against us – really? As PK pointed out, you better start stock piling your tanks, drones, nuclear warheads and F22 Raptors because your in for quite the battle.

Come on people.

Mayor Quimby and all the knee jerk dummies from Bloomberg to Hollywood miss the real problem.
God is banned from society, divorce is sky high, a culture that teaches no values at all, ...we need a serious discussion about society's ills including mental health,...but that is too hard - so let's go after guns!

I just started a gun violence petition on the White House petitions site, We the People. Will you sign it? http://wh.gov/Q2v3

MERRY XMAS AND A HAPPY 2013

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all. Keep the conversation going. Regardless of where you stand on this, all sides need to be heard. As always, finding a balance is the key.

And to you as well

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. That is the full text of the second amendment. I get tired of people dropping the conditions that justify their right that they simply get to keep arms. Unorganized citizens with guns do not constitute a well regulated militia. The second amendment is calling upon a well regulated milita to bring about security, not Rambo, or Charles Bronson. Sandy Hook was a wakeup call for alot of people, myself included. We are all so desensitized to death (for our own sanity) that it took such an agregious act to breach our gaurd and strike us so profoundly. The second amendment has been distorted to allow wholesale stockpiling of tools whose sole purpose is to kill. If you are not personally part of a "well regulated militia", then you should not keep such firearms in your possession. Outside of hunting the roles of self/home defense can be met by other non lethal means. It is time to for people to say enough is enough and start getting firearms off our streets and out of our homes.

Fortunately the supreme court disagrees with you.

And the White House sponsored bar fight continues.

Wow, the article and information posted by The Journal News is sure to stir up some fierce debate. I will not post the link (if that tells you anything) but wonder how people feel about it.

maybe we should arm the animals they have a right to live too

Just one thought as the bar fight comes crashing to a halt (thank goodness!)

One of the officers who responded to the scene said something like, "we heard shooting, and we ran toward it." It is believed that the gunman would have had many more victims but knew law enforcement was on the scene, so he took himself out.

Can you believe the heroism involved? We haven't said much about the officers only because it uncovers the uncomfortable truth: soft targets like schools are sitting ducks for whack jobs, terrorists, and disgruntled employees because the shooter is banking on having plenty of time to do whatever they want before they go out in some sick fantasy of "glory."

So as we begin to face the New Year (and our White House pushes us off the Fiscal Cliff [I'd love to see how O-Man counts his strokes on the golf course]), we should thank anybody in law enforcement who could well be the next guy who says, "I saw danger: and I ran right into it."

Delusional fantasies of what if? There are plenty of actual what if situations that occur all the time. Plenty of people have used legal firearms to protect themselves against armed criminals. The media just glosses over these because they are not sensational or controversial. On October 20 th a 12 year old shot a home invader. On Oct 18th a women in Dallas shot one of two home invaders causing the other to flee. I can find you hundreds of these. Reality is you can't fix the Adam Lanza problem by disarming these people who have defended themselves. It is also not a fantasy that he shot himself when he knew the police would be arriving. He didn't want to be taken so he ended his life on his own terms.

Sean, This video shows the anti-gun celebrity phonies for who they are -- priceless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxRlpRcorEU

In reading several reports (only 8 of many) of incidents where people have used legal firearms to protect themselves against armed criminals, from New York to California, it appears that in all but one incident a single shot was fired to ward off and/or stop the criminal(s), invader and in one case potential murderer. Two shots were fired by a armed citizen to stop three armed bank robbers.

So, just wondering if any of you pro-gun scribes would be amenable to some type of gun reform law that would allow U.S. citizens a limited number of registered limited capacity clip rifles and/or hand guns? No specific numbers or models of any kind just yet.

And we'll assume, for the sake of this question, that there would also be some type of further steps being taken to address increased security in public soft targets and the "mental illness issues" that inflict many, if not all, of the perpetrators of massacres such as Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora and Sandy Hook.

Is there any room for negotiation of the current gun laws and/or 2nd Amendment?

Just wondering?

Happy New Year to all. Here's to hoping we can get through 2013 without one of these types of horrific events.

GK, As with so many news stories, you get only PC agenda, the reason alternative media is growing fast.
Everyday law enforcement or regular citizens atop tragedy with a firearm, but you will need to search for the truth because you won't find it on the anti gun PC corporate media.

A family friend said the Conn. shooter "just wanted to feel something",...keep blaming guns and not mindless violent video games, isolation and "virtual" friends and wait for the next tragedy to happen.

GK, Guns have been around for hundreds of years, but these mass shootings are a recent phenomena, ...guns are not the problem. This kid was isolated and constantly desensitized to killing. In addition, Conn. already has tough gun laws - ineffective.
You must address the problem at the root cause, but to do so would be very uncomfortable for many and may cut into Hollywood's and video game profits.
Here is a website that takes the problem head on.
http://takethechallengenow.net/