Sandy Hook Elementary School

[Jake the Sage]

[quote name='Rãine' timestamp='1355543386' post='6093544']
20 kids and 8 adults... meh, sucks but what 'cha gonna do? It happens.
[/quote]

While most people would be offended, calling you insensitive Raine, I know better. While that isn't a popular thing to say that doesn't mean it isn't any less true. There really [i]is[/i] nothing we can do to prevent things like this from happening no matter what we do. Sure we could completely ban guns from being owned, but even if that happens people would still find a way to get them and kill innocent people.

Life is a sick, sad joke and no one gets out of it alive. There is no exception.

[Raine]

[quote name='Jake the Sage' timestamp='1355543514' post='6093548']
While most people would be offended, calling you insensitive Raine, I know better. While that isn't a popular thing to say that doesn't mean it isn't any less true. There really [i]is[/i] nothing we can do to prevent things like this from happening no matter what we do. Sure we could completely ban guns from being owned, but even if that happens people would still find a way to get them and kill innocent people.
Life is a sick, sad joke and no one gets out of it alive. There is no exception.
[/quote]

Not exactly my point, people are killed everyday is bigger numbers than this all over the world but someone picks, two key words, AMERICAN KIDS, and everyone loses their mind. You can't really prevent it but as reactive in nature as everyone is, they'll flip tables and take that moral high ground. If it happened to someone you knew, be sad because that's how society says you should feel. If you here about it, remember what's important to you. Otherwise, we just gotta take our mass murders like a man and not pretend it's some freaking momumental moment of terribad the planet has ever faced.

...that was the holocaust and look how easy we got over that one.

[Tentacruel]

Erh, you can in fact reduce it. Killing would be far more common if murder was legal for instance.

[Agro]

[quote name='Comrade TentaSparkle' timestamp='1355543462' post='6093547']
With something of this scale, preventative measures can and should be taken. Tighter security in schools comes to mind.
[/quote]Schools would if they had the budget.

[~ P O L A R I S ~]

[quote name='Jake the Sage' timestamp='1355524545' post='6093270']
Rinne the NRA had nothing to do with this. Even if they already regulate guns as much as they legally can there is no way of regulating the people who use them. After all how do you regulate crazy?
[/quote]

You find the causes of "crazy" and undermine them. One of the reasons sociology exists.

[Mehmani]

Things we can learn from yet another shooting:

1. Make it more difficult to get a gun. The UK has very strict gun laws and we have had far less shootings than the US, even proportionally. We had Dunblane a long time ago, but nothing beyond that.
2. Use standardized, nationalized healthcare to detect mental health issues quicker than before. In the UK, because our government controls the healthcare system, it is designed with helping people in mind rather than helping line the pockets of those at the top. We have regular public health campaigns, free contraception and most of all, a totally free healthcare system. Now that the people control it, let them use it properly.
3. Understand that this is a horrible and unpleasant incident, as opposed to trivializing it and comparing it to other deaths. There is no hierarchy of sympathy for those who die. We should pity them all equally. We don't care about them because they're "American children." We care about them because they are children, full stop.
4. If hugely powerful lobbying groups like the NRA were not granted the immense power they do have, this would very likely not have happened.
5. As harsh as it sounds: if you are against tighter gun controls, you are indirectly abetting terrible events like this.

[CrystalCyae]

My opinion on this is that gun laws need to be harsher. Why the heck would you need a gun if no-one else had one? At the moment, people have guns in their house-holds to protect themselves from people who have guns in their house-holds to protect themselves.
If we just took the guns away, we'd be less likely to have things like this happen. It makes me sad to hear that, while I'm reclining in my house safe and sound kids get gunned down by a man who allegedly has issues, mental or otherwise.

Also the thing that's getting me about this whole incident is that we don't have a definite number. Sometimes its 28, sometimes its 26, sometimes it's 8 adults, sometimes 6 - not including Nancy? I dunno - and it makes it hard to sympathize when we know nothing except people died. People die every day.

If I say Americans are crazy will anyone actually hate me here? Because nearly all horrible death and related incidents seem to be in America. The batman shooting, this shooting. Shootings everywhere = America? You don't see horrible shooting news going worldwide from places like the UK or Australia or something. Nope, it's America. :/

[Susie]

[quote name='Sarabande' timestamp='1355623636' post='6094470']
If I say Americans are crazy will anyone actually hate me here? Because nearly all horrible death and related incidents seem to be in America. The batman shooting, this shooting. Shootings everywhere = America? You don't see horrible shooting news going worldwide from places like the UK or Australia or something. Nope, it's America. :/
[/quote]

Well there are better ways to say exactly what you had said
But no it is really the truth that I've only heard of major shootings in America
My mom says that it's the reason why she chose to raise me in Canda
And also Connecticut (The place where this shooting took place in) is considered as one of the more safer places to live in
So that should tell you about how bad America is for it's livability
I'm not saying that all Americans are terrible but it's just one of the less safer places to live in

[Fusion X. Denver]

This was just the worst thing.
My heart goes out to those families and friends of the victims as well as the souls of the departed.

I'm split on the issue of gun control because I can understand both sides behind it. But I think most people can agree that there should be [i]some[/i] change issued and [i]stat[/i].

[Bahamut - Envoy of the End]

Sky News are obviously running the story continuously with updates.

I think the thing I find most depressing/disgusting about it is that the reporter keeps mentioning how American schools regularly [b]drill[/b] the children to [b]deal with the event of a crazed gunman attack[/b]. Like a fire drill.

I mean, seriously? That just seems like a kind of grim acceptance of 'its bound to happen inevitably so we'll just try to limit the damage/death when it does'.

I know I'm speaking from the outside looking in and understand nothing of this 'right to bear arms' or whatnot, but surely gun laws have to be tightened, there's no good reason I can see that they shouldn't be. I can understand some need for guns depending on profession, hunting lifestyle, etc, but I can't see any need for anyone to have a multi-shot/rapid-fire assault rifle that can cause such numbers of death. Sure existing gun owners won't be keen to hand theirs in, but at least if they're harder to obtain in the first place, when some mentally ill person wants to go on the rampage and get a gun an alarm bell might go off and there will be a better chance of them being stopped beforehand. Obviously some people are determined to 'watch the world burn' and will come up with alternative weapons, but at least make it difficult for them to do it rather than them just being able to walk into a shop and purchase a gun like groceries.

(I say that aware of the news that this particular guy had taken the guns bought by his mother which she was so determined to own she had to purchase in a different state. To be brutally honest she's hardly looking an angel at this point).

Obama stick your neck on the block and do something.

[Kitty]

In my opinion, the issue on gun control is not necessarily the problem here. As some member stated above, if a person [i]want[/i] a gun bad enough then they will obtain on whether it be from theft, the black market, or (if they're really creative and have a resources) even make one themselves.

Gun control isn't the problem that America is having with these psychos, it's something that will no doubt be frowned upon by many citizens, and even some members here, and that problem is, America not setting an example.

What I mean is, America is not making an example out of the psychos who do this sort of tragic thing and get caught. Look at James Holmes for example. He killed/wounded a total of around 70 people and what happened to him? He is sitting in a nice comfy jail sail where he is receiving two meals a day, clothes, and more luxuries while awaiting his trial, which given America's top notch court system will take around 2 to 3 years. And when they find him guilty, he'll either get life in prison or the death sentence. If given choice number one, then he gets to relax in a facility for the rest of his natural life while the families or his victims and the victims that were not killed suffer and try to piece their lives back together. If he gets the death sentence, then he'll be sitting in a cell for a good long time and may even die before they kill him. Does that seem fair? Because I believe Holmes started something. And the whole copy cats that have done this since him is just ridiculous.

This is where I make my point; American, just this once, should just take it's 'equal rights' s*** and throw it out the window. None of these guys had any compassion for the lives that they took and destroyed, so why should we, as Americans, give them any compassion by protecting them under the constitution? We shouldn't.

To make an example for any sick psycho out there who may be contemplating on doing anything like this, America should take Holmes and publicly execute him. This would at least show that America would not tolerate someone doing this and the psychos would hopefully not attempt to do anything. Like I said this is my opinion and there are flaws in it, yes I know. But America needs to get off of its ass and do something that will actually make a difference.

[Darth Revan of the Sith]

[quote name='Kitty' timestamp='1355705306' post='6095396']
This is where I make my point; American, just this once, should just take it's 'equal rights' s*** and throw it out the window. None of these guys had any compassion for the lives that they took and destroyed, so why should we, as Americans, give them any compassion by protecting them under the constitution? We shouldn't.
[/quote]
If we kill him, we are no different than him in any way.

This is why I favor Life in Prison and not the Death Sentence. IMHO The Death Sentence is wrong and should be gotten rid of in the USA.

You think they just sit in a "Nice comfy jail cell"? Then you are clearly misguided about jail.

Jail ain't "comfy", especially for those who get life in prison. Jail is just getting fed rations a day and maintaining a status in the jail community in order to not get raped or worse. Jail isn't f*cking Equestria, it's a freaking nightmare. There is a reason some people who get life wish they would have gotten the Death Sentence. Jail is much worse than death. Living in a cold cell in a maximum security prison for the rest of your life, never seeing the outside world again. Death is death, but jail, is pure torture.

[Tentacruel]

[quote name='Mihails Tāls' timestamp='1355584115' post='6093795']
Things we can learn from yet another shooting:

1. Make it more difficult to get a gun. The UK has very strict gun laws and we have had far less shootings than the US, even proportionally. We had Dunblane a long time ago, but nothing beyond that.
[/quote]

See, this may sound strange, but I feel as though it's pointless unless you restrict guns completely.

While I agree that one should have to be of sound mind and not have a criminal record and go through a waiting period, at the very least, to get a firearm, the assailant in this tragedy used his mother's gun, which could very well have been purchased legally, so it rendered any restrictions meaningless.

But I do agree, something should be done, especially the universal free healthcare part. That would solve many problems of various kinds. And stricter gun laws are probably for the best, as long as they don't discriminate.

If one person has a gun, everyone should have equal opportunity to do so, (everyone meaning people of any class or ethnicity or whatever.)

[Bahamut - Envoy of the End]

Sorry to bring this unsavoury topic back up, but I saw the head of the NRA or his assistant CEO or a rep of some sort was speaking out today.

Apparently the answer to these, lets be honest, fairly regular massacres is not to go on a massive gun amnesty and get rid of them.

It's to put armed guards in schools.

....


.....


.....


Seriously? I mean, seriously? What kind of f***ing environment is that for a place of learning?

Like I said, not going to do anything to actually stop the problem, just going to accept that massacring is just a normal part of everyday life and try to make to do

[Legend Zero]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/21/newtown-moment-of-silence_n_2345503.html?icid=maing-grid7|maing5|dl1|sec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D249159

[i]Back in high school, Frost recalled, Lanza once made a class presentation about how to change the folders in Microsoft Windows different colors. He did it without saying a word, just demonstrating the steps on a screen.

Someone in the class brought in a video game called "Counter-Strike," a first-person shooting video game in which players compete against each other as either terrorists or counter-terrorists, Frost said.

Lanza "seemed pretty interested in the game," Frost recalled, and would play it with other students. He remembers the weapons Lanza chose: an M4 military-style assault rifle and a Glock handgun.[/i]



Uh....wat

[Raine]

[quote name='Bahamut Shark' timestamp='1356149952' post='6098791']
Sorry to bring this unsavoury topic back up, but I saw the head of the NRA or his assistant CEO or a rep of some sort was speaking out today.

Apparently the answer to these, lets be honest, fairly regular massacres is not to go on a massive gun amnesty and get rid of them.

It's to put armed guards in schools.

....


.....


.....


Seriously? I mean, seriously? What kind of f***ing environment is that for a place of learning?

Like I said, not going to do anything to actually stop the problem, just going to accept that massacring is just a normal part of everyday life and try to make to do
[/quote]

You obviously don't understand America~

America is a place where everyone hasn't quite gotten the concept of what many consider conventional government as such there are no "real" laws except in those weird fictional places like cities and Euroasiamexicanadaland of Kangaroos. We need to be prepared for things like doomsday and bears so those gatling guns are necessary for our survival as a species on the list of priorities right after beer and xenophobia.

[BehindTheMask]

I'm just gonna point out the fact that drone strikes in the middle east kill an equal amount of children a year(without including adult casualties, all civilians) and no one makes a fuss over it.

I could argue about this, but we dont need an umpteeth debate.

[.Spock]

Not one of the children who was a victim's name is known, but the killer's name is plastered all over the media.

That's what troubles me.

[Great Unclean One: VK]

[quote name='Sarabande' timestamp='1355623636' post='6094470']
My opinion on this is that gun laws need to be harsher. Why the heck would you need a gun if no-one else had one? At the moment, people have guns in their house-holds to protect themselves from people who have guns in their house-holds to protect themselves.
If we just took the guns away, we'd be less likely to have things like this happen. It makes me sad to hear that, while I'm reclining in my house safe and sound kids get gunned down by a man who allegedly has issues, mental or otherwise.

Also the thing that's getting me about this whole incident is that we don't have a definite number. Sometimes its 28, sometimes its 26, sometimes it's 8 adults, sometimes 6 - not including Nancy? I dunno - and it makes it hard to sympathize when we know nothing except people died. People die every day.

If I say Americans are crazy will anyone actually hate me here? Because nearly all horrible death and related incidents seem to be in America. The batman shooting, this shooting. Shootings everywhere = America? You don't see horrible shooting news going worldwide from places like the UK or Australia or something. Nope, it's America. :/
[/quote]

Take guns away?

My friend, though I agree with stricter gun laws, I refuse to get rid of guns. Should the people of the United States somehow get invaded, we'll need those arms to protect our family and land. Should the government become much more corrupt and turn even more fascist we'll need those guns. When civilization crumbles due to some natural/unnatural event, we'll need those guns. When a bugler breaks into your house with a pistol, you'll wish you had a gun.

There's a reason why the founding fathers had us have guns. It's to protect ourselves should their fears become realized.

[quote name='Legend Zero' timestamp='1356151125' post='6098801']
[url="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/21/newtown-moment-of-silence_n_2345503.html?icid=maing-grid7|maing5|dl1|sec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D249159"]http://www.huffingto...nk2&pLid=249159[/url]

[i]Back in high school, Frost recalled, Lanza once made a class presentation about how to change the folders in Microsoft Windows different colors. He did it without saying a word, just demonstrating the steps on a screen.

Someone in the class brought in a video game called "Counter-Strike," a first-person shooting video game in which players compete against each other as either terrorists or counter-terrorists, Frost said.

Lanza "seemed pretty interested in the game," Frost recalled, and would play it with other students. He remembers the weapons Lanza chose: an M4 military-style assault rifle and a Glock handgun.[/i]



Uh....wat
[/quote]

Bullshit, video games do not cause people to all of a sudden shoot people. Why the f*** do people automatically assume games with guns means we're all gonna shoot people up? I play f***ing Civ 5 and you don't see me winning Cultural and Scientific battles along with the occasional Military victories.

[CrystalCyae]

Ok, not take away guns, per se. Just make them harder to get, perhaps? Or in the very least not make these sub-automatic machine guns or similar powerful guns readily available to the public. I don't have much experience or knowledge with guns, but a pistol or handgun - the more basic guns, i think - would be enough to at least hold off the common burglar, unless for some reason they have a rocket launcher somehow in which case you're screwed regardless.

On games being fuel to make us want to shoot people up, I call bullshit on so many levels. So what we play games that have us shoot the hell out of other people, NPCs or not? It's usually harmless fun, and just because someone plays that game and shoots people in real life doesn't want everyone who plays that game will do the same. Let's use Black Ops as an example. So, SOOOO many people play it. Now the logic of 'playing violent games makes you violent' would make our world much smaller instance. Why? Because so many people would be violent and start killing people and suddenly the population of the world decreases.
However, you don't see irate and pissed off little teenagers wielding guns or baseball bats and bashing people every single day, which the game logic would dictate.
Yea.

[Great Unclean One: VK]

You fool, fully automatic weapons (EG sub machine guns, assault rifles) are banned. Except for Gatling guns but are you willing to pay over $100,000 for something that'll break your arms if you hip fire it?

The real dangerous weapons are hunting rifles.

[TheComposer]

[img]http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/184574_470661656315077_617113216_n.jpg[/img]

[Susie]

[quote name='TheComposer' timestamp='1356389177' post='6101354']
[img]http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/184574_470661656315077_617113216_n.jpg[/img]
[/quote]

Drugs and guns are different
Way different

[.Rai]

[quote name='Gue'O VK' timestamp='1356288557' post='6100156']
Take guns away?
My friend, though I agree with stricter gun laws, I refuse to get rid of guns. Should the people of the United States somehow get invaded, we'll need those arms to protect our family and land. Should the government become much more corrupt and turn even more fascist we'll need those guns. When civilization crumbles due to some natural/unnatural event, we'll need those guns. When a bugler breaks into your house with a pistol, you'll wish you had a gun.
There's a reason why the founding fathers had us have guns. It's to protect ourselves should their fears become realized.
Bullshit, video games do not cause people to all of a sudden shoot people. Why the f*** do people automatically assume games with guns means we're all gonna shoot people up? I play f***ing Civ 5 and you don't see me winning Cultural and Scientific battles along with the occasional Military victories.
[/quote]

Oh, the rest of the world is saying hi because we have low crime rates and strict gun laws! http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2012/12/14/the-japan-lesson-can-americans-learn-from-the-country-that-has-almost-zero-gun-deaths/

If a unicorn suddenly starts rampaging, we will all wish we had guns. So I will partially take your point into account.

[Aix]

I don't live in the United States of America, so I'm not clear on issues here, but: Why exactly do you need the guns? Especially, why do you need assault rifles?