Update: A vigil has started to form outside of the White House to mourn the dead in Connecticut.
“With all the carnage from gun violence in our country, it’s still almost impossible to believe that a mass shooting in a kindergarten class could happen. It has come to that. Not even kindergarteners learning their A,B,Cs are safe. We heard after Columbine that it was too soon to talk about gun laws. We heard it after Virginia Tech. After Tucson and Aurora and Oak Creek. And now we are hearing it again. For every day we wait, 34 more people are murdered with guns. Today, many of them were five-year olds. President Obama rightly sent his heartfelt condolences to the families in Newtown. But the country needs him to send a bill to Congress to fix this problem. Calling for ‘meaningful action’ is not enough. We need immediate action. We have heard all the rhetoric before. What we have not seen is leadership – not from the White House and not from Congress. That must end today. This is a national tragedy and it demands a national response. My deepest sympathies are with the families of all those affected, and my determination to stop this madness is stronger than ever.”
I do not always see eye to eye with Mayor Bloomberg, but on THIS subject we are definitely in lockstep.
Update 3: Mark Kelly, Gabby Giffords husband, calls for stricter gun control:
“As we mourn, we must sound a call for our leaders to stand up and do what is right,” former astronaut Mark Kelly wrote on Facebook. “This time our response must consist of more than regret, sorrow, and condolence. The children of Sandy Hook Elementary School and all victims of gun violence deserve leaders who have the courage to participate in a meaningful discussion about our gun laws - and how they can be reformed and better enforced to prevent gun violence and death in America. This can no longer wait.”
There can no longer be ANY excuses for not restricting access to weapons in this country. There is no argument to be made that the right to bear arms is as important as the safety of our children. None!
Our President was perfect.
ReplyDelete'Elegy' by He Xiaozhu
Thousands upon thousands of anguished cries
Returning to silence and tranquillity
Heavenly acts cannot be predicted
The moon over Wenchuan
Still, a question mark
Aftershocks extend to Chengdu
Sorrow engulfs half the world
Tears turn to ice
Let candlelight melt them away
Children, climb on a dandelion
and line up for heaven
When will we as Americans say "no, we don't want to take your guns away, but there are certain guns that need to be off the streets" and make gun control a reality to stop these senseless killings! My heart goes out to the victims and their families and my prayers are with them all.
ReplyDeleteThe hard cold truth that the NRA won't talk about is that the USA already bans some weapons and classes of firearms and accessories, and the NRA isn't screaming about those bans.
DeleteSo why the big problem banning assault weapons and 25 round clips?
There are already limits on the length of a barrel of shotguns and some rifles
Fully automatic firearms are banned outright from being owned by anyone other than a holder of A Federal firearms class III license, or military and /or law enforcment.
Silencers are illegal, and can't be owned or use.
See for more info
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Firearms_Act#Categories_of_firearms_regulated
With a tragedy like this happening to school children, you'd think a reasonable person would want to take steps to limit who can buy and use semi-automatic handguns and assault rifles
Our deepest sympathies go out to the parents and grieving relatives as they face senseless violence done to their beloved children
You don't want to take any guns away. Nuff said. time to move on folks, nothing to see here.
DeleteThere are so many hideous trolls out there slamming the President's remarks and emotional response. And no doubt many of them troll this site to defend equally vile conservative spokesmodels like the Palin's, in toto.
ReplyDeleteThe Palin family is vital and instrumental in the whole gun culture phenomena we have today. We have to thank Sarah Palin for all she has done over the last four years. It was merely a coincidence that she happened to like the cross hairs on the slaughter in Tucson.
DeleteNow that her son is an expert and back from combat he can help his nephews, cousins and all the children of Alaska.
THe Paylin family is utterly irrelevant, and should not be mentioned at all
DeleteIs that you Kristy?
For you to even bring up the targeted shootings in ARizona on a day like this is reprehensible.
Track an expert? It takes a lot longer than a couple of years driving officers around a green zone to be a weapons expert, as you'd know if you knew anything about firearms.
Just get over to C4P and hang out with your fellow $arah worshipers
That was not true about Track driving officers in any zone. The Officer that said that in the first place had to take it back.
DeleteTHIS...is the insanity that is being posted at Crazies4Palin today....
Delete"daisy_mae Today 06:11 PM
I swear I don't mean this comment in a political way whatsoever. I believe Greta's interview with Sarah will go forward tonight. I could be wrong of course! But I think it will because Greta understands what Governor Palin means to millions of people and in this very sad time will use her show so that we may hear what a President(!!!) of the United States would say to we the people at such a terrible time though not presently in the Oval Office."
Krusty @ 2:27PM...YOU are just as INSANE as those deluded souls....MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON YOUR EMPTY SOUL!
I had to pull over to the side of the road as I was driving and heard that 20 children were shot and killed., my eyes were welling up with tears.
ReplyDeleteGun laws and background checks aside, this shotting along with others in recent years should prove without a shadow of a doubt that we have a mental health crisis in this country. So many of these mass murderers fit the same profile...young white males, often from middle class suburbia without criminal records, who clearly suffer from severe mental illness that goes undiagnosed until they snap. Mental health problems are often not covered by insurance, and many of these shooters suffer from depression, schizophrenia, delusion, etc and never get the help they need. This combined with easy availability of guns is a toxic mess that will not get any better if the NRA continues to get its way.
I agree with you completely. Not only do we as a people have to face the gun-population crisis, but we have to start to take mental illness seriously and address it. I simply cannot understand why anyone would not support gun control and improving our care of the mentally ill.
DeleteBeaglemom
Agree with Virginia Voter and with Beaglemom. The NRA and the politicians beholden to the NRA are not going to lift a finger to change anything. Semi-automatic weapons need banned. Now IS the time to talk AND to organize. Mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, all women and men who value life need to come together and get this intolerable situation changed, NOW.
DeletePerhaps we should require insurance for gun ownership, like we do for autos. Then it will be a free market solution.
DeleteWant a gun, OK. min. liability
Want to concealed carry more $$.
Prove you are mentally competent or no insurance and jail time if you are found with gun and no insurance.
I agree.Mental health issues and gun ownership is a recipe for disaster.
DeleteWhat about we face some of our culture matters, too? How did we become a gun culture and how did the military culture become so effective in the education of youth? How do we change all that is ingrained?
DeleteGun laws could be taken more serious. They fill jails and prison up with non violent drug offenders. How about locking gun violators longer and fine them more?
Totally agree on standing up NOW as a citizenry and saying "ENOUGH!"
DeleteAs far as mental illness, VV, when state budgets are slashed it seems those services are always first on the chopping block.
SO SAD.
First love goes out to innocent children.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why people make an issue of our POTUS having feelings? Look at Boehner tears at the drop of a hat. Geez.
These little ones, some are tramatized and the right goes on to indicate rape is nothing. The world is just wrong.
He's a husband and father first. Always has been. That's what I admire about the man. A lot of politicians spout off about their values, family, etc., but it's phony and you know it. Not with Mr. Obama. He clearly is a family man, through and through.
ReplyDeleteI watched him at that press conference and I teared up also. This is a terrible tragedy. To think of those little children being gunned down..it's too much, it's too heartbreaking.
Clearly, the president is human and it hurt him to talk about what happened. It should hurt each and every American, every human being on this planet.
I also ache when I see pictures of dead children in far off places like Syria, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Iraq, India, Iran, etc. Starving children close to death in Ethiopia, Chad, Somalia, Appalachia USA..
The President has always seemed to have a special place in his heart for children.
DeleteYou can see it on his face - and in the reactions of the little ones - in the many photos and videos of him holding or interacting with children.
Although he's very much the POTUS and Commander in Chief, he's first and foremost a Daddy.
The NRA will counter critics with their usual "guns don't kill people, people kill people" bullshit..and scream that the U.S. doesn't need any more gun laws. OK. The president has never touched on gun laws, hasn't done anything to the existing laws that are on the books.
ReplyDeleteNo one, repeat NO ONE, has shown up at your house in the middle of the night to take away your guns. Are you listening Ted Nugent??
However, when spending cuts are on the table, what gets cut first? Funding for programs to help the mentally ill, that's what. Yes, someone who guns down innocent kindergartners is mentally ill. No doubt about it. Are there programs in place to help those afflicted with mental health issues? there are, but many of those programs are slashed in half for budgetary reasons.
I'm sick about this..any human being tonight should be. If you are a parent, you know what I mean. If you aren't a parent, well you were a child once. These children won't grow up to have anything. Loved ones, children of their own. Nothing. They are gone.
Bad gun laws do kill people. That may not be all there is to it but it needs to be addressed.
DeleteI'm waiting to hear how the NRA is going to respond to this tragedy. In the past, the usual reaction is that, if the victims or witnesses were armed, fewer lives would have been lost, although law enforcement experts almost always dispute that claim.
DeleteLet's see the NRA and the gun lobby try to advocate for arming 5-year-olds.
True, Mike Huckabee already blamed it on Obama taking God out of the schools.
DeleteAunts and Uncles and Teachers and caring Friends who don't have children are "parents", too.
I cried when I watched President Obama's address, especially when he paused for such a long time. I care that the President is capable of deep empathy yet provides strength and comfort to those in pain.
ReplyDeleteFew things touch people as deeply and as painfully as the death of a child.
DeleteAs a teacher, my heart breaks for the students and staff of Sandy Hook Elementary, and for the families, friends and community members who have suffered this incalculable loss.
I weot as well, you could tell he was genuinely moved, and nothing gets to me like a man showing his true emotions.
DeleteAnonymous 4:45 - I believe the teachers at that school saved a lot more lives by their selfless actions. My sister is an educator, and I know first hand how much her students mean to her.
Thank You, and thanks for posting.
Dona Nobis Pacem. Bring us peace.
ReplyDeleteNEWTOWN, Conn. - A source identified the suspect in the Connecticut school shootings as Adam Lanza, and said he drove his mother's car to the school.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the Associated Press, a law enforcement official said 20-year-old Lanza is the son of a teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School, where the shootings occurred. A second law enforcement official says the boy's mother, Nancy Lanza, is presumed dead.
The first official says Adam Lanza's older brother, 24-year-old Ryan, of Hoboken, N.J., is being questioned by police. An earlier report from a law enforcement official mistakenly transposed the brothers' first names leading to the mistaken identities, the AP said.
Both officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record about the developing criminal investigation.
The first official said the gunman died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His body was found inside a classroom.
ABC News reported that Adam Lanza's mother taught kindergarten at Sandy Hook Elementary. Neighbors told ABC's Jim Avila that Nancy Lanza was a "dignified woman" who was often strict with her children. The neighbor said that Nancy Lanza told friends that her younger son, Adam, was a troubled child with a learning disability who would often rebel against her strict teachings.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/adam-lanza-identified-as-shooter-at-newtown-conn-school
I just hope her "strict teachings" were not based on hard core evangelical Christian doctrine because that's going to escalate the far right's outrage.
DeleteYeah, and she legally bought assault guns and a rifle, you know, so her mentally ill son could have a "hobby" like every one else.
DeleteWas she in denial about his alleged "illness"?
What's wrong with this picture?
White House Protesters Call On Leaders To ‘Sit Down’ And Discuss Gun Control
ReplyDeletehttp://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/white-house-protesters-call-on-leaders-to-sit
The need to go to Congress, not the WH.
DeletePresident Obama’s Full Statement On CT Shooting (TRANSCRIPT)
ReplyDeletehttp://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/president-obamas-full-statement-on-ct-shooting-transcript
I hate guns with the power of 10,000 burning suns. Unless you are a police officer or in the military, no one needs a gun. I am not talking about hunting rifles. Here's the steps I think need to take place asap
ReplyDelete1- Reinstate the assault weapon ban. Not going to get rid of the ones on the streets now, but puts a stop to any new ones showing up.
2- Eliminate the loop holes in current gun laws that allow sales of guns w/o background checks at gun sales. If you need a gun so fucking bad, man up and get your background check.
3-TAX THE SHIT OUT OF AMMO!!! Sure the constitution says you have the right to bear arms (single shot muzzle loader to be specific)but it says nothing about having the right to ammo. Pay up bitch!! Only exceptions are police and military. Also, shooting ranges get a break on the ammo tax if and only if the ammo is used at shooting range at the time of purchase.
4-You want to buy a gun. Great, but it's gunna cost you. A nice handy Federal Licensing Fee that is gunna hurt you annually.
5- If a gun you purchased is used in the commision of a crime, your ass gets charge as well. It's your responsibility to make sure that your guns are safe and secure.
Once again, I hate fucking guns just in case you missed it!
Damn....I'm a big believer in the 2nd Amendment, but you nailed it! That is THE most logical response I have ever seen to help correct the problem. Kudos....too bad our representatives won't ever consider it. You should send that to congress...seriously, that shit makes sense
DeleteGreat Ideas 1:33PM
DeleteLike
DeleteAS a hunter and target shooter , I'm with you!
DeleteLittle Rabbit
Sarah Palin
ReplyDelete3 hours ago
My heart goes out to the families of the victims of this terrible tragedy in Connecticut today. Words can’t express the horror everyone feels in seeing such evil manifested against innocent children. Nothing could be worse than the murder of innocent children. Let’s all pray for the victims, their families, and the whole nation.
How fast did SP respond to the Arizona massacre?
DeleteShe waited a bit on that one, being that it was her fault and all.
DeleteDidn't she need a ghostwriter to write a blood libel?
Delete
ReplyDeleteLanza was 20. His mother, Nancy, was a teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary, and police say she was found dead in her Newtown home. According to sources, Lanza “had a dispute with her” before targeting her kindergarten classroom during his shooting rampage. Police say he opened fire on two rooms. In addition to his mother, the school’s principal and psychologist were shot dead. He used two handguns and a .223-caliber assault rifle.
When his dead body was found in the school, he was dressed in all black and wearing body armor.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/12/14/what-we-know-so-far-about-connecticut-school-shooter-adam-lanza.html
Even in 1982, my IBM plant had a button to push to summon a swat team. We actually saw the team arrive once when it was accidentally triggered.
ReplyDeleteCorporations get that kind of service, not kindergarten kids. It's the American way.
i am waiting for Sarah Palin's leadership on this matter. She is most influential with America's military culture and she and her family are all experts with guns. That have to be to survive in the wilds of Alaska.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2012/12/14/adam_lanza_ryan_lanza_facebook_original_reports_of_newtown_school_shooter.html
Leadership?! That stupid bitch can't even lead her FAMILY much less anything else. Experts with guns? As if we haven't seen the video from that steaming pile of SHIT she called a TV show that proves she's a complete noob when it comes to guns and hunting. Influential with the "military culture"? HAHA! Yeah, I'm sure they LOVE this bitch constantly trying to undermine their Commander-in-Chief as well as the country they fight for yet which she so obviously despises. If you really believe the shit you say, I'd advise you to hit yourself in the head with a blunt object or just slam it repeatedly against a wall. That may jar the few brain cells that you possess and make your IQ go up a few points, and then you can hopefully join the rest of us in the reality based world. I won't hope for it too much, though.
DeleteThe "wilds of Alaska." You are such a dumbass.
Today Rush Limbaugh was blaming the shooting on "not having any guard rails for society", and no religion, no parental care, and no discipline in the home.
ReplyDeleteNext he was blaming broken homes, and that entire shtick to come down on the liberals, cuz for Rush it's all about finding a way to dump on someone.
You heard it here, the C4p crowd are echoing the same thing, it's because god is left out of our society that this tragedy happen
Queue up Pat Robertson and other ancient old white men blaming it on gay marriage, abortions, or lack of prayer in schools.
Let me tell you there were some prayers in a school today in Newtown, crying out for mercy.
And how many kids does that blowhard have? WTH does he know? He has no voice in this. STFU, asshole.
Deletebroken homes... how many times did Rush break his homes? divorce. He must not have heard about Track and Britta breaking their home up. Poor Kyla Grace.
DeleteYou mean he didn't blame teachers or public education? Well, give him time.
DeleteNow the C4P crowd has gone completely off the deep end of the insanity pool.
ReplyDeleteThey are now claiming that President OBama sanctioned killing the kindergarten kids as a false flag operation. THe motive was to get traction on a bill to ban assault weapons, etc.
Oh, and also too, it was also because Mr Obama was a Muslim and he's motivated by Satan.
They really are rightly named as Palinistas, seeing they are just as ignorant as $arah.
Oh yea, he "False Flag" operation. Saw that crap. And THEY have guns.
DeletePeople like this see everyone in terms of themselves.
DeleteThe only reason I can see that they would put forth such a preposterous notion is that they themselves would do exactly that to get something they wanted.
Tells you a lot about their character.
ReplyDeleteNewtown tragedy Keep guns out of the wrong hands
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion/55469210-82/gun-newtown-courant-friday.html.csp
The gun culture in the United States is too deeply ingrained, the political power of the National Rifle Association too great, the fear that too many people feel toward their own government too firmly set, for anyone to propose, pass or enforce the sorts of laws that are common in the rest of the civilized world, where few own guns and fewer still are killed by them.
The NRA Song
ReplyDeleteGuns are neat, Guns are sweet
Guns the tool, what makes you cool.
Guns are fine, Guns are mine
Guns are things, that Jesus brings!
Guns for loonies, Guns for cons
Guns for Moonies, Guns for moms!
Guns are fun for everyone, buy them up by the ton.
Guns for me, Guns for you, Guns for nuts and children too!
Guns at home, Guns at work, Guns at play, Guns berserk!
Tons and tons of great big Guns,
Are tons and tons of great big fun!
I’ve got Guns up my nose ‘tween my ears and by my toes.
I’m no fool, I’m so cool, I take Guns to my school.
I take Guns in my car, to the store and to the bar.
I got Guns in a drawer, in my pocket and on the floor.
I got Guns on the wall, behind the toilet and in the hall.
I got guns in my bed, one is growing from my head!
Get a Gun and get it fast, Gun-Gun shoot-shoot is a blast!
Fuck Michael Bloomberg! That asshole always seems to be there, right on cue, with something to say! He’s just covering his ass. I remember after the previous mass shootings when he said there was no need for tougher gun laws. I noticed that coward Bloomberg didn’t say anything about standing up to the N.R.A., either. I bet it would be easier to get Barack Obama to SIGN a bill on tougher gun laws, than it is to get congress to PASS tougher gun laws. What the hell has Michael Bloomberg done? Nothing. Standing on the sidelines criticizing Barack Obama’s leadership, isn’t enough, either. We have heard all the rhetoric before criticizing Barack Obama’s lack of leadership (on the economy, the Gulf Coast Oil spill, Benghazi, etc.), from opportunistic assholes like Michael Bloomberg. Michael Bloomberg could have gotten his point across about the need for tougher gun laws, without the digs at the president. Barack Obama sending congress a bill isn’t enough, either. Sending a bill to congress is easy. Getting it passed however, is another story. Michael Bloomberg doesn’t know shit about being a president, so he can STFU!
ReplyDeleteAs for Mark Kelly, I’m gonna have to diss him, too. Because his wife (Gabrielle Giffords) supported gun rights, when she was in congress, even though she got low grades from the N.R.A., and the G.O.A. Here’s one example: in 2009, the Gabrielle Giffords voted to allow loaded guns in national parks! Gabrielle Giffords, was one of those people who lacked the courage, to stand up, and do what was right. Gabrielle Giffords, and her husband are only supporters of tougher gun laws now, because SHE was shot in the head, and nearly killed. It didn’t matter to them before, when it was only happening to other people.
There is a lot of ass-covering going on here, from previous gun nut supporters.
As a former teacher and parent, I question anyone who would oppose efforts to protect our children from such senseless violence as experienced today at Sandy Hook. I recoiled to the assaults at Clackamas and Aurora malls, having shopped at both on recent trips out of Alaska.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter, a grad violinist in Denver, just called in tears. She is to solo with the Aurora Symphony this weekend, and fears lose of focus as the children's deaths today weigh heavy on her. Ironically, her fiancé is conducting a piece he composed to commemorate the Aurora victims. He partnered with mental health professionals to disseminate awareness at the concert venue, which now takes on added urgency.
Raised on a homestead where hunting was integral to our subsistence, I find the NRA's stance reprehensible. More guns have not made us safer. We are the most armed nation in the world, and have an abysmal record of gun violence.
I want the ban on assault rifles and large clips reinstated. I want background checks done on every gun sale. Close the loopholes. I want improvements in our mental health programs to better identify, monitor, and help troubled individuals.
Our Founding Fathers were rational thinkers who would never have condoned today's environment created under the guise of the Second Amendment. Partisan politics have no place on this issue. The time to act is NOW to curb the tide of gun violence. We owe it to the victims--past and future.
Today I heard on NPR that there are more places in the U.S. to buy guns than there are Starbucks in the entire world.
DeleteSays something about our culture.
Once again the world is looking at the U.S., shaking their heads and thinking WTF is wrong with Americans?
I work in an elementary school.
ReplyDeleteOur school pictures have already been taken and theirs probably have too. And gone home.
All of the parents in that class will have a photo of their smiling angels, plus a class picture. That picture will be every child in that class plus their teacher, Mrs. Lanza, all smiling on a large 8 x 10 photo page.
I'm sure the gifts are already bought and probably wrapped. (Tonight is the 7th night of Hanukkah for the Jewish students).
The parents have to tell older siblings their little brothers or sisters will never come home. But how do you tell the younger siblings? How do you tell a 2 year old or 3 year old their older brother or sister went to school and is never coming home?
They will remember this every Christmas for the rest of their lives.
Evil just doesn't seem a strong enough word or concept to describe what the gunman did.
Now is not the time for politics.
But after a few days...we need to take down the NRA. We need to destroy them and all of the right wing gun nuts that are enabling the crazies of this nation to arm themselves and make war on children. Schools are the softest targets. And they get plenty of publicity. This gunman committed suicide knowing he would be all over the news, across the nation for days after this slaughter.
As our President said so eloquently, we have to do something.
This is not about guns! It's about what our children are indoctrinated with as normal.
ReplyDeleteAsteroids and Pac-Man started this whole mess!
Don't give kudos to Bloomberg - he is simply using a tragedy to attack the President.
ReplyDeleteThe President's entire speech was touching. You could see he was genuinely shaken. There are three petitions addressing gun control on Whitehouse.gov and many others circulating. We desperately need national gun control laws, I think President Obama already had the message, but we need to help push congress to bring it up.
ReplyDeleteKearney opened the nra pandorra box with his "Today is not the time to speak about gun control" statement.
Yeah, Blooberg was right this time.
Is it too much to ask? Today was a wakeup call. If guns (or poverty) destroyed the east coast as visually as Hurricane Sandy or the melting icebergs from "breaking ice"- we'd get immediate action.
We owe it to those who died in Conn. We owe it to Treyvon Martin, We owe it to Joe Schmoe, Anytown, USA who happens to fall prey to gun violence and isn't widely reported.
Anyone that had a soul wept today.
ReplyDeleteLittle Rabbit