Gun control discussion

[Bonny]

School security protocols- my mom told me that the school principal and psychologist tried to head off the shooter and he just shot them and kept going. I know at the schools where my family members teach, there is one entrance to the building that isn't locked after school begins. If anyone needs to get into school during the day you have to go through the front door and be checked in.

A question for those of you who understand this better than I do. What was the intent of the writers of the Bill of Rights when they included the Second Amendment? Was it to allow people to have guns in case they were needed for military service? Was it to allow an individual citizen, not necessarily a militia member, to have a gun? Now we have modern police forces and extremely efficient guns and rifles. They couldn't have seen either of those coming.

And another question. All the news reports have said this is an idyllic suburban community. Why, then, did the shooter's mother have guns in her possession?

I read a column by Mel Robbins in which she argues that taking a look at mental illness needs to be a part of ending these types of shootings. I think she's on to something.

If the guns were owned by the mom then you wonder how mentally stable she was? Did she drive her son to do this horrific crime? You just don't know what goes on behind closed doors.

[RICHARD]

I once sat on a jury for a case involving a mentally unstable man and a gun.

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The parents of this kid called the cops when their son got the gun out of the car trunk and threatened them with it.

The story was that the father took the gun from the son, to keep it out of his hands, put it into the car and left the keys on a hook in the kitchen.

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So, if we convicted the son (the charge was minor one) he would get help for his short-circuit.t

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My problem was the fact that the parents didn't take the proper steps to assure their kid DIDN'T have access to the gun. Had they taken the steps to get the gun out of their household/easy reach, they would not have to have gone thru the incident.

Are we going to dog-pile on the mom for not securing the weapons? And if she did take the steps to secure them how did the shooter get past them?

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The mental illness issue is an important one.

People are willing to overlook the 'kooky uncle', 'different son', 'crazy brother' as someone who is a PITA and pretty harmless until they fall off their swing.

After that, you can go in front of the camera and say "he did seem to be a little odd....." or " I was waiting for him to snap....", "I USED TO KNOW HIM, HE SEEMED LIKE A REGULAR GUY."

Or the standard, "I am not surprised this guy snapped."

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I go nuts when the media begins to compare it, rate it?, on the Top Ten List of nutbags with guns.

"This is the second highest, third highest, Number One!!!!!!! body count on record!"

My other peeve is with the 'reporting' - it's a bunch of AHs reading tweets and regurgitating it as truth. In El Lay you are more likely to see a reporter with a mike in one hand and reading off a cellphone they have in the other hand.

The media, in their haste to bring you the 'inside scoop', will broadcast any tidbit, then correct it as time goes on.

The horror is two people getting shot in a school, the unreal nightmare is the changing numbers as the facts come out.

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I just saw a murder suicide story that happened at the Excalibur Hotel/Casino.

We can't go shopping, to school or gambling w/o being subjected to possibly being killed?

I am going to stay at home, with my guns.

I feel much safer there.

[Alysser]

RICHARD, I think the mental illness factor is always overlooked and is very important too.

I also have a problem with the way media does things when these tragedies occur. I never understood the "rating" system. It's like giving them glory or something. They freak people out for a few days, and what if in the mean time, someone else starts planning something with all the ideas they get from this one? Who is to say this kid wasn't watching the news when the Aurora CO shooting happened? Who is to say he didn't get any ideas from the media.

[RICHARD]

RICHARD, I think the mental illness factor is always overlooked and is very important too.

I also have a problem with the way media does things when these tragedies occur. I never understood the "rating" system. It's like giving them glory or something. They freak people out for a few days, and what if in the mean time, someone else starts planning something with all the ideas they get from this one? Who is to say this kid wasn't watching the news when the Aurora CO shooting happened? Who is to say he didn't get any ideas from the media.

Yes, I firmly believe that there is some idiot out there with the idea they have a 'better plan'.

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Back in the day, I wanted to write for a newspaper. We toured the El Lay Times building and came across the 'morgue'

It was a collection of obituaries of famous people who hadn't died yet. They updated the stories and just had to fine tune the facts so that they could put it into the paper ASAP.

When I see the bumpers to the news programs and the ominous/sad/sinister music, I laugh.

Not at the story, but at the people who think up the catchy phrasing and pick the music.


What do you do for a living?

I write the tunes for FOX/MSNBC/CNN, when something bad happens.....

[cassiesmom]

If the guns were owned by the mom then you wonder how mentally stable she was? Did she drive her son to do this horrific crime? You just don't know what goes on behind closed doors.

I heard on the news that she had the guns because she was a gun collector and shooting enthusiast, but also because she feared changes in the economy. But why did she need an assault rifle? That just does not make sense to me. I also heard that the children who were killed were 6 and 7 years old. How tragic.

There were also 10 shootings in Chicago overnight. We have issues with gun rights in our own back yard.