CT school shooting - Horrible

[BlaqueKatt]

If a person is in treatment for mental health issues, they should be nixed from owning a firearm.

the problem is many people with mental health issues can't get in to seek help, as mental health services are severely underfunded. Also you are aware that a large percentage of active duty US military are currently receiving some sort of mental health care for various issues, not all of them dangerous, or a reason to discharge them, which if they couldn't be near a firearm they would be "unfit for duty", thus rendering them unemployed, uninsured, and still requiring treatment.

actual numbers are unclear, but I found two articles detailing the problem.

First article

Second article

Edited to add:

Eating disorders are "mental health issues", I've been in treatment several times for anorexia/bulimia-my dietary and weight issues don't mean I'm going to do something horrible, or am more likely to do something horrible.
My friend Lee is currently in therapy for "gender dysmorphia", should the fact that that he was born a woman prevent him from doing his job as an armed security guard?
Heck I also have Autism, also a "mental health issue", guess I shouldn't have been allowed in the military, except I was cleared for service, by four separate psychiatrists.

[tabbyblack13]

Until we can find out if mental illness played a roll I would rather not bring it into discussion. My personal thought is that he either had an issue with his mother that he hated her so badly that hurting her was the only way he felt better or there was some sort of mental illness. Most likely there was a mixture of the two.

As for the guns, I heard on the news that they were registered to his mother. So she either bought them for herself or she bought them for him or his brother to use.

[insertNameHere]

I try to be open minded about gun control as far as speaking with Americans, but its difficult when it feels like there's a major shooting or an attempt at one once a month this year.

Part of the major problem is all the media attention they get some sick bastards starved for attention realize the more fucked up they act the more attention they will get because who in there right mind would kill a bunch of children.

I heard they killed the shooter which is good because I would have hated him getting away with an insanity plea which is in my opinion the lamest excuse ever for getting off with a mass murder.

[Greenday]

I heard they killed the shooter which is good because I would have hated him getting away with an insanity plea which is in my opinion the lamest excuse ever for getting off with a mass murder.

I'd just be more pissed that we have to waste money trying him in court and letting him live in jail.

[Seifer]

This was unfortunately the perfect storm for a school shooting. The shooter was obviously unbalanced, and had unlimited access to the school. (Seriously, do you think the office or administrators gave him more than a cursory glance when he walked on campus? He was the teacher's son, for crying out loud.) The problem is that schools do have emergency plans, it's just that they have to be set in motion. The school employees didn't know there was danger until the young man walked into the classroom and opened fire.

[Jester]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: These whack jobs need to make their first bullet their last bullet, and put it in their own fucking skull. Put themselves out of our misery. I am just so sick of this crap.

I will probably be back later to comment on the whole gun angle, but right now I am just fed up with these fuckheads who feel the need to spread their own misery by shooting a bunch of people who had not a damn thing to do with it.

I am not exactly religious, but I hope the Devil does a number on these scumbags when they land in his zip code.

[Fire_on_High]

Both bombs and poison gas could have been just as effective, and there's no real way to stop people making either of them at home.

Adding to this, if someone was even HALFWAY clever and serious about hiding their tracks, they could quite easily make poison gas, do it untraceably, and draw zero attention.

Go to the grocery store. Pick up some random common groceries and supplies, and on the cleaning supplies aisle pick up a bottle of ammonia and a roll of paper towels when you swing by the paper goods aisle. Check out, pay cash, make no fuss.

Go to Walmart. Repeat, common supplies, this time a jug of bleach and perhaps a bucket or a toilet brush. Pay cash, don't create any scenes.

Now who here would notice someone who bought only one part of that notoriously well known combo, if they also bought ordinary supplies you'd expect to see with someone purchasing it, and common foods? Do any of you seriously take note if someone comes through your line with 2 frozen pizzas, a 2L of Coke, sandwich fixings, and oh, a bottle of bleach too? Or do you, like most, think "Well, that guy must have grotty socks that need soaked." and leave it there?

Guns are the one item that draw attention. Someone who's truly serious about killing, now or if guns would end up banned, isn't going to be deterred by a gun ban for more than a moment.

Look at the guy in China who did a similar rampage with a knife, less than a week ago...

I've said it before and I'll say it again: These whack jobs need to make their first bullet their last bullet, and put it in their own fucking skull. Put themselves out of our misery. I am just so sick of this crap.

Couldn't have said it better.

[Giggle Goose]

Freaking unbelievable. I haven't cried over national news since 9/11.

After a thought-provoking discussion with a friend, I wrote her "I just came to the conclusion that even though I have excellent benefits and health care, it's easier for me to get a firearm than it is to get a therapist." That's pretty messed up.

[protege]

Guns are the one item that draw attention. Someone who's truly serious about killing, now or if guns would end up banned, isn't going to be deterred by a gun ban for more than a moment.

Gun bans don't deter gun crimes. Both DC and Chicago tried that, and look what happened. Both have high crime rates, including crimes committed with guns. If someone really wants a firearm, they'll find a way to get it. People are already calling for stricter gun laws. Why? Criminals don't obey the fucking laws in the first place! All that would do, would take them out of the hands of citizens who use them responsibly. I grew up in a house with firearms. Dad used them for hunting. They were never used to shoot up a school or kill someone. The only time one of the rifles was used against someone...was when my dad was hunting on *our* farm, and some asshole took a shot at him Needless to say, he promptly returned fire.

Another argument I've seen, is "if the kids were armed, it would have happened." Seriously? Are you fucking kidding me? Do you really think it's a good idea to put a .38 in the hands of a child? I grew up around guns, and learned how to handle rifles when I was 8. Even so, I don't think the idea of a child with a gun is a good idea.

Yet another argument includes schools being forced to install metal detectors and other security. Again, seriously? I know that some of the Pittsburgh city schools have metal detectors and armed guards. Sure, it keeps the knives and guns out, but the crimes tend to shift off-campus. Instead of someone being stabbed inside the school...the assholes simply wait until the target is either outside or off school property.

[violiav]

I saw that one of my Facebook friends had suggested the kids taking guns to school thing, of teachers. Bad idea, I think.
I did find this article interesting, it about active resistance - http://www.npr.org/2012/10/11/162712...-to-fight-back. Not so much about confronting the attacker, but about actively doing something to encourage survival. Barricades, decision making, and teamwork. The latter two important things to learn in life anyways.
I saw in another article on NPR that one of the kids reacted when the gunman burst in and managed to get some of the other kids to safety. I don't recall the age of the kid (10 or younger since the school only goes till 4th), but thats still something many adults wouldn't be able to do.

[Gravekeeper]

Gun bans don't deter gun crimes. Both DC and Chicago tried that, and look what happened. Both have high crime rates, including crimes committed with guns. If someone really wants a firearm, they'll find a way to get it.

Moot point, frankly. You can't change gun control laws in one city and hope it works when that city is in a country full of guns. Cities don't have border crossings. Any gun control reform of any sort has to be federal. Which will never work because 1/3rd of the states have their heads up their collective asses and think the president is an Islamic usurper.

But again, the problem isn't even the right to bear arms, its the *access*. These people are always mentally imbalanced yet they never have any problem walking into a gun store and picking up a few handguns a week before.

People are already calling for stricter gun laws. Why? Criminals don't obey the fucking laws in the first place!

Not exactly. If a criminal really really wants a gun, sure they can probably get their hands on one. But criminals do not shoot up an elementary school. They shoot up each other and hold up corner markets.

Lunatics shoot up elementary schools. Lunatics are the ones that need to be given the care and control required to ensure they're not a danger to themselves and/or everyone else and especially can't walk into a Walmart and buy a shotgun. Again, its access. The health care and social safety net of the United States needs to be fixed and it needs to work closely with the ATF to ensure that responsible, legal gun store owners can avoid selling their wares to people that should not own them under any circumstances.

A lunatic likely isn't going to have the criminal connections required to get their hands on a smuggled gun. A lunatic is just going to go try and buy a gun and, with a better system, set off a warning bell somewhere when they do. I'm sure legit gun store owners would WANT such a system, as I can't imagine what it would feel like to see a guy on the news for shooting up a school a week after you sold him a gun.

[Gravekeeper]

Looks like we're both wrong and right, protege, according to an update I just saw on CNN.

The shooter grew up in a house with guns and went target shooting with his mother all the time. So he must have known how to use them responsibly. He did try to buy a gun from a local store, but they wouldn't sell him one. So he went to his mom's house and stole hers before going to the school.

Looks like he DIDN'T just walk in, he was stopped at the entrance by the 4 staff members and got into a fight with them before shooting all 4, killing 3. Then he just wandered the school shooting anything that moved it seems =/

[protege]

Looks like we're both wrong and right, protege, according to an update I just saw on CNN.

Yep, looks like we are. No worries But, one of my model-railroad friends is a reporter up there, and he's said that the scene is pretty grim

[violiav]

Curious... I wonder what the motivation was? I.e. the thing that drove him to this?

[Gravekeeper]

Yep, looks like we are. No worries But, one of my model-railroad friends is a reporter up there, and he's said that the scene is pretty grim

I can imagine =/. If the new reports are right, then he didn't just walk in, talk to someone, snap and shoot up a class room. He shot the people that tried to stop him entering the school then just shot anyone he saw in the hallways. So it was completely random. The school's security protocols actually worked, they tried to stop him entering and teachers in classes locked their doors, shut the windows and kept their children away from both. Once they realized what was going on. I assume he shot at everyone he saw, then shot himself after running out of easy targets once the place locked down.

Curious... I wonder what the motivation was? I.e. the thing that drove him to this?

Good question. In light of updated info, there's no clear reason.