To speak up: Again, people are missing the point of what was written. I did not say we shouldn't have laws. The examples of those other laws were there to try to make one see one point and one point only, and judging from the newscasts I have watched and political shows, maybe pols are finally getting the point I was trying to make: Because you can't legislate morality, nor can you truly control the actions of an irrational person or criminal, or careless person, you have to do something much more beyond gun control. You must take a much wider approach. We must tackle the problems of mental illness in this society. We now know that the shooter had mental issues and was afraid his mother was going to commit him. She knew he had problems and did not properly address them. We have to tackle the problem of changing the media (movies, video games, etc.) so that every other hour on tv they see someone raped, murdered, shot, knifed, bludgeoned to death. I spent many years as a classroom teacher, and if anyone tells you kids are not influenced by what they see in tv or movies, they are sadly mistaken. We must find a way to fix our families so that kids aren't raising kids. PARENTS: Take time with your kids, teach them, give them proper discipline. Make them EARN their self respect. Teach them a respect for life. There is a place for reasonable gun control, and it appears Obama is going to attempt that in his latest press conference today. Most gun owners will probably mistrust him due to his work in Illinois. This is his chance to show he really can make reasonable laws concerning controls while preserving the second amendment. How about if we actually enforce existing laws. SO, LET ME MAKE IT CLEAR... once again....I am not against reasonable gun control but we'd better tackle our other violence related problems or we are always going to have massacres like the tragedy in Connecticut. That's all the point I was trying to make. This is my last post, period. evidently my writing style is not up to par if people are not getting the point I was trying to make. You felt insulted because you did not understand the main point of all my posts on this matter. I would never intentionally insult other people but it's clear when emotions run high people are easily insulted. Go back, re-read the posts. As for me, I'm done as this kind of thing can go round and round forever. Thank you for your response. View Comment

Hi Maximus, Nobody ever said our country was the safest. The reason there are so many gun deaths is the same as the reason for so many auto deaths by drunk driving, texting while driving, driving with suspended licenses, driving while high on drugs, etc. People who ignore good sense and choose to disobey the law. A baseball bat is dangerous if used the wrong way, as is drinking, texting, wjile driving etc. The point is, we continue to blame things while not holding people responsible for their own actions. Of the 30,000 or so you alluded to, about 18%, almost 1 in 5, were suicides. As you probably know, if there were no guns suicidal persons would find another way, as many do. Again, the vast majority of other gun related deaths are attributable to gang violence and criminal elements. All of whom have those firearms illegally. I wonder how you feel about Eric Holder sending thousands of guns illegally to Mexico, resulting in the deaths of many Mexicans traced to those guns and of a U.S. border agent. Nobody ever references the VAST majority of people who own firearms legally and responsibly. You know, states like MA and CT already have very good gun laws (Unfortunately, not all do). I'm sure by now you have heard that the young shooter attempted to buy a gun or guns and was denied. The law worked as it was supposed to. People fail to see for some reason that the guns he used were stolen from his mother. In any event, I do respect your opinion, your right to express it, and do hope you retain your emotions. View Comment

Hi John B, Make sure you read my 2nd post. If you do, you will find that I am not against banning high capacity magazines. Agree with you there. Oh, as for Bambi, I always get a kick out of when someone equates Bambi with big, bad hunters. It's the assigning of human emotions to wildlife. I am not a hunter, have no interest in hunting..... without getting into the wildlife management of deer, I see nothing wring with hunting deer as long as the meat is taken and consumed. No different than buying a steak at your local market. Some animal died so you could eat. Somebody killed it. Can't get around it. Deer...cow...buffalo. Makes no difference People say big bad hunters give deer no chance. They have a much better chance against a hunter in the woods than corralled in a pen and slaughtered. Sorry...I digress. View Comment

The point is still being missed. It's not a matter of "punishment" per se, the classroom "punishment" is only meant as an example as how ineffective methods fail to produce what is wanted and actually makes things worse. In this country there are about 320 million people or so. There are an estimated 280 million firearms. If you check your facts, you will find that individual gun violence has declined even as firearm ownership has increased. Seems to be a paradox, doesn't it? I do understand your logic, really. And in an ideal world, it would be effective. But if you think banning anything will stop it, all you need to do is look at American society. You cannot legislate morality, you cannot absolutely control the actions of an individual. Look at all things already against the law: murder is illegal, still happens, theft is illegal, still happens, speeding is illegal, still happens, narcotic drugs are illegal, still being used, and besides being banned, widely available! And if you further check, you will find that the highest level of gun violence occurs in the areas where gun laws are strictest. Although you might think not from my posts, I have no problem with common sense and fair legislation concerning firearms. I support background checks, absolutely. A ten round magazine limit, absolutely. Again, my problem is this and I stand by it: Until and unless we start to fix our society, e.g. strong family units with good morality, opportunities for everyone to achieve a full and satisfying life, a real chance at the American dream, being able to run for office without millions of dollars, it will only get worse. Add to that the divide between those that have (rich) and those that have not (poor) growing ever bigger, makes the problem worse. Maximus, I DO appreciate your comments. They come from the heart. As a parent my heart DOES go out to those who lost their children. But getting past the emotion, logic tells me that unless we take steps to fix our society in general, things will not get better. View Comment

When are you people going to understand the following: There is no way that you can stop a person, mentally deranged or not who is hell bent on destroying peoples lives en mass. These kinds of events are symptoms of societal problems, just to name a few: breakdown in morality, bullying of students, media hitting kids with violence via movies and tv, breakdown of the American family unit, kids raising themselves, financial distress. Ban everything you want, guns, knives, clubs, drugs. Prohibition didn't work, banning drugs didn't work, and banning possession of firearms won't either. As banning drugs has created an extremely lucrative market for them, so will it be for banning firearms. So wake up, people, and get your politicians to do something really meaningful. Fix our society, make it once again where everyone can feel they have a shot at the American dream, where you don't need millions of dollars to run for office, where everyone can have a decent home and home life and the violence in society will take care of itself for the most part. Now that I think of it, gun control, drug control, etc. is like a classroom teacher of 28 good kids and 2 trouble makers. He/she can't control the trouble makers and so punishes the whole class. It never works in the classroom and will never work in society. View Comment

A great and very important comment, teazle. Hmmm.... who's social security number is he using? Identity theft or did the agency actually issue him a number... View Comment