27 dead in Connecticut school shooting: reports

[Quatermass]

True, Q. But I can't see any of the surviving kids wanting to go anywhere near it. Or their parents wanting to take them back there, for that matter.

Understandable. But quite frankly, psychos are everywhere. If they don't want to have their kids schooled there, where else can they take them where they won't get shot?

[Conforumist]

I really feel that it should be reopened as the same school. I'm afraid that it will set a precedent in that every kid or youth which does not like school starts shooting his/her class mates.
I think it shows resilience as well. The "bent, not broken" kind of thing.

[Quatermass]

I really feel that it should be reopened as the same school. I'm afraid that it will set a precedent in that every kid or youth which does not like school starts shooting his/her class mates.
I think it shows resilience as well. The "bent, not broken" kind of thing.

Agreed.

[Catch-up]

I don't think anyone outside that community can understand what they've experienced or say what they should do from this point on. For us to say that they should or shouldn't reopen the school is meaningless. They should do whatever they need to do to help them heal as a community.

I was really encouraged to read an article about two NRA backed politicians who are supporting making changes. Even the NRA made a statement that they would support changes as well! Of course, we'll see. There are also several petitions circulating right now, not only supporting new gun laws, but also supporting more resources for the mentally ill. There was a blog a woman wrote about the challenges and fears she has raising her own mentally ill son, only 13 right now. She's afraid of him, they actually have a family plan for when he gets violent, but she's been told by a social worker that the only way he's really going to get help is if she can get him charged with a crime. Disturbing.

[MongoGutman]

I believe the school should be re-opened simply because to close the school would act as an incentive for other maniacs to stage similar attacks. For this community closing the school would probably be the best thing, for the nation as a whole, no.

Guns do not kill people, people kill people. Granted. But guns sure do make killing people a whole lot easier don't they? How many do you think that scrawny maniac would have killed before he'd have been brought down if he'd walked into the school armed with a knife?

Don't expect any change to the gun laws in the USA. After Columbine there was action: trench coats were forbidden. The Americans like their guns. The occasional school massacre (now an entrenched part of US culture) appears to be a price they're willing to pay.

[Catch-up]

I think someone who would commit an act like this has no goal beyond the shooting itself. Chances are the decision whether to reopen or close the school will not encourage nor deter anyone willing to commit an act like this in the future. There's no application of logic when you're dealing with someone that mentally ill.

Expecting the laws to change would be extremely optimistic, I agree. However, I've never seen as large a push for it after other incidents as we're seeing after this one. That's very encouraging. The NRA and other gun lobbyists are very powerful in this country and will likely resist most measures no matter what they're saying now. However, it would be a huge step forward if you couldn't just walk into Walmart and buy an automatic weapon! A lot of people are fed up. Just like a lot of people were fed up with the hate mongering and clueless behavior of the republican candidates.

[Bickaxe]

Makes me wonder how many more lives are considered expendable before gun control laws are changed. What? They aren't expendable? Nothings changed and its still happening so they must be.

Why the f*** do you need assault rifles? The right to arm bears all well and good but surely there's a limit to how many rounds you NEED to fire in minute for self defence purposes.

I'm not anti or pro gun or even anti or pro American but y'all crazy if you let this continue.

[simmonds91]

I agree with catch-up, if the act was done by a terrorist/religous extremist for example then closing the school or not closing it would matter in some way "diplomatically". This is not the case, the guy had issues, I doubt he had any real goal other than simply randomly turning up to take a load of people down so the best thing to do right now is help the families, I think closing the school temporarily will do this. I also think that if this does send a message out to all the other crazies, that message would be standing in a metaphoricall que.

[raisindot]

Right on to everything that Catch has said.

No one other than those in the community have the right to say whether Sandy Hook will ever re-open. How their decisions affects the rest of the country is completely irrelevant. They have to do what they feel is in their best interests.

However, one thing to keep in mind is that most (but certainly not all) children have an incredible ability to emotionally bounce back from tragedies such as this. I would tend to believe that most of these kids would eventually like to go back to Sandy Hook. As horrific as the tragedy was, many of these children would probably feel safer in a place that they know and feel comfortable in than have to start over in a new school where they don't know anyone. Sometimes, going back to familiar routines is the best therapy. But, that's for Newtownn to decide.

In any event, as much as I am in favor of tougher gun control laws, the psychopaths who want to commit their heinous crimes will always find a way. This manaic couldn't find guns on his own, so he stole his mother's collection. If she didn't have them, he would have gotten them from the black market or through a private sale. If he couldn't find guns, he would have set a bomb or used a machete or something else. He clearly intended to commit a horriific act, and for these kinds of people, weapons can always be found.

[Bickaxe]

I have to admit I don't read the news that often so with that in mind....

How come it doesn't happen in this country (UK) as often? Is it because of our gun laws or do you think its a population thing (more likely to happen in more populated country)? I can only think of 3 incidents in the past 15 years here.

I agree that is up to the residents of Newtown, its their community after all.

[raisindot]

I think it's a matter of population demographics and geography more than anything else.

The U.S. has 350 million people, spread over a very large land mass. Most of the areas were settled by people who were fiercely independent and needed guns for protection and for food, which instilled a very deep sense of weapon ownership entitlement, particularly in the rural parts of America that were largely ungoverned and required self-sufficiency.

It's a country founded by revolution, war and conquest and the quest for property and wealth, and violence has always been embedded in the American character. It's also one of the most diverse countries on Earth, populated nearly entirely by immigrants (at the expense of the native Americans we killed off) and racial, religious and cultural clashes have always been a source of tension. Hell, we only got rid of slavery 150 years ago and 50 years ago black people in the south had to use separate bathrooms, water fountains and stand in back of buses.

Add a poisonous political climate, high unemployment, broken families, a seismic gap between the wealthy and the poor, an unhealthy respect and tolerance for violence and alpha males, and a ceaseless media fixation with giving every idiot their 15 minutes of fame and you create a climate where the mentally unbalanced can easily be pushed over the edge.

But, also keep in mind that 99.9% of the population are law-abiding citizens who bring up their children well, work hard, and contribute to the well being of their community. You never hear about those people.

[Watchman44]

Found something interesting today, you can buy assault rifles in the usa, but Kinder suprise eggs are illegal as they pose a danger to children!

[Bouncy Castle]

And apparently, you can't send Smarties to the US if they have the blue ones in, because there's an E-number, or somesuch, that they've banned.

It does make you wonder sometimes.

[Tonyblack]

Every country has a set of things that you can't send or import. When I worked on the post office counter, we had a whole book full of restictions for each country. I seem to remember that you couldn't send margarine or balloons to Kuwait for some reason.

[Quatermass]

Every country has a set of things that you can't send or import. When I worked on the post office counter, we had a whole book full of restictions for each country. I seem to remember that you couldn't send margarine or balloons to Kuwait for some reason.

Those two things sound like the ingredients of a kinky sex romp...