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A Further Perspective
Evil Comes Calling
Searching for answers after Newtown and finding little.
It’s been three days since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn., and America is still in a daze.
We see it everywhere. At coffee shops, people sit at tables, talking uncomfortably, stifling tears. At malls, shoppers meander while the Christmas music drifting from the speakers sounds flippant, even mocking. At Sunday mass, burly men dab their eyes during the homily.
We’ve endured a string of shootings lately, from the movie theater in Aurora to the mall in Clackamas. But this one hit harder, bringing a collective grief and loss that hasn’t been felt in America since 9/11. News anchors keep telling us that Newtown is the second worst school shooting in our history, after the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre. But really, it’s the worst. Most of those killed were children, six- and seven-year-olds, shot three to 11 times with a semiautomatic rifle. The scene was the most disturbing that Connecticut’s veteran medical examiner had ever seen.
After a tragedy like this, once the dead have been mourned, everyone starts searching for answers. What we really want is an answer — a culprit, a policy, a single bogeyman that can be slain with an easy solution to make sure This Never Happens Again. Some commentators skipped the mourning part altogether and jumped right to the blame game. Mere hours after police headed to Newtown, ghoulish ambulance-chasers at MSNBC were wondering if Democrats would accrue “political capital” from the shooting.
Opportunists aside, the desire to take action after a tragedy is human and natural. But what exactly can we do?
Some have suggested blaming the video games. Adam Lanza, the Newtown shooter, was reportedly a gamer who would attend Local Area Network (LAN) parties to compete against his friends. That means he likely played first-person shooter games, which position the player’s view behind a gun as he blows through enemies with abandon. These games are available to any child with a parent willing to blithely ignore the Mature Audiences rating. And with technology evolving, video game violence has grown more gruesome than ever. (Big NFSW warning if you click those links.)
It’s easy to see how games could have caused Adam Lanza to dehumanize the children at Sandy Hook Elementary. But surprisingly the bulk of research shows that video game violence doesn’t correlate with actual aggression. A recent study did find it alters brain activity in young men and another concluded that it desensitizes players to images of violence. But the sort of conclusive link that would justify government action just isn’t there. In fact, gun violence has actually decreased as exposure to video games has increased.
Other observers say it’s time to do something about mental health. But that “something” is still rife with question marks. Connecticut already increased its mental health budget by about 6% between 2009 and 2012, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. And spending is the easy part; identifying future killers and getting them off the streets is much harder, and often raises concerns among civil libertarians. The ACLU, for example, complained and ultimately killed a proposed “Assisted Outpatient Treatment” (AOT) law, which would have allowed for Nutmeg State’s mentally ill to be forcibly treated. Connecticut is currently one of six states without AOT.
But even with such a law, would Adam Lanza really have set off any alarms? He was a loner, a social drifter who experienced periods of extreme disconnection from the world. But he was also an honors student who was later homeschooled and started college early. Other than maybe his mother, it’s hard to imagine anyone flagging him as a certifiable threat.
Finally there’s the alleged silver bullet of post-shooting panaceas: gun control. Wasting no time, congressional Democrats are preparing to reintroduce a ban on so-called assault weapons at the start of next year’s legislative session. But according to the Brady Campaign on Gun Violence, Connecticut has the fifth tightest firearm regulations in the nation and “strong gun laws that help combat the illegal gun market, prevent the sale of most guns without background checks and reduce risks to children.” Assault weapons are already illegal in Connecticut, as are many semiautomatics.
That being said, we conservatives must acknowledge something: Adam Lanza was able to kill so efficiently because he was armed with a killing machine. The Bushmaster rifle could fire up to six bullets per second. It allowed him to blast his way into the school.
Driving the point home, a thug stabbed 23 people with a knife outside a primary school in China on the same day as the Newtown shooting. Not one was killed.
I’m not arguing for more gun laws. I don’t know what the solution is. Guns are interwoven into our society, used for both good and evil. (The Clackamas mall shooter was confronted by a man with a concealed weapon.) But Adam Lanza had the ability to kill 26 people because he had a semi-automatic weapon. The debate over guns in America will proceed from that stone-cold fact.
Automobiles kill more people in America than guns. Alcohol kills more people worldwide than violence. Should we demand more regulations on our cars and booze? Or should we blame the drivers and drinkers? What’s the proper balance between security and safety? How much privacy are we willing to sacrifice? These are the debates that we’ll have in the coming weeks.
But what about the all-encompassing culprit and all-encompassing remedy we all want to find? Video games, mental health, and guns are too complex to blame. So then what?
About the Author
Matt Purple is The American Spectator’s assistant managing editor.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (78) | Leave a comment
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Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 12.18.12 @ 6:17AM
This was domestic terrorism pure and simple.
It doesn't matter whether he was crazy or not. All terrorists are crazy.
By failing to bring up and engage that argument the Republican leadership shows why politically they are tone deaf.
It's been over 10 years since 9/11 and several administrations have done little to protect our schools from terrorism attacks.
In the meantime ex-Presidents have top flight security for a 10 year time span and that probably isn't necessary.
All we have here is misallocated resources and several administrations which have failed to produce any meaningful policy for homeland security.
It's the perfect time for Republicans to point out that Obama was more concerned about green cards for illegal aliens than providing security at schools.
TLP| 12.18.12 @ 2:04PM
Those who would give up a little Liberty, for a little Security, deserve Neither, and will inevitabley Lose Both.
A Republic, Madame. If you can keep it.
What is it about these statements, don't some of you people understand?
mike 3/505| 12.18.12 @ 6:56PM
Evil visited long before this horrific tragedy. Evil, in the form of out of control, Federal, State & Local governments, visted and forcibly took away under threat of imprisonment, citizen's right to defend themselves and the children placed in their charge. THAT is the evil that visited.
drudge ette obama| 12.18.12 @ 6:19AM
Field Marshall King Samir Shabazz and his promise to kill white babies in the nurseries.....he's part of the problem.
http://www.breitbart.com/Breit.....ople-Alive
TLP| 12.18.12 @ 2:07PM
Obama's Best Buddy - Bill Ayers - and his Weather Underground Terrorists, said the exact same thing in the 60's.
"Men shall know you by the Company you keep." (JESUS CHRIST, to the Apostles)
Indeed.
KyMouse| 12.18.12 @ 4:01PM
TLP, where is that quotation from Jesus found in the New Testament? I haven't located it.
I believe it's the moral of an Aesop's fable called "The Donkey and the Purchaser."
Could you be thinking of Matthew 7:20 -- "By their fruits you shall know them"?
TLP| 12.18.12 @ 5:26PM
I believe that JESUS said that to the Apostles after the Resurrection, before sending them out to do their works.
aware| 12.18.12 @ 6:30AM
A better understanding of what is killing us here:http://www.theburningplatform.com/
Appleby| 12.18.12 @ 6:55AM
Since all these school and mall and movie theatre killings are perpetrated by men aged 18-30, where are the calls for the incarceration of all men aged 18-30? I mean, shouldn't we Think Of The Children? Doesn't this make more sense than punishing the tools they use?
There is a saying that to every problem there is a solution: easy, simple and wrong.
TLP| 12.18.12 @ 2:11PM
And how many Children are killed, each year, by Automobile Accidents?
We need to get rid of Cars!
Never let a Crisis go to Waste.
The Second Amendment is there for ONE REASON, and One Reason, only.
To Protect us from THE GOVERNMENT.
Which is why they are always trying to get rid of it.
sockmonkey| 12.18.12 @ 2:22PM
They also have occurred in places where large groups of people assemble. Perhaps we should outlaw public buildings and gathering areas.
If tighter gun laws would prevent this kind of thing it might be worth looking at however, historically having tighter gun laws only seems to benefit the criminals by moving any opposition out of the way.
Leathersmith| 12.18.12 @ 7:51AM
One hugely helpful thing could be done today, without legislation and without infringing on Constitutional rights: The "news" media could stop naming the mass murderers. We know the profile as soon as we hear the breaking news. A strange boy who has been a nobody all his life decides that by this evening, everybody will know who he is. Being "famous" is worth killing for.
Take away that motivation. In my state, the news organizations as a matter of practice refrain from naming rape victims, child-molestation victims, and even juvenile criminals unless they are being prosecuted as adults. They could decide to keep the monsters anonymous as well.
Anthony| 12.18.12 @ 12:18PM
Connecticut has an assault rife ban. The guns used by Lanza satisfied the Connecticut law.
The Ds in the last legislative session finally got their wish, after decades, and did away with the death penalty.
Had Lanza lived, he would have gotten a life sentence.
Al Adab| 12.18.12 @ 12:39PM
When we define some as human and others as not we invite violence. The dehumanization of fellow citizens, the elderly, the handicapped, the unborn on an industrial sclae, inures us to the humanity of others. It is but a small step to the gas chamber.
Jack London| 12.18.12 @ 12:54PM
Al - your friends the GOP have long been dehumanizing the 47% - the elderly, the disabled, anyone poor, anyone on entitlements... When we have achieved the society you desire, with 1% owning everything, you will see violence I assure you.
Al Adab| 12.18.12 @ 1:24PM
Au contrare my friend. It is we Conservatives (not GOP republicans) who wish to recognize the worth of each individual regards of their situation and maintain a nation and an economy in which they can look forward to something other than dependance and servitude to others. Those who, in the name of compassion, have made wards of others dehumanize those they intend (good intentions) to help. They do not raise them up but hold them in a guranteed subserviance. We seek ways to "enoble their estate" not maintain the dependency.
TLP| 12.18.12 @ 2:14PM
You're wasting your time.
He's a woman, trapped in a little boy's body, and he gets Hysterical a lot.
Jack London| 12.18.12 @ 2:56PM
Nonsense Al - everything you've ever said here shows you are against any societal enablement of opportunity.
Al Adab| 12.18.12 @ 3:10PM
Again, not true. I simply oppose government enabling action at taxpayer expense. To allow free markets to operate is the proper role, not ownership and regulation.
Hello TLP.
TLP| 12.18.12 @ 3:44PM
Hello, right back at ya.
RetireAndBored| 12.18.12 @ 12:41PM
The petition link below is not a "Gun Control" petition. What the petition proposes indirectly is that the U.S. adopt universal military service (think Switzerland or Israel) and use that service as a basis for arms possession.
I just started a petition on the White House petitions site, We the People. Will you sign it? http://wh.gov/RJYm
Bob K| 12.18.12 @ 1:15PM
No. That is a petition calling for involuntary servitude.
Once the government has control over all guns petitioning it for anything, especially the redress of wrongs, likely will be outlawed I dare say.
Anthony| 12.18.12 @ 1:36PM
You don't seem to get it Retire. You don't need a petition for something that is guaranteed by the Constitution.
But you're not alone, too many Americans are running pell mell to do SOMETHING in order to feel better. And the Ds are watching like hungry wolves waiting to take advantage of this tragedy.
A crisis opportunity should never be wasted, or words to that effect. Saul Alinsky.
You are aiding and abetting totalitarians!!! Wake the hell up.
Bill8472| 12.18.12 @ 1:37PM
No thanks, I'm against the draft.
Thom| 12.18.12 @ 12:42PM
One pump action shot gun with a 7 round tube, 27 rounds of 3 inch 00 Buck (with 405 70 grain pellets each as lethal as a 9 mm slug or those .223 rounds at point blank range), one single shot flint lock pistol would have accomplished the same results several times over.
No one can fire a semi-automatic firearm 6 trigger pulls a second. Where did you get this nonsense statement? The Brady Campaign? If you are just interested in pulling the trigger as fast as you can and not aiming at anything in particular you might get 2 rounds off a second. He used 3 30 round mags to kill 26 people. He could have fired that shotgun above just as fast and not been nearly as concerned about aiming it precisely. Is there no one at TAS that knows a damn thing factual about firearms?
We are war with people who have no qualms about walking down the hall of a Christian school and pitching a grenade into each class room and then out the back door before the Donut shops can clear of Cops cars. The crazy in Aurora fired for two minutes uninterrupted and started with a shotgun. There were two security guards in the theater that apparently couldn’t hear real gun fire over the movie gun fire or simply refused to engage the crazy. From the first shot to the moment the crazy in Sleepy Hollow killed himself how much time transpired? I can assure you his rate of fire was nothing at all like what you have suggested here. There is no need to hurry shooting fish in a barrel.
Jack London| 12.18.12 @ 12:58PM
Who cares what the gun was? He shouldn't have had access to any. And neither should you: you may be able to convince a shrink you are stable today but I bet he wouldn't guarantee you for tomorrow.
dominic1955| 12.18.12 @ 1:06PM
Maybe we should have to get a shrink to verify a person is stable before they rapid-type BS so comboxes aren't littered with the above.
Anthony| 12.18.12 @ 1:42PM
Welcome to Obozo's Jackboot Fan Club. President Jack London.
We have a right under our Constitution that no group of hack pols will ever take away from us, even with help of willing trolls like you.
Every leftist should be REQUIRED to post on their doors a sign that says, this house/apartment/ dog house/ mommy's basement is a GUN FREE ZONE.
Thom| 12.18.12 @ 1:59PM
Jack Ass,
I’m in several government data bases. I’ve passed security checks/back ground exams for going on 42 years. I wore the US military uniform for my six year obligation. I work where people with your views probably won’t be let in the front door. Rational thinking is an important component in determining a person’s ability to act rational. Your postings fail that test repeatedly. You would be flagged a security risk where I work because you are irrational.
The “nutcase” tried to buy a weapon the week before and was denied by law. That says four things dumbarses like you can’t accept. The law worked to the extent possible; the authorities failed to follow up the attempted access (a requirement by the way) and he chose to commit two serious crimes before he visited that school. The fourth thing it says is that he didn’t have access to his mother’s arms initially else he would not have tried to buy one to commit the crimes he planned to commit well in advance.
Thom| 12.18.12 @ 1:59PM
The worst school violence occurred with dynamite back when the population of this country was about a third of what it is now. Any determined person can get explosives today if they know where to look and are willing to commit violence to get it. Government controlled explosives disappear every month from military stockpiles. If “access” is your solution to such problems there is no solution possible short of locking up every person 24/7 and someone will have to watch the jailers won’t they?
When the truth of the matter comes out it will be seen that several people failed to do their jobs and uphold their responsibilities towards those for which they are charged. He could have run over a Cop and got everything he needed for the deed.
But you are right Jack dumbarse London. Any of us could just flip tomorrow and kill any number of people for our 15 minutes of fame. No question, it could happen. We should all be locked up to keep people like you safe from rational thought.
Jack London| 12.18.12 @ 2:54PM
That's right - anyone could flip. That's why we shouldn't have ready made arsenals of semi-automatic weapons.
Thom| 12.18.12 @ 3:29PM
Why stop at semi-autos? I can shoot a pump or lever action just as fast... Magazine capacity is a non-issue shooting defenseless people. The Teachers in that school made the killer’s job easier for him. The Cops carry all sort of "assault weapons" and I can get anyone with my single shot muzzle loader. My Presidential Assassin bolt action rifle is really deadly in the hands of someone that knows how to use it too. Only a fool that has never seen what a military armed with real automatic weapons can do against unarmed civilians thinks like you do.
The Brown Bess was the assault weapon of its day. The British kicked in doors to remove any arms to make their job safer for them. If you want to feel “safe” move to England. Even the Cops aren’t armed I hear rumored.
Thom| 12.18.12 @ 4:17PM
"That's right - anyone could flip"
The nutcase drove a killing machine to the school before he pulled out another killing machine to work inside the school. Why not ban "assault cars" Jack? What next "Saturday night specials"? How about "assault alcohol"? “Assault alcohol” combined with “assault cars” kills more people in this country every year than all the guns. Wait till “assault reefers” start adding to the carriage. Who needs an arsenal of reefers anyway? I certainly don’t. Do you?
You should see what I could do with a sword against defenseless children. That takes real skill as opposed to just an emotional outburst. My “assault fists” are registered deadly weapons btw Jack. You going to come take them to feel “safe”?
Jack London| 12.18.12 @ 5:27PM
Your thinking is that we shouldn't reduce harm from anything. You're in a very small minority. Looks like we'll finally get some action on guns now too.
Pecos Pete| 12.18.12 @ 6:07PM
Dream on Jack. The 2nd Amendment stands today and will stand tomorrow. Thom is correct that unprotected people will be killed. Almost anyone can shoot a revolver, pull the trigger of a shotgun, light a fuse, depress the accelerator of a car, drink a quart of whiskey, snap a cap, stick a needle and kill people. You want to live in a gun free zone, try Norway.
Thom| 12.18.12 @ 7:09PM
Your concept of helping is like our militaries’ love affair with COIN. We put ten times the men and cost in the field to cover every possibility while the enemy only needs to be successful in one place to obtain its goals and operates from a protected base of operations. We are continuously surprised that all our unfocused bulk doesn’t produce the results promised. The government created gun free killing fields is an extension of COIN thinking and it doesn’t work very well.
Same with your symbolism over substance approach to the symptoms of the problem vs. actually dealing with the root of the problem your mindset has helped feed for 4 decades. To Morons like you there are as many problems as there are weapons in a free people’s hands and nothing you propose to solve a particular “weapon” problem ever addresses the root cause thus your work is never finished and liberty dies one small concession at a time. The last time an arrogant group of people thought they could just override the Constitution with a large majority it didn’t turn out too well for a lot. Don’t kid yourself about what you think is a “minority”. The elevated sales of weapons since Nov 2008 speak to the value your “strawdog” arguments isn’t having these days. This isn’t the 1860s but if you insist…
Bill8472| 12.18.12 @ 1:22PM
Six rounds a second? Too bad he wasn't able to do that; he'd have missed more.
I'm a pretty good shot and I can barely hit my target in the black doing NRA rapid fire of 10 shots in 20 seconds.
Bill8472| 12.18.12 @ 1:35PM
At 50 feet, I might add.
Thom| 12.18.12 @ 5:10PM
22 rimfire?
Bill8472| 12.19.12 @ 1:47PM
.22 and .45.
I'm deadly at 30 feet, though.
Thom| 12.18.12 @ 2:21PM
Bill8472,
The 6 round a second rate is the full auto rate his gun didn't have and the author of this piece is as ignorant as Jack London. To hit a 5.5 inch target reliably in High Powder at 100 yards the nominal rate of fire is about one round every 4 seconds with open sights. The crazy had small children huddled into a tight pile to shoot at and all the time in the world to just point the barrel at each one and pull the trigger as fast or as slow as he felt the urge… No skill required for this kind of stuff. He could have used a small chain saw with greater effect.
I unlike the Jack Asses of the world I take my liberties and responsibilities seriously. Killing me isn’t going to get access to anything of mine except my electric “assault chain saw”, “assault kitchen knives”, “assault hammers”, “assault ski poles”, “assault rakes”, “assault gas cans”, “assault hatchet” , etc. There is only so much one can lock up without turning the entire house into a vault. The rest is quiet secure and not accessible via key. On top of his I’ve got the whole place wired with C4 so any unauthorized access by the crazies will solve several problems at once. I think ahead if nothing else.
Enjoy Bill
Bill8472| 12.18.12 @ 2:37PM
I think I'll avoid any unauthorized visits to your digs.
Anybody who can get his hands on C4 these days, and is willing to allow to sit around it while it's armed (or imminently ready to be armed) is someone I would tiptoe very carefully around. So carefully that my tiptoeing would preferably be done at a distance of no less than four or five miles.
Thom| 12.18.12 @ 2:43PM
"four or five miles"? I've not seen any C4 type stuff that poses a threat that far. I've taken Collateral damage and my neighbor’s property rights into account. It is very precisely placed and the Claymores will cover the approaches… If all else fails they’ll have to deal with my Cats…
Pecos Pete| 12.18.12 @ 6:09PM
I like you Thom. When Tim's contest restarts you must attend.
Thom| 12.18.12 @ 6:48PM
I'm not up on Tim's contest. I have a full time day job. I must work to feed myself and pay the retirement and medical cost of others along with supporting WIC I have no connection to what so ever. Somebody's got to earn the USD and pay the taxes for the half that doesn't ....
Bill8472| 12.19.12 @ 1:49PM
Yeah, I know that. I'm just not going to get any closer to you than four or five miles. It has nothing to do with the effective radius of the explosives.
Cynical Observer| 12.18.12 @ 12:52PM
"Gun violence has actually decreased as exposure to video games has increased." But whose exposure?
Yes, total exposure to games has increased in the sense that "everyone," even grandma, now plays, but grandmothers aren’t doing the shooting, and they’re probably not playing shooter games. If images (including those in violent video games) don't influence behavior, why are there controls on tobacco and liquor ads? Why does the ad industry exist, except to influence behavior through images, whether it be buying detergent or supporting causes? Why do companies use "product placement" in films? Why are people worried that young women seeing unrealistic images in the fashion industry is leading to more eating disorders? If images don’t influence behavior, why is the left so opposed to Citizens United and the associated political advertising?
The WSJ (online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324595904578121232625062080.html) just last month had a story “Driving Under the Influence of Images” that said: “People's driving behaviors can be subtly influenced by emotionally charged images in their immediate environment, a study in the journal Accident Analysis & Prevention found.”
Cynical Observer| 12.18.12 @ 12:54PM
Another column on Newtown (http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/335724/newtown-and-gun-control-difficult-response-charles-c-w-cooke) says: “… of the 12 deadliest shootings in U.S. history, six have taken place since 2007 … What is causing this is not yet known and probably underinvestigated.”
One thing that happened starting in about 2007 was a surge in the video game industry. I don’t have a complete survey of the industry at hand, but what I can find suggests that there was a big jump in the scale of the games industry in 2007; that younger people disproportionately play the games (as opposed to just having them around), and the most popular games are the more violent ones. In 2007, an almost 50% rise in game sales. (http://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/Video_game_industry?file=Us_revenues_1995-2007.png). In 2008, a surge in game hardware (http://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/NPD_2008_sales_figures)
And the shooters we see, are generally younger guys, who have long been known to be more prone to physical violence. They also are at an age when their brains are not even fully mature and their judgment is lacking (http://www.academic.marist.edu/mwwatch/fall05/science1.htm).
Stilton A. Cheese| 12.18.12 @ 1:15PM
Gosh! I shot up thousands of mutants and evil aliens playing *DOOM* way back when. I played it for hours after I put our son to bed, Pooh Bear stories before-hand of course. Must have been a contributing factor to making me the grumpy-old-man I am today.
Bill8472| 12.18.12 @ 1:20PM
What's with all this fascination with the Bushmaster semi-auto rifle? That rifle, which resembles a military M-16 or M-4 rifle, was left in the truck of Adam Lanza's car. Lanza used a Glock semi-auto pistol and a Sig Sauer semi-auto pistol.
So forget about the "assault rifle" thingie will you? So-called "assault rifles" had nothing to do with the Newtown massacre. The shooter used pistols.
Bill8472| 12.18.12 @ 1:39PM
Trunk, not "truck."
dominic1955| 12.18.12 @ 2:13PM
Amen to that. Didn't we all talk about the need to not let the "progressives" dictate the "discussion"?
What is this nonsense of using their own stupid claims (6 shots a second from a semi-auto. That's rich...) that is a red herring to boot (the shooter used pistols, as Bill correctly pointed out)? That is letting the hand-wringers dictate the discussion! We lost right out of the gate if we concede false points right off the bat.
Jack London| 12.18.12 @ 2:51PM
Sorry Bill - it was the rifle that was used to do the killing. Don't you watch the news?
Pecos Pete| 12.18.12 @ 6:14PM
As reported by the New York Daily News: "The two pistols were found inside the school and a .223-caliber Bushmaster rifle was found in the back of his mother's car in the parking lot."
Bill8472| 12.19.12 @ 1:50PM
No, I never watch the news. Can't you tell? Of course you can.
Thom| 12.18.12 @ 1:20PM
After every instance of madness like this going back to the beginning of time people search for answers that they never find. Whatever the answer is died with the last shot.
I’ve been there done this with senseless violence and there are no answers society can impose on unstable, irrational, out of control emotional people. You have the same choices here you have with a rabid animal. You have a split second to make life and death decisions not years to analyze every possible negative influence on what are as a group very disturbed people.
People are still trying to find a solution for the first recorded murder and the last time I checked jealously is still a pretty strong motivation for murder. It cost my cousin his life along with his girlfriend’s. A shotgun, two shots fired worked just fine for the killer’s goal. The first murder took place with an “assault rock”. Who the hell needs an “assault rock”? My cousin and his girlfriend didn’t even have an “assault rock” to defend themselves with and are just as dead as these kids but these kids are more important only for political reasons.
Thom| 12.18.12 @ 1:20PM
Every species on the planet has defective members and outside of humanity are dealt with harshly. The “state” and the Supreme Court felt sorry for my cousin’s killer and he didn’t even get life. He was probably paroled two decades ago… There are no answers. You can either deal with evil when it presents itself or not… As a society we’ve chosen to coddle it.
TLP| 12.18.12 @ 2:17PM
Exactly.
Simon Templar| 12.18.12 @ 1:52PM
Apparently, his state legislature was attempting to pass more responsible laws concerning outpatient metal health and treatment and the ACLU and liberal democrats defeated the bills just a few months before this incident.
Let's see, liberal coddling of the mentally ill, video games desensitizing children to violence, abortion on demand, a culture of death, failure of the community and police to confront security risks, and failure to effectively address the dangerous mentally ill through intervention and medication....but we have no answers and we are scratching our asses. Pathetically stupid society of people unwilling to face the obvious, the truth, and reality....but hey, we need more gun laws and need to rescind the second amendment.
TLP| 12.18.12 @ 2:20PM
The homeless have a Right to Die on a Sidewalk, in the middle of January in New York. Did you know that? It's Illegal to Kill Yourself. Did you know that?
A 12 year old girl can not have he Ears Pierced, unless she has a Parent or Guardian with her, at the time. She cannot get an Aspirin from the School Nurse, or an Ankle wrapped in an Ace Bandage.
She can, however, go to her School Nurse if she finds herself Pregnant, and that Nurse will go through a Judge, and take her to get an ABORTION, without her Parents even being told. No-one ever explains what the procedure becomes, if the Girl DIES on the Abortionist's Table. Or, does everyone involved - EXCEPT THE PARENTS - just get a Mulligan. Do over. Move along. Nothing to see here.
Any woman can KILL the Unborn Baby in her Womb, right up to the last day. In fact, even if the Live Birth should occur? The "Mother" still reserves the right to have her child MURDERED, and thrown in the Garbage.
TLP| 12.18.12 @ 2:23PM
Did the Hundreds of Millions of Chinese, killed by Mao Tse Tung, he, of Obama's "Forward" Campaign Slogan, have a Second Amendment?
What about the Millions who were Put to Death, without any kind of Due Process, under the Iron Fist Rulers in The Left's Ideological Shangrala - The Soviet Union?
Did any of them have a Right to Bear Arms?
And yet, in this Country, every Tradgedy is seen as One More Example of the need to Disarm a Free People. We have a Century of Hard Evidence pertaining to What Happens when the People's Arms are Confiscated by a presumed Benevolent Central Beurocracy, but they don't care.
What happened last week is a reminder that Evil is as much a threat to all of us, as it has ever been. And, it needs to be addressed. But the Last Thing we need, is for all of us to be made Defenseless, and hung out to dry.
Those who would give up a little Liberty, for a little Security, deserve Neither, and will inevitabley Lose Both.
A Republic, Madame. If you can keep it.
Simon Templar| 12.18.12 @ 4:49PM
Very well stated....
Jimbobogie| 12.19.12 @ 12:32AM
The topic of Mao and China is way off-topic, but, as I recall it was a couple of gentlemen named Kissenger and Nixon who shook hands with Mao. Do those names ring any bells?
Hardcard| 12.18.12 @ 2:32PM
This whole thing is hopeless. The media and hollywood rule. buffet, soros,bloomberg, weinstein are getting fatter. The dems and reps are a joke, socialism has replaced individual freedom. God is out, free abortion is in. The whole argument is a circle jerk. I give up what time is American Idle on? Take care.
Ohiolad| 12.18.12 @ 2:51PM
Just because most people who immerse themselves for years in the virtual world of violent video games don't go out and commit mayhem, doesn't mean that this culture of violence presented in our movies and video games doesn't warp the minds of the emotionally fragile, mentally disturbed among us where they can go out and kill with detachment. It has to be considered as part of the mix in this case, along with social alienation and the effects of mind-altering, Prozac-like drugs.
Who Knows?| 12.18.12 @ 3:10PM
test
Thom| 12.18.12 @ 6:10PM
Kabul is “safer” than South side Chicago and parts of Washington DC. Civilians in Kabul have and carry real AK-47s not the semi-autos sold here that animates so many panty wasted liberals. The Gangs in this country have access to an assortment of illegal weapons smuggled from outside this country. It isn’t just drugs and 500,000 illegal aliens that cross our southern border each year. Some of the weapons coming into this country were “legally” bought here with our government’s blessing and sold to Mexican cartels which don’t need the weapons but do traffic in them where ever “governments” make it illegal for the pheasants to own them. The Mexican government needs the cash inflow from the Cartels and a dependent citizenry. The real full strength stuff is readily available on the world wide black market for a fraction of the cost we pay for the lessor versions here. If I wanted one it is just a matter of USD and a trip south. If the DEA had run a drug operation like the BATF ran Fast and Furious someone would have burned the DEA down by now. Assuming they could get a permit approved from the EPA of course. What does this have to do with the mayhem in Sandy Hook? Nothing and everything.
Thom| 12.18.12 @ 6:11PM
The emotional manipulation of Sandy Hook fits the same play book we often see in every other Democrat(Marxist) agenda headed under the DNC working title of “do it for the children” or FTC for short. Black “children” die in large numbers every year killed by other black “children” through gang related violence yet not a single Democrat(Marxist) has ever called for a ban on “gangs”. Everyone knows what a gang is when they see it. Why don’t we solve “gang” violence by banning “gangs”? How about 15 day waiting periods and background checks before you can become a member of a “gang” as a fall back? I’ve got the ACLU’s attention now.
The shooters in AZ, CO (twice), VT and now CT all were emotionally disturbed and that was no secret to someone. Professionals knew of this in several cases and in the VT case the school Admin bent over backwards to not deal with complaints about the shooter’s behavior before the main event. They all fit a “profile” in which the word loner, outcast repeatedly comes up. I’m not in the camp that thinks these “nutcases” were as far gone as some think given they produced detailed plans in many cases and made very rational decisions about where and when to strike to avoid anything getting into the way of their plans. The Norway nut was the smartest guy involved in the affair.
Thom| 12.18.12 @ 6:12PM
It wasn’t that long ago a 22 year old man I knew, with some level of Autism committed suicide with an “assault revolver” after being taken in one of those Nigerian scams and his mother telling him she couldn’t handle it any more. She and his divorced Dad will have to live with that the rest of their lives. The gun came from the step dad who wasn’t very well attached to the young man I’d known since he was 14. He loved being with us doing “guy” stuff but there was always a side of him that lived in another world of his own. Women in general tend to hang onto a situation that is getting out of hand and in these cases try to handle an adult as if they were still their child. That’s the nature of the beast and all too often an out of control situation is being sheltered by many under a false sense of compassion.
Thom| 12.18.12 @ 6:12PM
In all these cases, the gang related violence by teenagers and young adult and these random “nutcases” getting loose there are several common stabilizing elements missing from their lives. One is a father figure to guide them from childhood to adult and the other is a working family unit. We had less of this when women raised their children and didn’t have to work full time jobs to pay the ever increasing tax burden (and day care) each generation has inherited from the ones in the past. The dignity of work used to mean something to men more than it does today thus far too many men even when present in a young man’s life don’t set a very good example of manliness. The feminization of our culture is doing on a grand scale what destruction it has done to government protected minorities for decades now.
Like I said, nothing and everything.
Pecos Pete| 12.18.12 @ 6:19PM
Thom: Excellent commentary.
Jimbobogie| 12.19.12 @ 12:31AM
The topic of Mao and China is way off-topic, but, as I recall it was a couple of gentlemen named Kissenger and Nixon who shook hands with Mao. Do those names ring any bells?
Jimbobogie| 12.19.12 @ 12:33AM
Sorry-this should have been a "reply" a few inches north of here.
gray man| 12.20.12 @ 2:19AM
the topic of Mao and China is exactly on topic.
ginger5010| 12.19.12 @ 3:47AM
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Bill8472| 12.19.12 @ 1:51PM
Oh boy, money for ammo.
nathan| 12.19.12 @ 3:45PM
Feinstein told 60 Minutes after the passage of assault ban that if she could get all the guns she would but since she couldn't she would start with these guns. Someone needs to ask her what has changed. The answer of course is nothing. The Feinsteins of the 20's and 30's ensured that Jews and others did not have access to "assault" weapons. And in fact many gun laws today are modeled after those laws. When the Holocaust began Jews being told by those Feinsteins what weapons THEY needed to defend themselves found themselves defenseless against the Nazis. Read the history of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Marek Edelman found going up against the SS with pistols didn't work very well. When a solar flare takes out much of the power on the west coast, Diane will be the first to want Bushmasters for herself and her children and grandchildren as they face the mob while society totally collapses. Do not presume to tell me what I need to defend myself folks. They said the same things to the Jews 80 years ago.
gray man| 12.20.12 @ 2:17AM
the answer is simple and has always been there. Arm the teachers, and if in collage, allow concealed weapons on students.