A crime that shocks the senses: Shooting children and staff to death in their school
Updated Saturday with DeKalb Schools statement:
The shootings in Newtown have deeply shaken people everywhere. I continue to see numerous Facebook postings expressing shock, grief and anger, and it is the first thing people mention wherever I go in Decatur today. Many people cry as they talk about the mass murder of 20 children and six adults at the school.
In addition, my local school system sent out an advisory today about to talk to children here about the deaths of children, teachers and administrators at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
We are a nation in crisis today over this. And a nation unsure of what to do next.
Back to the original posting from yesterday:
There are simply no words. A gunman opens fire in a Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school and kills 26 people, many children in first grade.
Twenty children are among the dead at Sandy Hook Elementary, a school of 700 in Newtown, a small town in Connecticut, about 65 miles from New York City. The gunmen, who committed suicide after his rampage, is 20-year-olds. Adam Lanza died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, but not before killing his mother Nancy Lanza at home and then driving to the school in her car, according to news report. (The details of this horrific story are changing by the hour as more information is released.)
Earlier reports were that Nancy Lanza was a teacher at the school but that is now in question. She is not on the faculty list at the school.
Lanza’s violent rampage through the school this morning left 20 young children and six adults dead there. All told, he shot and killed 27 people before turning the gun on himself.
My husband’s sister lives in this picturesque town and teaches at the middle school. I have not talked to her but my husband has exchanged messages with her. I cannot imagine the grief and horror as families learn that their beloved child is among the victims of this psycho.
Among the responses:
DeKalb County Schools:
In light of the tragedy in Connecticut, the DeKalb County School District has asked all school administrators and staff to review their safe school and emergency plans. School resource officers and campus supervisors will continue to be highly visible at their assigned schools to provide maximum security for staff and students. We will continue to communicate with the different police departments in the district to provide support as needed. The safety of students, staff and visitors is our top priority in the DeKalb County School District, and we are dedicated to ensuring that our public schools remain the safest places for our most precious resources -our children
President Obama:
This afternoon, I spoke with Governor Malloy and FBI Director Mueller. I offered Governor Malloy my condolences on behalf of the nation, and made it clear he will have every single resource that he needs to investigate this heinous crime, care for the victims, counsel their families.
We’ve endured too many of these tragedies in the past few years. And each time I learn the news I react not as a President, but as anybody else would — as a parent. And that was especially true today. I know there’s not a parent in America who doesn’t feel the same overwhelming grief that I do.
The majority of those who died today were children — beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old. They had their entire lives ahead of them — birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own. Among the fallen were also teachers — men and women who devoted their lives to helping our children fulfill their dreams.
So our hearts are broken today — for the parents and grandparents, sisters and brothers of these little children, and for the families of the adults who were lost. Our hearts are broken for the parents of the survivors as well, for as blessed as they are to have their children home tonight, they know that their children’s innocence has been torn away from them too early, and there are no words that will ease their pain.
As a country, we have been through this too many times. Whether it’s an elementary school in Newtown, or a shopping mall in Oregon, or a temple in Wisconsin, or a movie theater in Aurora, or a street corner in Chicago — these neighborhoods are our neighborhoods, and these children are our children. And we’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.
This evening, Michelle and I will do what I know every parent in America will do, which is hug our children a little tighter and we’ll tell them that we love them, and we’ll remind each other how deeply we love one another. But there are families in Connecticut who cannot do that tonight. And they need all of us right now. In the hard days to come, that community needs us to be at our best as Americans. And I will do everything in my power as President to help.
Because while nothing can fill the space of a lost child or loved one, all of us can extend a hand to those in need — to remind them that we are there for them, that we are praying for them, that the love they felt for those they lost endures not just in their memories but also in ours. May God bless the memory of the victims and, in the words of Scripture, heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds.
John Barge, Georgia state school superintendent:
We at the Georgia Department of Education grieve with the victims and families of the senseless tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. Generally speaking, schools are safe places for students, but these kinds of incidents remind us to always keep school safety at the forefront. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Sandy Hook Elementary School community.
Marian Wright Edelman, president of the Children’s Defense Fund:
What is it going to take to stop the craziness of gun violence in this country when every three hours a child or teen is killed by a gun? What is it going to take to make the politicians stand up and put sensible gun laws in place so we don’t have to mourn the horror of more senseless deaths of young children murdered at an elementary school? Once again we are faced with unspeakable horror, and once again we are reminded that there is no safe harbor for our children. How young do the victims have to be and how many children need to die before we stop the proliferation of guns in our nation?
We can’t just talk about it and then do nothing until the next shooting when we will profess shock again. This latest terrible tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School is no fluke. It is a result of the senseless, immoral neglect of all of us as a nation to fail to protect children instead of guns and to speak out against the pervasive culture of violence. It is up to us to stop these preventable tragedies.
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan:
School shootings are always incomprehensible and horrific tragedies. But words fail to describe today’s heartbreaking and savage attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School. As the father of two children in elementary school, I can barely imagine the anguish and losses suffered today by the Newtown community. Our hearts and prayers go out to every parent, child, teacher, staff member, and administrator at Sandy Hook and the surrounding community. And our thanks go out to every teacher, staff member, and first responder who cared for, comforted, and protected children from harm, often at risk to themselves. We will do everything in our power to assist and support the healing and recovery of Newtown.
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten:
The entire AFT community is shaken to its core by this massacre of young children and the educators and school employees who care for and nurture them. Twenty children and six adults were shot and killed today in one of the worst school shootings in history. We grieve for them all, and our prayers are with the Sandy Hook Elementary School community and all of Newtown, as well as the AFT nurses caring for victims at Danbury Hospital, following this heinous act. I just got off the phone with Newtown Federation of Teachers President Tom Kuroski, and pledged to do everything we can to provide support and comfort to the students, teachers, administrators, their families and everyone in this community grappling with this trauma.
Our thanks go out to all of the first responders for their efforts to ensure the safety of all the students and staff. In this horrible moment, there were also extraordinary acts of courage by school staff to lock down the school and protect children.
We’ll never be able to prevent every senseless act of violence, but our children, educators and school employees go to school believing it is a safe sanctuary. We’ve been through this too many times. Everything we can do, we must do, including a renewed focus on gun control and preventing gun violence.
To all of those statements, I can only offer an amen.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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139 comments Add your comment
Private Citizen
December 15th, 2012
1:38 pm
it might be a real good thing to get all of this “Glock” and “9mm” stuff out of culture and real life. I went and bought a saw from a guy on Craigslist. I get the address. It’s in an apartment complex. Dude answers the door all cracked-out or whatever, eyes real bloodshot, lips dried out, no shirt, and with a big huge pistol stuck in the front pocket of his baggy jeans and no lights on in the apartment. Craziest scary thing I’ve ever seen. I didn’t expect it. Said he liked to “protect himself.” Dude was “livin’ on the edge.” I was glad to get out of there and it really shook me up and not in a good way. He explained himself saying he got a work injury and could no longer work. Who knows if it was an addict story of if there was truth in it. Dude looked like he needed to be institutionalised and put back together. He wasn’t that old, either, not more than 25. He had completely gone off the rails, was not going to be “getting a job” anytime soon.
Private Citizen
December 15th, 2012
1:45 pm
I should have called 911 on the guy, except they would have put him in prison, not provided help.
Lee
December 15th, 2012
2:36 pm
Whenever there is an incident such as this, the Pavlovian response is “abolish guns” and more restrictive laws.
If Adam Lanza had driven his mother’s car through a playground full of students, would we be calling for the abolition of automobiles and more “drivers ed”? I think not. Timothy McVeigh used common fertilizer and fuel to murder 168 people – including children in the daycare. I can still go to the feed store and buy tons of it – do it every spring.
Who knows what was going on in this young man’s mind in the months and weeks before this horrific crime. Most rational folks will never understand. It’s simply beyond our comprehension.
BTW, the misinformation put out by the news media in the first few hours was astounding. But that’s a topic for another day.
Proud Educator
December 15th, 2012
2:38 pm
None of us have the answers to what happened. All we can do is love our children, pray for the families of the victims, and be more supportive of each other. I didn’t want to respond to some of the posts, but I was afraid that there was going to be more of the dump on public education syndrome. It’s unfortunate that so many blame all of society’s ills on public education: schools aren’t safe, what the teachers need to do, etc. This should just be a time for remembrance and prayer, not finger pointing.
Maureen Downey
December 15th, 2012
2:57 pm
@To all, The AJC has a story online now about the challenges in reporting this story: Among the points:
— For hours on Friday, the shooter was identified as Ryan Lanza, with his age alternatively reported as 24 or 20. The confusion seemed partly explainable when it was determined that 20-year-old Adam Lanza, the shooter who had then killed himself, was carrying identification belonging to his 24-year-old brother.
This case of mistaken identity was painfully reminiscent of the Atlanta Olympics bombing case in 1996, when authorities fingered an innocent man, and the news media ran with it, destroying his life. Such damage was averted in Ryan Lanza’s case largely by his public protestations on social media, repeatedly declaring “It wasn’t me.”
— Initial reports differed as to whether Lanza’s mother, Nancy, was shot at the school, where she was said to be a teacher, or at the home she shared with Adam Lanza. By Friday afternoon, it was determined that she had been shot at their home.
Then doubts arose about whether Nancy Lanza had any link to Sandy Hook Elementary. At least one parent said she was a substitute teacher, but by early Saturday, an official said investigators had been unable to establish any connection with the school.
That seemed to make the massacre even more confusing. Early on, the attack was said to have taken place in her own classroom and was interpreted by more than one on-air analyst as possibly a way for Adam Lanza to strike back at children with whom he felt rivalry for his mother’s affection.
— Lanza’s weapons were listed as two pistols (a Glock and a Sig Sauer) as well as a .223-caliber Bushmaster rifle, but whether that rifle was used in the school or left in the trunk of Lanza’s car remained unclear.
— There were numerous versions of what Lanza was wearing, including camouflage attire and black paramilitary garb.
Grob Hahn
December 15th, 2012
3:17 pm
I’m sure putting the staff ahead of the children was just a Freudian slip eh Maureen?
Grobbbbbbbbbbbb
Mandella1099
December 15th, 2012
3:38 pm
If anyone wants absolute proof that the posters on DeKalb School Watch II have gone off into the deep end, just head over there now. Their current posts are connecting the shooting and death of 20 children to their desire to see the teacher-pupil ratio reduced in DeKalb – sick, sick, SICK
Mandella1099
December 15th, 2012
3:43 pm
This is what DeKalb Schools Watch II takes from the death of children:
“Our hearts go out to the victims of this terrible event in Connecticut. Certainly our security staff is on alert, however, there is never a complete guarantee of safety. The school in CT had really good security. There is really nothing more the people of that community could have done to prevent this. The teachers and staff who protected their students and shielded their eyes from the carnage are brave, caring souls and did their jobs with courage and focus – just as we’re sure our teachers and staff would do. That said, one thing we could do is ensure that the ratio of adults to students is kept to a certain standard in every building in our county so that in the event of any kind of tragedy, the adults in charge do not have too many students to protect at one time.”
Mandella1099
December 15th, 2012
3:46 pm
And from a follow-up blogger/supporter (absolutely no editing here after the colon):
“one thing we could do is ensure that the ratio of adults to students is kept to a certain standard in every building in our county so that in the event of any kind of tragedy, the adults in charge do not have too many students to protect at one time.”
This. Bravo.
mountain man
December 15th, 2012
3:49 pm
“I should have called 911 on the guy, except they would have put him in prison, not provided help.”
So you left him out there on the street, not knowing if he was going to go blow away a bunch of kindergarteners?
Old South
December 15th, 2012
4:20 pm
So, Las Vegas had a shooting in one of its Hotels. A hospital was the scene of several shots.. All after this event.
Folks, this is our new normal. And it’s not new, it’s been going on for years. Washington DC is full of mad-men who simply do not care about your life. They’ll say that they do, but this is all political. Obama may have been sad, but he’s a fool if he is surprised. We’ve already had elementary schools be the site of active shooters and we will again.
This is normal in the United States.
Old South
December 15th, 2012
4:30 pm
Why would any one be surprised at this? How can you not expect one of the millions of deranged citizens to eventually hit a school? Other elementary schools have already been hit, so why all shock?
We’ve accepted this as normal in America. Monday could very well bring another.
Private Citizen
December 15th, 2012
4:33 pm
Mountain Man, I did not witness this person do anything illegal, and they were in calm/ good spirits, but it was weird. Unlike you, I do not project things onto people. The situation was alarming but danger was not the key thing. It was something else. I think the person needed help. I am guessing he may have been fencing (selling) stolen stuff. I didn’t want to bust him and then me pay for the incarceration, too. I think we have enough of that already. It was a weird scene, though. Who knows, maybe he was a “trader” and all the junk he had was legitimate. Point is it was a nice apartment complex, so being armed for battle seemed a little strange. I also did not want to give the police the satisfaction of practicing their swat team maneuvers because I don’t want them tuned up and doing it to me because they have the wrong address. No thank you. The present gun culture is not just limited to individuals.
Private Citizen
December 15th, 2012
4:48 pm
I saw one of his neighbors and asked direction to the apartment. The neighbor did not seem too alarmed and lived within eyesight, close by. But it was a weird scene. “Gun Culture” and these current guns do not even have much personality. They’re square and boxy. Guy looked like he needed to be put in the car and taken to the hospital. Doesn’t work that way here, though. Let me ask you something, maybe rhetorically, if your neightbor is all whacked out, can you put them in the car and take them to the hospital? If they fall of a ladder you can. If their eyes look like red
Draino and their lips are cracked, I don’t think the hospital wants to see them. Oh, my friend tells me today that a local guy he knows just died in his bed at 39 years old. Somebody went to check on him, saw him through a window, he was in bed not moving and his face was blue, so the person kicked in the door. Messin’ with that stuff. It’s not like there’s a treatment center with the door propped open.
Violence abounds
December 15th, 2012
4:58 pm
Watch this video. Watch to see what the news says this shooter was taking. Get your kids off the psychoactive drugs. Get yourself off the psychoactive drugs.
http://youtu.be/UhO0Pul_FcE
Pride and Joy
December 15th, 2012
5:19 pm
Mandella, your fantasy solution is silly. Bullets don’t distinguish between adults and children. A bullet will rip through an adult body as quickly as that of a child’s. We’re all flesh and blood.
You seem to be going way out of your way to avoid the obvious solution – do away with guns.
The gunman didn’t even need his own gun. The guns belonged to his mom, a normal, sane woman. The shooter stole them from her and murdered her too.
The fantasy that if only gun owners were educated and careful, no murders would happen is silly.
We cannot prevent mental illness; we can only treat it.
As long as we allow guns, we allow and encourage murder.
No one should be shocked at this news. It happens all the time. Children are murdered everyday by guns. 30,000 people in the US die every year from guns. THIRTY THOUSAND PEOPLE DIE IN THE US EVERY YEAR FROM GUNS!
Private Citizen
December 15th, 2012
5:38 pm
That’s a good point. Was the person taking an SSRI, i.e Prozac?
News 2 Me
December 15th, 2012
5:59 pm
Our country refuses to control Illegal Aliens from invading this country, what makes you think we can control Guns any better than we already do? Illegal aliens smuggle drugs and guns into this country on a habitual basis. We need to banish those that don’t belong here before we can expect our own American psychos to stop destroying our country.
God Bless the victims, their families and the Newtown, CT community!
Private Citizen
December 15th, 2012
6:03 pm
BBC is running a story of what happened. It is really horrible.
Private Citizen
December 15th, 2012
6:21 pm
New 2 Me, You have it backwards. They take firearms sold in the U.S. and take them into Mexico to arm the drug cartels.
Private Citizen
December 15th, 2012
6:44 pm
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/research/hicrc/firearms-research/guns-and-death/index.html
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/research/hicrc/firearms-research/gun-threats-and-self-defense-gun-use/index.html
true sorrow
December 15th, 2012
8:09 pm
@Dave
I am an ultra conservative and I was having the same thoughts about placing age limits on weapons; the founding fathers made age limits for certain things perhaps it is an idea that we can extend; saftey classes no problem; magazine capacity, lets actually have an open discussion about those.
If some want to compare the US to China plz you go ahead and move there; I know trolls try to stir things up; but the second amendment was put in the constitution for a reason it was to protect against tyranny.
Pride and Joy
December 15th, 2012
11:02 pm
true sorrow, if you don’t like my China example, look for real, civilized countries like Great Britain and Canada. They have gun control laws and very very few murders with guns.
Violence abounds
December 15th, 2012
11:29 pm
Two generations ago kids in rural areas walked to school with their .22 caliber rifles, put them in their lockers, and walked home again with them. Along the way, they stopped to shoot at cans, rocks, bottles, etc. and IT WAS NO BIG DEAL. This is not about age limits or anything of the kind. Kids had the right examples set at home by parents who cared. They had the right examples set in society by people who treated each other with far more respect (for their privacy, their rights, the fruits of their labor, their freedom).
Here’s a thought. Since laws can fix all problems (most here seem to think that), let’s pass a law against murder. Let’s pass a law against using a gun to kill someone. Let’s pass a law against bringing a gun to a school. Let’s pass a law against killing your mother and stealing her guns and then taking them to a school and killing 20 kids and 6 adults. Awesome, problem solved!
Criminals don’t obey laws.
Guns don’t kill people…people on anti-depressants and other prescription psychoactive pharmaceuticals kill people. Please do yourself a favor and watch this video:
http://youtu.be/UhO0Pul_FcE
Then keep watching the news and see if any news media outlet even talks about what this kid was taking. I will bet that it will be covered up as quickly as the drugs the kids in Columbine were taking.
Private Citizen
December 16th, 2012
7:19 am
Ice Cream truck delivery driver in Atlanta told me that when he was a high school student in Colorado, they (students) carried their rifles walking down the hall inside the school. Sounds like Swtizerland where every home is required to have a rifle. I wonder, the Swiss probably have regulation over other weapons besides rifle.
Porter
December 16th, 2012
7:25 am
Newtown: Let there be a New Town all over America, let not the sacrifice of these babes, these precious children go for naught. Let there be a revival for prayer and for a renewed relationship with the Savior. His blood and His sacrifice is the only true power against evil. Seek Him everyone this Christmas season, especially the lost and the hurting. May the spirit of truth prevail, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. +++
Cobb History Teacher
December 16th, 2012
8:20 am
@ true sorrow
My thoughts exactly. I actually had a conversation very recently with my AA and Principal about this. Having a military back ground (I’m a guardsman) we learn a lot about security and targets of opportunity. Schools are soft targets not only for psychopaths but also for terrorist. It may be time the government ans the school systems begin to thin about how to combat this potential. As abhorrent as it may seem to suggest arming teachers. The idea of a group of teachers who are trained to react and have access to a weapon locked in their room might not be a bad idea. The idea of confiscating all this in country like ours is a fantasy as we have too many “preppers” and people who will not give them up not to mention too many machinists who could replicate missing parts and or manufacture whole new firearms.
Pride and Joy
December 16th, 2012
8:31 am
This quote “The idea of a group of teachers who are trained to react and have access to a weapon locked in their room might not be a bad idea.”
comes straight out of the head of a nut job.
You DARE to advocate arming teachers in order to fight violence?
You are certifiably crazy.
anon
December 16th, 2012
11:18 am
Pride and Joy,
My spouse and I are right there with you. We’re devastated. This could have happened to one of our little boys. It’s horrible, and it could happen so easily here. We have more than our share of lunatics and guns in Georgia, and there will always be a certain percentage of the population with personality disorders (including sociopaths). A lot of these people are high-functioning and able to conceal their conditions until they commit their heinous crimes (or we figure out that they’re the serial killers we’ve been hunting for years).
We need common-sense gun control. And we need something like the Australian law, where they paid people to bring guns that were already on the streets. We’ve been talking a lot about how much safer we would feel sending our kids to school in Australia, Canada, the UK, or just about any other western democracy. Why are we so insane about guns in this country? And why does anyone need a semi-automoatic weapon for hunting? It doesn’t seem very sporting. In fact, nothing beyond a cross-bow seems very sporting when you’re hunting animals that can’t fight back (i.e., just about every animal you find in the wilds of the US). I would also like to see criminal and civil liability imposed on gun owners who allow their guns to get into the hands of those who commit crimes. That kind of negligence warrants jail time. I hope the victims’ families sue the perpetrator’s estate. The mother enabled these crimes by having the guns in her home. She bears a fair amount of responsibility for her son’s crimes, and her estate should be held responsible. And if it turns out that any of the father’s guns were used, he should be held responsible, too.
Serious and effective gun control laws will become more feasible in the coming years, thanks to changing demographics in the electorate and expected changes in the composition of the Supreme Court. Both Justices Scalia and Kennedy are nearly 80, and Justice Scalia does not appear to take great care of himself, so a retirement could happen in the next four years. DC v Heller was wrongly decided. It would be great to see it reversed, and we would only need one retirement from the conservative wing to see that happen.
true sorrow
December 16th, 2012
11:20 am
@history teacher
I have done some research and it seems that plan is very plausible; license teachers as aux. deputies (they would have to have peace officier training) and then you have numerous police at the school; the SRO would coordinate at the school level.
long time educator
December 16th, 2012
1:23 pm
Her is a link to a blog a mother of a troubled child wrote. It is troubling and frightening.
http://anarchistsoccermom.blogspot.com/2012/12/thinking-unthinkable.html
Andy M.
December 16th, 2012
1:25 pm
@pride and joy- “Knives are not as efficient as guns.” “Knife wounds are survivable.” How do you explain 9/11? 19 terrorists killed almost 3k people using nothing more than knives and box-cutters to kill the pilots, crew and assume control of the aircraft. Seems pretty efficient to me if your plan is sound and carried thru as laid out. Lets talk about how many lives have been saved in the last 48hrs by a gun or the mere presence of a gun. Oh….we can’t, that doesn’t fit the media’s or your template that “guns are bad”, so that won’t get any airtime or space. Lets talk about the guns used, the very same weapons that our police use, so maybe the cops shouldn’t have them either if they are so bad an un-neccesary. Cops are the good guys you say? Granted , the vast, over-whelming majority are, but did it occur to you how many cops we have in this state who carry a weapon who would not be able to get a carry permit due to a blemish on their record, such as a domestic abuse conviction or other felony? Yet we allow them carte blance to carry a gun anywhere, even around our kids. Scott Peterson comes to mind. You say you don’t want heroics or teachers having to engage a mad lunatic. Well, I’m sorry, the world is not as you would have it. Here’s a story I want you to read and tell me that a gun in the hands of an educator didn’t save lives http://gunssavelives.net/self-defense/1997-mi-school-principal-captures-mass-murderer-with-his-45-colt/ Lets talk about your idea that folks don’t need semi-auto rifles or handguns for hunting for defense. I personally think that a 60 or 70 year old man doesn’t need a Corvette or Mustang GT but I seem them driving them all of the time. What could they possibly need with that much horsepower? It’s called personal freedom. They can buy whatever car they want and I should be able to own whatever firearm I choose just as you have the right to disdain them.
Andy M.
December 16th, 2012
1:35 pm
OMG, we must outlaw hammers now. Maybe if he had only been attacked with a knife, he would have lived, eh P & J?
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/12/16/florida-man-accused-killing-neighbor-with-hammer/?test=latestnews
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
December 16th, 2012
3:28 pm
An ignorant people will not long remain free.
Look at this highly credible report of the now “unrecognized” two shooters who were in police custody after attempting to flee their “Operation Gladio” slaughter of innocents as the same Rockefeller-Bush/Rothschild faction we know built Big Oil on murder and arson, funded Hitler, killed JFK and MLK, gave us Waco, OKCity, 9/11 and the “Batman Massacre,” strikes again…for LIBOR coverup and to maintain their Fed Scam JFK gave his life to end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_fI0hm1dqY&feature=share
Pride and Joy
December 16th, 2012
6:03 pm
For every 100 people in the US, there are 88.5 guns.
Just think about that and let it sink in for a while.
We are already armed to the teeth. Giving more guns to more people is just stupid.
The gunman didn’t own any guns. He stole them. He took his assault rifle and blew his way through the front door of the school. Even if the principal and teachers were also packing heat and had a loaded pistol in their closet, the assault rifle could blow through the walls killing everyone before a teacher could get her gun out of the locked cabinet.
Then how are you going to protect the kids as they walk out of the school to the bus? A sniper with an assault rifle could pick them off there or when the bus pulled away. Assault rifles tear through the metal on a bus.
Arming teachers won’t prevent a single death.
More people die from their own guns than they kill intruders.
Most deaths from private citizens with guns are caused by accidents at home: children find the gun and kill themselves or a sibling, parents get in an argument and kill one another and so on.
GUNS KILL PEOPLE.
That’s what they were meant to do and they do it very efficiently.
Other countries with gun control don’t have nearly as many gun deaths.
All gun toting individuals are merely compensating for the power they feel they don’t have in their lives. They’re “making up” for feelings of inadequacy.
Short P$nis? Get a gun.
Poor and disenfranchised? Get a gun.
mountain man
December 16th, 2012
6:10 pm
“If Adam Lanza had driven his mother’s car through a playground full of students, would we be calling for the abolition of automobiles and more “drivers ed”? I think not. Timothy McVeigh used common fertilizer and fuel to murder 168 people – including children in the daycare. I can still go to the feed store and buy tons of it – do it every spring.”
If Adam Lanza had driven his mother’s car into the playground of students, I believe the death toll would have been MUCH less. Cars are not designed to efficiently kill people; they are designed for transportation.
And Timothy McVeigh did NOT blow up the federal building with just fertilizer and fuel – there was a lot more involved to get it to detonate. Just try to make a fertilizer – fuel bomb (and the Feds will be on you like white on rice, faster than you can think). How are you going to detonate it? I know about this stuff. There are REGULATIONS concerning explosives, and a LOT of enforcement. Guns that fire a hundred rounds a minute and magazines that hold thirty rounds each and can be changed in seconds – very little regulation. We have no idea how many of those guns are out there or who owns them – maybe the crazy who thinks YOUR six-year-old offended them.
mountain man
December 16th, 2012
6:12 pm
And also, Lee, we have a lot of REGULATION about who can drive a car, also. Registration, driver’s license, age limits. More than we have for assault rifles.
Pride and Joy
December 16th, 2012
6:57 pm
To Maureen,
Regarding waste, fraud and abuse, the principal of Mary Lin elementary showed everyone the proposed plans for the renovation/addition at Mary Lin Elementary school. It includes a private bathroom for the principal.
I think it is ridiculous to provide a principal of a school with his own private bathroom. Bathrooms are in short supply at the school and teh design could be easily changed to provide an outside opening so that others can use the bathroom.
Would love to see a blurb on this Get Schooled blog about it.Here are the proposed plans
http://www.atlanta.k12.ga.us/cms/lib/GA01000924/Centricity/Domain/1540/MLES_A100_Plan_Main_OVERLAY.pdf
true sorrow
December 17th, 2012
5:51 am
we are way behind on these subjects; found out a school district already allows armed teachers
http://www.reporternews.com/news/2009/aug/06/packed-for-school/