China, and like our public cares about that.

How about baseball bats (husband beats wife to death in Polk County), matches (arson), cars (hit and run). It's not the tools (of death), it's the sick demented people who kill. Want some tough gun laws? Charge an automatic additional 15 years to a crime committed with a gun. No appeal, no plea bargaining, no liberal judges to ameliorate the sentence handed down by a jury.

I didn't hear about the kids cut up in Japan, or China. I bet the killers didn;'t run up the body counts that the All American Gunmen did though. America the beautiful. It makes a body proud.

Just so our liberal readers have some comparisons. The China massacre was 30 people injured by the meat cleaver wheeling psycho, 7 children killed and 2 adults. I’m sure Amazon or Bed, Bath and Beyond will be announcing their band on meat cleavers any day now.
Banning assault rifles because a lunatic goes out and kills a bunch of poor kids is a crazy as banning gasoline because someone has been drinking and driving and runs a school bus off the road and kills everyone on board. Life sucks but there is no easy fix people. Talk of banning guns is a knee jerk reaction and is like putting a band-aid on a decapitation!
Did you know?
32,367 people died in car crashes in 2011
9,878 due to DUI
8,583 shooting deaths
257 from assault rifles
2,064 from bladed type weapons
440,000 deaths due to tobacco use
So according to the above statistics it would appear we are going after the wrong ban. Maybe we need to start with tobacco, and then we can move on to maybe alcohol and then finally cars.

Yep....guns kill people. And a spoon made Rosie O'Donnel fat.

In our mad dash to judgment and condemnation of assault weapons following the horrific shooting in Connecticut, I wonder if we’re not attacking the wrong end of the problem. I seriously doubt we’re going to stop violence by banning assault weapons.
I wonder if we are failing to seriously deal with conditioning the minds of our children against the kind of violence seen in Connecticut, Colorado (Columbine in 1999 by 2 students) and elsewhere. I have yet to see any serious conversation taking place about the very violent video games, television programs, movies and other media promoting extreme violence and mayhem.
In Monday’s edition of the Tampa Bay Times, I noticed a promotional flyer from the Sports Authority offering a “kid’s” air soft rifle on sale at $29.95 - a close replica of the AR-15 used in the Connecticut shooting. They also offer a replica of a Colt .45 semi-auto pistol and M4 kit. Do I hear anything about retailers pulling these kid-friendly assault weapon imitations from their shelves? Do I hear Obama or any of the other political talking heads addressing the kind of “brainwashing” our kids are receiving through thoughtless retailers, Hollywood producers and broadcast media? Until we look at both ends and all sides of the problem of why we see kids (and others) killing kids, we are succumbing to a political knee-jerk reaction by only banning assault weapons.

Harvey,
So now lets blame the media. I find that to be an easy cop-out for people that don't want to take the responsiblity that we should as adults in raising young minds. The word "no" is a very useful tool. Also explaining what real and fake is. If the movie is rated "R" maybe 6 year old little Billy shouldn't be allowed to watch it. On Thanksgiving Morning I went to see the Movie "SkyFall" which is rated "R" (I believe). There was a father their with his daughter who couldn't be more than 5 in the audience. During the shooting at the Batman Movie in CO there were children (3-8) at a midnight showing of a PG-13 or R rated movie. Don't blame the media, blame the lack of parents standing up to their children.

Guns don't kill people. People kill people. Guns just make it a LOT easier for people killing to run up massive body counts in rapid time. Guns make mass killings possible.
How many people would be dead in Arora Colorodo if the crazy just had a knife? How many kids in CT would still have their lives ahead of them if the wacko had to reload every six shots? People kill, not guns, but guns make it easier for them to get the job done like they do.

Couldn't have said it better JACOB!

Ed Harris

your statement is a joke not the NRA If we hade NO NRA we would have NO GUNS today Think of all the lifes were saved buy Guns MORE GUN LAWS WILL NOT HELP A THING we have 20,000 gun laws now on the books in the USA

lol Jaque Mioff, thanks for the break in this sadness.

Well Sharon...it surely wasn't to diminish the memory of the victims as we're all just heartbroken over the loss of those kids and brave women over a senseless, preventable act. They are in our thoughts this Christmas along with their friends and families.

Maybe it was just "Debbie" that got her!

Grand proportions? Speak for yourself ;-)

...and Ed, I must add..... you were great in Apollo 13, but so-so in The Truman Show.

We must sink the Bismarck!

Michael,
You mean the 250% jump in gun sales nation wide since Friday was in fear retalliation of the Shooting in Conniticut say it isn't so.

I can't speak for Dick's or any other sporting goods stores, but when Walmart pulls something off the shelves there are none in the back room. All recalls are sent back to the manufacturers and all UPC will not work. Big label on Cash registers state RECALL and will not ring up the item. This I know as a Walmart department manager.
If one of the principals or teachers had carried, the man could have been killed himself instead of those brave people who threw themselves unarmed in front of an assault rifle. The problem is not the type of gun. The problem is the fore thought to deter the problem happening before it happened. Isn't interesting that 11 armed guards protect our presidents child and our own children are left unprotected because of a few people that are afraid of guns? I grew up in an age when students brought guns to school in pickup trucks in a thing called a gun rack. Never had a problem back then. People need to think and protect their own. I would rather shoot that wait on a cop if my children or I were threatened. You think the gunman will wait for the cops to arrive?

Cin, you nailed it with your line - "I really don't think the leaders who crafted the constitution ever envisioned a world where the Bushmaster Patrolman's Carbine M4A3 Rifle would be needed for protection." I mean c'mon - in all seriousness......do we REALLY need to have such weapons? The next thing would be every guy on the street packing a nuclear device. It's overkill! Something HAS to be done.

Just remember this people...our enemies will always have access to the weapons you mention. Bad people DON'T FOLLOW THE LAW!!

According to CNN it was crafted when our gun was a musket, which shot one shot at a time and was very encumbersome to reload. Not a 30 bullet wack pack

Actually Rowan, there are several types of Point of Sales that a person doesn't legally need a background check before purchasing a firearm. And their ownership would be just as legal as it you purchased them from a store that requires a background check. So no, not all are gotten illegally.

You are right on the money Rowan! This generation wants everything NOW. We did not get to this point over night and we are not going to fix it with a simple ban on assault rifles or a ban on anything. We will always have bad people doing bad things and they will come up with better ways of doing it as time goes on. We must be able to protect ourselves and we can only do that if we protect our rights.

Chuck,
Per video evidence the Bushmaster AR-15 was in his hands and he fired 20-30 shots at kids with it. So yes the assualt rifle was used in the shooting, another Hi-Powered Rifle was in the truck. He had a total of four guns when he left his house. KEEP INFORMED AMERICA... FACTS ARE FACTS.

or form a militia, one or the other. I could be wrong, but the text in the amendment says militia multiple times.

Dream on. Try punching holes in a tyrant with your assault rifel when he hits your street with Naplm & Agent Orange. Then again he may just hit you with artillary fired from jet aircraft that swoop down upon you. Maybe a few Anthrax canisters will be added to the small nukes he drops on you? Your assault weapons may kill a bunch of innocent people when crazys go on shooting sprees, but to fight a trrant? Maybe 250 years ago. Today? I don't think so.

Johnny,
You have already lost your rights and personal liberties. So hmmmm, yeah already happened. Why do you think every phone call, text message, online search/interaction is recorded and stored by our government. Your movements with a cell phone have been tracked for approximately a decade. So what personal liberties are you protect from the tyrannical government right now. Are you already risen up?

Yes, it does only say it once, but the intention is clear:

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

And I suppose you would use your Browning lever action with a handful of magazines on a kindergartener to rip through their tiny body because it would cause the same amount of damage. What a guy!

Thank God there is someone else on the earth that understands if the way I do!

RCAROL ... its comments like that which infuriate me. If you don't have anything to add or even a FACTUAL bassed argument then just don't say anything at all. Totally uncalled for.

Give a know-it-all a keyboard and they become an expert in sociology. You haven't a clue how this tragedy affected any one of us, so don't even try and pass judgment. You wouldn't even be close.

RCAROL...are you completely clueless or just letting your emotions go crazy?

Johnny,
What did G.W. Bush do with 9-11? Really, that is your statement.

Touche' !

Johnny,
The reason they don't is because we don't do anything about it with the most powerful voice we have. Our vote and our dollar. When is the last time the Nation has considered a candidate outside of the two major candidates running? Or honestly asked why Billions of dollars are going to campaigns, but not to fix the issues hurting our nation. We aren't in a crisis due to Left/Right, we are in a crisis because we as a society don't care.