Do we need to make our schools safer in response to what happened in Connecticut? (Sandy: theatre, living in)

[PB&J O'Rourke]

I hate alcohol, alcohol is made to disrupt the normal thought patterns in a human and poison their body, yet it's socially acceptable, and even encouraged by society, that everyone gathers to ingest this mind altering poison that lowers inhibitions, leads to domestic violence, murder, rape, suicide, causes vehicle accidents, helps lead to unplanned pregnancies, can damage a fetus of a pregnant woman...

Yet all it takes is walking into the store and plopping down some cash to get it?

[gg]

Originally Posted by XRiteMA98

Came home from work and my step daughter - who is a senior in Chartiers valley school district, going to Pitt Oakland next year - tells me there is a threat a kid will shot up the school on Fri cuz is the end of the world.
Now I see on TV the gun buying has spiked... i really am scared...
I hate guns. guns are meant to kill. I am a pacifist. I hate them. what shall I do? she says she doesn't want to go to school on Fri. I work on Fri. I am freaked out.

I missed this, but I would have let her stay home if there is that much concern. Shootings are on the rise this year for some reason. Seems it is a weekly thing.

[PB&J O'Rourke]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

I missed this, but I would have let her stay home if there is that much concern. Shootings are on the rise this year for some reason. Seems it is a weekly thing.

Nah, it's just perception and media saturation.

[EveKendall]

Originally Posted by Katiana

Was Adam Lanza on psychotropic meds?

Please read this:

We have to change -- it's about time - Boulder Daily Camera

A quote:

Improving mental health services is fine; it's just not clear that it would stop many mass killings. Mental health services are notoriously unavailable in inner cities, until people who need them get to prison. But Adam Lanza, the Newtown killer, and some other mass killers have been young men without criminal records.

They are eccentrics, loners, odd ducks. But good Lord, there are millions of such people who pose no threat to anyone. We simply cannot start isolating people we think are weird; it is unthinkable. The mental health argument in some sense is beside the point.

Did you even read the post I was referring to about psychotropic drugs? This is a bigger issue that just Adam Lanza's story.
Why are you so anti-mental health?
I am not talking about isolating mentall ill people (although many cerainly end up in the prison system, which is terrible)--the hyperbole is unecessary. I think it is undeniable that someone who commits mass murder has mental health problems. This does not think I mean that all mentally ill people are dangerous or any such nonsense.
I will take my own 15 years of experience working in the mental health system over an editorial in the Boulder Daily Camera. Sheesh.

[Pitts10yrs]

It's not that hard. If you have say, bipolar, autism, or psychosis you should not be ever allowed to purchase or be near a firearm. I might extend that to driving a car, but I guess that would be extreme. The thing is we have empowered parents to believe that despite their children being very ill, we tell them they are "special", and can do everything all the other "normal" kids can do. We are afraid to tell them there are certain things they should never do. That being handling a firearm, or ever being exposed to firearms.

Sadly, Sandy Hook was a tragedy created by Lanza's mother. She is to blame, but sadly she paid the ultimate price. I really dont need to hear from people who lived there what a great mother she was, when it is obvious she was not. She trained that monster to use a rifle, and turned him into killer knowing full well he was mental ill from a young age. She was stupid and irresponsible.

Continuing, I dont need to hear from people on the news who are diagnosied with autism or whatever disorder proclaiming they are "normal". We treat mental illness like we treat many other medical disorders. Many MH disorders are fraught with quick shifts in mood, and impulsivity, which does not mix well with firearms. I reiterate, if you have a diagnosis you should be banned for purchasing a firearm. Forever.

[PB&J O'Rourke]

Autism is a wide spectrum. You can be autistic and be unable to ever talk, never be able to care for yourself, never be able to live a normal life. Or you can be so mildly autistic that you merely miss the odd social cue here and there but are otherwise completely normal. In fact, Asperger syndrome is being rolled into the Autism spectrum fully as of the latest DSM, which makes your argument even more moot, as most Asperger cases are just socially awkward as the full extent of their 'abnormalities.'


But thanks for weighing in on something you clearly don't understand very well, given, well... your whole post.

[gg]

It is interesting to hear about the NRA's response. They want to arm people in schools. Of course once an armed person in a school shoots students somewhere, we could of course arm the students and really everyone. That way the NRA is happy it progressed us all.


Gun Control & Hijacking - Archie Bunker - YouTube

[stburr91]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

You are no doubt Archie. Kind of a fun read. Thanks for the entertainment. Great stuff!

Do you know that many schools already have armed off duty police officers as security?

What about Israel, where terrorist shoot up some of their schools. They armed the teachers, and the problem went away.

Also, the Columbine School shooting happened when there was an assault weapons ban. You can ban guns, then these madmen will go to explosives, like in the Bath School disaster, where 58 people were killed, including 38 school children.

I'm sorry to inform you guys, but you can ban every gun, and bad things will still happen to good people.

[gg]

Originally Posted by stburr91

What about Israel, where terrorist shoot up some of their schools. They armed the teachers, and the problem went away.

You might want to read about Israel before you use them as an example. Goodness, stop falling for the propaganda machine on FOX or whatever other garbage people listen to. Start actually reading.

Israeli gun control regulations 'opposit... JPost - National News

Israel rejects NRA's guns-in-schools claim - CBS News

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

You might want to read about Israel before you use them as an example. Goodness, stop falling for the propaganda machine on FOX or whatever other garbage people listen to. Start actually reading.


Israel rejects NRA's guns-in-schools claim - CBS News

This article makes no sense - it's basically saying that Isreal has had armed guards in schools since 1995 but that they are only their to stop terrorists attacks not random gunman?? Do they just sit around if they determine a shooter is there for non terror specific purposes?