Shooting at CT elementary school leaves at least 27 dead, 18 of them children

[patrick1]

It's not a coincidence that 90% of these mass shootings happen in the US.

Too lazy to check wiki, but is that true? Off the top of my head in recent US history we've had:

1. Connecticut
2. Aurora
3. Sikh Temple
4. NIU
5. Virginia Tech
6. Indian Reservation
7. Columbine

Europe we have:

1. Breivik
2. Cumbria
3. Toulouse
4. Winnenden, Germany
5. 2008 Finland
6. 2007 Finland
7. Dunblane

Where do the smaller shootings happen. The US. There are so many smaller shootings in the US that it vastly outnumbers Europe.

Yeah, sadly the three dead type ones barely make some news programs.

[Boris]

It's not a coincidence that 90% of these mass shootings happen in the US.

Too lazy to check wiki, but is that true? Off the top of my head in recent US history we've had:

1. Connecticut
2. Aurora
3. Sikh Temple
4. NIU
5. Virginia Tech
6. Indian Reservation
7. Columbine

Europe we have:

1. Breivik
2. Cumbria
3. Toulouse
4. Winnenden, Germany
5. 2008 Finland
6. 2007 Finland
7. Dunblane

Where do the smaller shootings happen. The US. There are so many smaller shootings in the US that it vastly outnumbers Europe.

Yessir! But the term "mass killing" is specifically delineated by Franzl.

[Marokai Backbeat]

This is horrible. And will happen again, and again, and again, and again. Because certain people say we can't do anything about it.

Heart goes out to all involved. I've heard about this everywhere I've gone today. Truly ghastly.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I hate to have to ask this, but don't American schools all have some kind of campus police / security people running around. Or does that not apply to primary schools?

It depends on the school.  Primary schools generally don't unless they happen to be in a rough neighborhood, which this one most decidedly was not.

[Frodo]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/12/live-updates-newtown-ct-school-shooting/

Jesus Christ, this is horrible.

Hate to be the grim reaper of numbers, but there are now 20 (not 18) children among the dead.  

[7,052,770]

Does anyone have the numbers for the number of children killed by guns every year?  I realize I could Google it, but I want actual, unbiased numbers...

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Does anyone have the numbers for the number of children killed by guns every year?  I realize I could Google it, but I want actual, unbiased numbers...

The number of children "killed by guns" is zero.  I presume you meant killed WITH guns?

[© tweed]

I liked the status of this provocative kid I know, a Mets fan, on the Facial Book

There is more love in putting a gun to someone's head than there is in posting a status about it (and that includes this one, and this qualification, and this one, and this one...).

...

 It is sad, but not a disaster, because all disasters are measured against the creation of the world. Creation was a catastrophe and the world itself a Fall (and all 'fallen' fall in its image). The minute homo habilis picked up stone tools was the minute she started fashioning a gun. And we shoot people (and children) not because we can, but because it's what we like to do.

[Franzl]

Does anyone have the numbers for the number of children killed by guns every year?  I realize I could Google it, but I want actual, unbiased numbers...

The number of children "killed by guns" is zero.

[Fuzzybigfoot]

Does anyone have the numbers for the number of children killed by guns every year?  I realize I could Google it, but I want actual, unbiased numbers...

The number of children "killed by guns" is zero.

Oh, what a dazzling display of wit!  Checkmate, hippie scum!  

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Does anyone have the numbers for the number of children killed by guns every year?  I realize I could Google it, but I want actual, unbiased numbers...

The number of children "killed by guns" is zero.

Oh, what a dazzling display of wit!  Checkmate, hippie scum!  

Its not wit, its rage.  I'm tired of every tragedy being turned into a political circus.

Believe me, there are folks on my side of the aisle who will use the events of this sad day to make guns even more available, put guns in schools, etc.  I'm not looking forward to that either.

[© tweed]

if you made tragedies apolitical there is nothing left.  is war apolitical?  is war not a tragedy?

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

if you made tragedies apolitical there is nothing left.  is war apolitical?  is war not a tragedy?

I just find scoring political points while our country has just started to mourn to be distasteful.

[Franzl]

One thing the political system is there for (in theory) is to find ways to solve problems.

 I think it's safe to say the country has a problem. And nothing ever gets done because we don't connect the dots and say enough is enough.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I just find scoring political points while our country has just started to mourn to be distasteful.

Like Huckabee blaming this on God not being in the schools?  Conservatives make plenty of political hay out of stuff like this.  It's only when people bring up points they don't like that we're "politicizing a tragedy."  I call BS on the hypocrisy.

[© tweed]

if you made tragedies apolitical there is nothing left.  is war apolitical?  is war not a tragedy?

I just find scoring political points while our country has just started to mourn to be distasteful.

no, attention is most focused on a given social problem the moment the tragedy occurs.  more people are watching the news tonight with guns on their mind than have for a long while or will for a long while.  when else should we 'score some points?'

(for clarity, I more or less don't support gun control, "the toothpaste is out of the tube", mass indiscriminate murder is but a symptom of the decaying society in its Last Days).

[© tweed]

I just find scoring political points while our country has just started to mourn to be distasteful.

Like Huckabee blaming this on God not being in the schools?  Conservatives make plenty of political hay out of stuff like this.  It's only when people bring up points they don't like that we're "politicizing a tragedy."  I call BS on the hypocrisy.

as I pointed out above, Huckabee is essentially right in pointing to the existential crisis at the heart of modern society as a cause of mass murder.  the language is the language of a Christofascist, but the idea is correct.  we have no idea who we are and where we are going, a relatively new development in human history.

[Ban my account ffs!]

if you made tragedies apolitical there is nothing left.  is war apolitical?  is war not a tragedy?

I just find scoring political points while our country has just started to mourn to be distasteful.

Don't kid yourself.  The country is not mourning.  You don't know any of the people affected.  You could, however, be supportive of efforts to prevent such a tragedy from occurring again, right now.  That might be the best way to mourn the murdered children for someone who has no personal stake in the tragedy.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

I just find scoring political points while our country has just started to mourn to be distasteful.

Like Huckabee blaming this on God not being in the schools?  Conservatives make plenty of political hay out of stuff like this.  It's only when people bring up points they don't like that we're "politicizing a tragedy."  I call BS on the hypocrisy.

As I stated earlier, I am equally upset about the politicization on my side of the aisle.  My twitter timeline at the moment is making me ill, because for some folks the only solution to a problem is to introduce even more guns into the equation.

if you made tragedies apolitical there is nothing left.  is war apolitical?  is war not a tragedy?

I just find scoring political points while our country has just started to mourn to be distasteful.

Don't kid yourself.  The country is not mourning.  You don't know any of the people affected.  You could, however, be supportive of efforts to prevent such a tragedy from occurring again, right now.  That might be the best way to mourn the murdered children for someone who has no personal stake in the tragedy.

That's absolutely insulting, but I'm not holding it against you because this is a very sensitive issue. 

Attacking Constitutional rights is never a responsible reaction to a tragedy, whether its internment camps, the PATRIOT Act, going to war without purpose, or unreasonable gun control.

[© tweed]

it's only been a constitutional right since 2008, my boy.

[Frodo]

I support individual gun rights, but there is nothing unreasonable about keeping guns out of the hands of the mentally ill.  

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

What is wrong with you people?

You people?

[© tweed]

I support individual gun rights, but there is nothing unreasonable about keeping guns out of the hands of the mentally ill. 

again, we live in a society where a child born is more likely than not to be prescribed psychiatric medication, so this is going to be extremely offensive and insidious to someone who considers individual gun ownership to be constitutionally protected.

[Smid]

What a terrible, terrible thing to happen.

How long before the US works out that the current gun laws (or lack thereof) aren't actually working?

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

I support individual gun rights, but there is nothing unreasonable about keeping guns out of the hands of the mentally ill.  

I completely agree - though I think the problem there is how you would background-check for mental illness.

Bear in mind though that the murderer in this case stole the firearm(s) from his mother after killing her.