Just to add my two cents, I’ll just note that what happened is certainly a tragedy on many levels, and while some gun supporters have argued that this incident has more to do with a “troubled” or “deranged” young man (their words, not mine), I’ll say the incident speaks volumes about how easy it is for individuals who shouldn’t have guns to get their hands on them. Whether this young man got the guns he used from his home or from somewhere else, the fact that a 15 year-old was able to get ahold of multiple firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition speaks volumes about the fact that guns are simply too easy to get ahold of.
Gun supporters can argue all you want against reasonable gun control, but this incident certainly paints a different picture.
The adults are to blame. It’s hard to say that since the adults responsible are mourning the loss of their son. I personally do not believe anyone with children or teenagers should have loaded weapons in their homes.
How very tragic.
Yet now with scott walker coming into office, concealed carry will be passed before February. Hell they might even pass it during the Scott Walker fundraiser(ie inaugural ball).
Obviously the more guns the less crime so maybe we should arm everyone starting at 13 then this would of never happened.
This really has nothing to do with CCW.
It is a tragedy that Sam took his own life, and it is a tragedy that someone was careless with taking care of their firearms. But outlawing handguns may not have saved Sam’s life. He may not have been able to hold a classroom hostage, but he could have easily found ways to hurt or kill himself without access to guns.
On the surface of it, it looks like Sam was having a depressive episode, and he didn’t know how to handle it. Better access to counselling and having people recognize that he needed someone to talk to could have saved his life.
i would say it does because everytime anything happens with a gun, the nra and all use it as a chance to arm everyone. Sly was on the radio talking about how we need to arm teachers.
@Proud: A couple of idiots from the NRA shouldn’t be taken seriously. Arming teachers wouldn’t have prevented this, and it may have led to more violence and bloodshed.
I support CCW because it correlates with lower violent crime rates. But guns in schools is ludicrous.
But just as a few NRA nuts push for universal firearms ownership every time there is an incident like this, there are the anti-gun people that also try to use it as a vehicle to reduce the 2nd Amendment rights of Americans.
I believe that neither position is right. We need more gun education. I wouldn’t be opposed to a mandatory gun education class before you can purchase firearms – it may go a long way towards reducing these types of incidents by teaching owners how to properly secure their weapons.
I am not someone who wants to ban guns whatsoever, I just dont think you need to be armed everywhere you go. I dont want half of the people at culvers carrying when im in there.
I agree that we need more education all of the way around. More gun training for sure, and more pupil services in the schools(ie social workers, counselors, Assistant principlas, etc…) they are always the first to go because small minded thinkers dont get their relation to test scores and education.
I disagree however that more guns equals less crime. I will study up on that as soon as I finish the book im reading ” more cars, less traffic” .
Sorry…I have no idea who “Sly” is.
The fact of the matter is we are allowed to own guns in this country. That will never change. Parents need to be vigilant and always always lock up their unloaded weapons.
I personally support CCW laws provided people are required to get permits after a background check and some sort of training. I would like to be able to carry a concealed weapon if I choose to.
Sly is our local progressive radio talk show host in Madison.
Even though I know its coming, I think concealed carry is a really bad idea.
What is reasonable gun control?
Why don’t we talk to the Canadians? If I remember “Bowling for Columbine” correctly, they’re fairly well armed up there but with far less gun violence. I wonder why?
Yeah, I remember seeing that as well….I’d be curious to find out how they’re able to have less gun violence with higher per capita gun ownership.