As we all know, on Friday, Dec. 14, 2012, a shooting rampage broke out at a small elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. 28 people died in total: 20 students, six adults, the shooter, and his mother. This one event left the world shattered, becoming the second deadliest school shooting in history. It impacted all of us; you couldn’t go into a class without talking about it, walk the halls without hearing about it, or go on Facebook without reading a status about it.
A Facebook status written by senior Robert Svaia read,”The right to bear arms is not more important than a child’s right to grow up.”
Others agree.
“What happened is completely disturbing and scary. It makes me feel like I’m not safe anywhere. But how people are reacting on Facebook is sad. They’re saying that the shooter was a sick, narcissistic man, which I partly agree with, but I feel so bad for him. I have so much concern for someone who is so mentally disturbed that he’d be able to kill innocent people like that…and then to kill himself,” senior Jeanne Marie Mandley said.
Senior Daniela Cicio wrote in a Facebook comment:
“I think what happened is outrageous and that this world is so messed up. This is not the first shooting that has happened this year, but I do believe this one has had a major impact on everyone. If children can’t go to school safely, then there is no hope of safety left. Childrens’ lives have ended because people haven’t taken gun control seriously. They didn’t have a chance to grow up and it’s unfair that their families have to suffer.”
In memory of those who died in this tragedy and show support to the broken hearted families and friends they left behind, senior class president, Justin Sia, along with other class presidents, are asking that all grades and faculty wear green and white, the school colors of Sandy Hook Elementary, on Wednesday Dec. 19.
John • Dec 17, 2012 at 4:27 PM
Once upon a time, a free people decided that guns caused violent crime, so they banned guns. But violent criminals ignored the gun ban and continued using their evil guns to commit violent crimes against law-abiding citizens. Without guns, the people could not defend themselves, so they banned violent crime too. All the violent criminals saw that they had no choice but to turn in their guns and become law-abiding citizens, and everyone lived happily ever after. The End.
Anonymous • Dec 17, 2012 at 9:38 PM
Your cute little story ignores the fact that 2 out of the 3 guns used in the Columbine High School massacre were purchased legally, as well as all of the guns used in the Virginia Tech massacre and now at Sandy Hook, as well. Sure, the killers might have been willing to jump through hoops to obtain those guns, but the point is that the weapons they used to murder so many innocent people were obtained so easily and could not have came into their possessions if gun control laws had been put into place. It’s ridiculous how easy it is – Dick’s Sporting Goods can hook you up with a few for reduced prices marked in their catalogs. There’s no real way to ensure that a person who purchases a gun isn’t going to turn around and do something horribly wrong with it, or give it to someone else who will.
Sure, guns have their benefits, but what do you think is more commonplace – guns being used to kill people, or guns being used by ordinary citizens to stop others from being killed? As a Chicagoan, you should know. The right to bear arms was established back when the best guns were muskets that took minutes to reload a single round. It was also established on the principle that civilians could use the guns in the event that the government turned on them, and not necessarily to defend themselves from other civilians. Times have changed since then, and I think we are long overdue for a revision.
Anonymous • Dec 17, 2012 at 10:35 PM
A citizen who is properly trained, and is carrying a concealed weapon increases the odds that devastating losses such as those suffered in the Newtown, Connecticut mass murder could be minimized or eliminated.
Steve • Dec 17, 2012 at 10:40 PM
yea, if an school administrator or security guard was properly trained and carried a concealed weapon, many lives could have been saved.
Anonymous • Dec 18, 2012 at 3:27 AM
Many lives theoretically could have been saved, yes, but did that happen? Did any citizen with a concealed weapon show up and minimize any losses in the massacre? No, despite the fact that they’re legally allowed to. Not at Columbine or Virginia Tech, either. Hmm, not at the Aurora theater, too. I could name so much more.
Like I said — what do you think is more commonplace – guns being used to kill people, or guns being used by ordinary citizens to stop others from being killed? There are much higher chances of guns being used to kill others than there are chances of a civilian being able to stop a gun threat. Which of those chances do you really want to take?
Clinton • Dec 18, 2012 at 11:17 AM
Clinton enacted an assault weapons ban from 1994-2004, here’s the results:
11/15/95 – Lynville, Tn School shooting
2/2/96 – Moses Lake, Wa School shooting
2/19/97 – Bethel, Ak School shooting
10/1/97 – Pearl, Ms School shooting
12/1/97 – West Paducah, Ky School shooting
4/24/98 – Edinboro, Pa School shooting
5/21/98 – Springfield, Or School shooting
4/20/99 – Columbine, Co School shooting
5/20/99 – Conyers, Ga School shooting
11/2/99 – Honolulu, Hi Office Shooting
12/26/00 – Wakefield, Ma Office Shooting
3/5/01 – Santee, Ca School Shooting
3/22/01 El Cajon, Ca School Shooting
1/16/02 Grundy, Va College Shooting
4/14/03 New Orleans, La School Shooting
tree • Dec 18, 2012 at 2:59 PM
The gun laws we have now, and the laws forbidding violence and murder are ignored by criminals and the only answer you can come up with is revisions? What sense does that make?
Anonymous • Dec 18, 2012 at 11:16 PM
So I’m apparently the only person here with this viewpoint? Wow. Better yet, most of the arguments I made in my original post are being ignored. Shouldn’t have wasted time typing them up, huh?
@”tree” You’re completely missing my point. I am not talking about the fact that murder is wrong and illegal. Many of the guns used to commit mass murder today are obtained legally. It would have been harder for a maniacs such as Adam Lanza to obtain these weapons if gun control laws were put into place. If you don’t like the word “revisions,” I’ll say “reforms” or “law proposals” instead.
@”Clinton” it won’t let me respond to your comment properly, so I’ll just do it here. The Federal Assault Weapons Ban only prohibited certain semi-automatic firearms, and not guns as a whole. Not all of the weapons used in the shootings you provided concerned assault weapons in particular.
Also, the VAST majority of those shootings were that of individual students, rather than cases like Sandy Hook where the death toll was over 20. So in reality, you are actually suggesting that the ban was more effective; although the ban may not have reduced the number of incidents that occurred, it DID reduce the amount of carnage per incident. Which brings me back to the muskets that I mentioned in my original post.
The two bloodiest school shootings in U.S. history, Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook, both happened after the Federal Assault Weapons Ban was lifted in 2004.
Alan • Dec 17, 2012 at 10:44 AM
Outrageous, just purely outrageous. Adam Lanza’s problems are NOT so important that little children around him have to pay for it with their precious lives.
We all need to show our support for the victims by wearing green and white on Wednesday. The children of Sandy Hook- you will never be forgotten. May you rest in peace.