Question

I need group opinion about something and have NO CLUE, where to post it. So I'll do it here.

What do you think could have prevented the Connecticut school shooting?

-I need at lest 25 - 30 people to complete the research.

In return I'll fan you. Take all your time, and if you don't mind please let me use your "Comments on my essay." Don't worry I'll cite this page too.

Answer 1

I just don't think anything could have prevented it. It would be like trying to live your entire life without ever tripping or stubbing your toe once.

Answer 2

My own opinion ... when we let the government do our parenting for us it leads to all sorts of disarray. When we classify any and all sorts of parenting as abuse we lose sight of what is truly right and wrong. And when we decide to let our children believe that "if you want to do it then it is right", then we are simply deciding to not teach our children anything at all.

What would prevent these sorts of things? There is no one hundred percent solution. I just know that I grew out of my tumultuous years by having real heros in my life; my mother being the greatest. And many kind and God loving men at Church taught me how to be a good man.

Answer 3

I think tougher gun laws and better support for the mentally ill (and their families) are both immediate, "treat the effect, not the cause" solutions.

Assault rifles have one purpose and that is to kill as many people (not ducks, not deer - people) as quickly as possible. Maybe the military and law enforcement officials should have them, but civilians should not. An assault rifle ban wouldn't prevent every determined person who wants one from getting one illegally, but it would keep obvious accidents waiting to happen - like some crazed kid who never would have passed a background check getting his hands on them because his rich, white, suburban mother with absolutely no need for anything bigger than a pellet gun got her kicks out of firing them - from becoming reality. If he (or any of these other recent mass shooters) had only been able to go in with a six shot handgun, he might have killed or wounded a small number of people (and it would be an unspeakable tragedy for them and their families) but not 26. Limiting the firepower would have limited the scale.

As for "treat the cause" solutions, I think society in general and the education system in particular should be more tolerant of individuals who are different. Success in school is mostly about meeting standards of social conformity. Teachers give kids the message that they are supposed to be certain ways - cute, play well with others, draw stars one certain way and not others, etc. - and then they enforce a minimum standard of conformity like keeping everyone who doesn't stand still in line in at recess while they leave the kids to enforce the finer points, like not to be friends with people who don't dress the same or act the same. Supposedly this trains kids well for life in broader society. People who knew him seem to agree this kid was smart and under a different social paradigm perhaps he could have contributed meaningfully to society instead of being a non-entity until he shot up a school.

Answer 4

@AriPotta
@jim_thompson5910
@ajprincess
@AravindG
@AccessDenied
@ArkGoLucky

Answer 5

I think the shooting was partly due to the recent string of shootings that have been going on. People want to follow the "popular trend" and think it is the simplest/easiest way out. I don't think taking away guns is an effective solution. People don't like having their freedom restricted and owning guns is such a big one. Stricter gun control will just anger people, even if the shootings continue. I think people should pay more attention to the people around them be aware of what's going on. Don't ignore people and assume someone else will take care of the problem. I understand spotting the signs of a killer is no simple task, we don't try nearly hard enough.

Answer 6

we cannot know what the motivation was, so we cannot know how to prevent such a tragedy, and in fact it may not be preventable. on the other hand, there is no reason for a citizen to own an assault weapon, or a clip that can hold 30 rounds. the argument that this makes us free ignores the fact that the state has infinitely more resources at its disposal. as long as the congress (on both sides of the aisle) are wholly owned subsidiaries of the donor class, we will never address this problem seriously.

Answer 7

Such events are inevitable. American police killed over 52 children by purposefully burning down a church. 27 men die by a mad gunman and everyone goes crazy, but U.S soldiers kill 100's of children every year and everything is dandy. But, to be honest, if the first victim(his mother) was a gun owner, this would have never happened. In Israel, they arm their school teachers with guns to fend off against these madmen. America should take notes.

Gun laws won't do anything to prevent it. There are anti-drug laws, but people still smoke. There are laws prohibiting shanks in prisons, but people still get stabbed. Stealing cars are illegal, but grand theft auto is a very common crime. Putting signs that say, "no guns allowed," only mean that the people inside will get shot and killed if someone comes in there spraying-and-praying. They have no way to defend themselves. You think someone like James Holmes gives a hell if there are no guns allowed? He's going to kill you guys anyways. We should arm our citizens, arm our school teachers, put an officer on duty at every government establishment, defend america and defend our rights from these brutes.

Answer 8

@Compassionate If you don't mind could you answer some stuff for me.
Don't you think "children" will feel scared since the teacher must carry around a gun for protection?

Second the anti-smoking in public places law has worked. Why do you say that they don't?

Ignore this (I need a bigger poll):
@dpaInc
@ghazi
@LoveYou*69
@LonelyandForgotten
@omnomnom
@akirauki36
@Aditi_Singh
@Hero

Answer 9

Who gives a hell if they feel ,"scared."

I'd rather feel scared because I'm a washed-up soft generation anti-war pacifist failure than get killed.

Answer 10

How do anti-smoking laws even relatively compare to anti-gun laws? Totally different level.

Answer 11

You're not allowed to smoke marijuana, people still get a hold of it and use it.

You're not allowed to kill people, others still do it.

Now what makes you think that making guns illegal will stop people from obtaining them?

Answer 12

For the sake of the argument, lets say guns are completely illegal.

What would stop me from building a gun myself?
What would stop me from bludgeoning a cop and taking his gun?

Answer 13

Marijuna is not a choice to eliminate a life, completely different level. I understand the concept of prohibition, which simply does not work...but continuing to use them to talk on similar levels seems a bit to extreme to me.
IMO prohibition of weapons is the biggest mistake this country continues to make, especially with our history. We continue to find every other way to blame idiots from killing other people when people are the exact problem.

Answer 14

>Marijuana is not a choice to eliminate a life, completely different level.

Either you're a troll or stupid. If you are number two, I am not going to spoonfeed you.

Answer 15

Yes, two options define me. Troll and stupid. You define me.

Answer 16

I'm so glad you agree.

Answer 17

Lol if anyone's a troll here, it's Compassionate.

Answer 18

Oh well, he can't handle a conversation without getting angry so obviously this is not the best place for him.

Answer 19

>I'm glad

Lolk.

Answer 20

I think guns should not have been banned, so the people defending the children would not have been so defenseless and died for them.

Answer 21

Kpinky, guns aren't banned in the United States.

Answer 22

In New York they are.

Answer 23

Guns are banned in the United States. They are not banned completely, though, which is what I believe @Compassionate meant.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_in_the_United_States_by_state
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_law_in_the_United_States

Answer 24

I don't think anything could have been done to prevent it. However, I believe that the shooting was a wake up call to mental health issues. We need to start taking care of our mental health.