Another school shooting in America!

[JoolsToo]

whats wrong with these people?

[Hulababy]

OMG! How horrific. Sounds like the kids he shot were kids he actually knew by name too, and his grandparents as well

[Chandra]

Oh no! not again! .

[Amanda3266]

But the Americans MUST have their guns. Annoys me that the gun lobby there is so powerful and the result is kids getting hold of these weapons which they shouldn't be able to access in the fist place.

[Chandra]

Amanda, that also annoys me but what I find even worse is that they voted yes for this Old West legislation in the 80s. One of the main promotors to made guns available to everyone was a father whose DD and DW were killed by a man who entered into a restaurant and started shooting. THe father alleged that if more people had been carrying a gun at the restaurant such tragedy could had been avoided. I'm sure that wherever he is, he should not be so convinced about his ideas by now...

[RTKangaMummy]

Heard this on TV this morning


We are going to LA next week and am worried about guns etc.

[DixiExpat]

RTKanga,

I'm American...nothing to worry about in L.A really, if you are going as a tourist and have never been all I can politely suggest is to steer clear of South Central,North Hollywood and warn you that its a very familiar site to be shopping or clubbing on Hollywood Blvd. and see a S.W.A.T team off in a parking lot dealing with a drug raid.Also...one of the most fun places to shop is a store called "It's a Wrap" on Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank, its fairly close to Warner Bros. studio.The store is where they resell the wardrobes somtimes dirt cheap from soaps,movies and t.v shows, when I lived there I bought clothes to wear that had been on the set of Days of our lives and friends. I remember seeing maternity wear that Catherine Zeta-Jones had worn during that drug-lord movie, sorry the name escapes me..anyway, happy shoping and conisder checking out Santa Monica pier.

[DixiExpat]

As I said I am American as well and I learned to shoot when I was 10. Everyone in my family in the U.S.A has at least 3 guns.The problem isn't so much someone licensed to carry a handgun there is it is the fact that people can walk into Wal-Mart buy a gun for hunting without anything more than a background check and 3 day waiting period.The 3 dy theory is that if they have malicious intentions, they'll calm down and change their mind in 3 days...yeh. Its a strict process to be licensed to carry a handgun.I can say as an American woman that I wouldn't have felt safe alone traveling through downtown Memphis without a gun in the car.People that get a license are usually intelligent enough to have a locking gun cabinet and hide or have the key on their persons at all times.Police officers are suposed to keep their firearms locked in their car boot aside ffrom their standard handgun,not to say it would have changed anything but that boy's grandfather was a police officer and should have had the sense to store his arms when not on duty.The boy was determined enough, he would have found a way eventually.This was a fluke,a very bad one there were security measures in place at the school and they didn't work, I imagine since the boy drove to the school front in a squad car the security officer took it for granted and never expected to be shot.

[DixiExpat]

sorry for the poor typing

[MargeMN]

I live in Minneapolis, Minnesota (the state where these shootings occurred). I went to high school in the early 90s and can't imagine fearing that one of my classmates would come to school and open fire. I can tell you that I currently don't know of one person that carries a gun.
I think the issue is a whole lot deeper than gun control...to skim the surface regarding this particular shooting, Indian reservations in Minnesota are poverty-stricken and face serious issues including substance abuse (meth being a huge problem amongst the youth).
On a bigger picture, have you seen the video games that are sold in the States? I don't know if the same ones are sold elsewhere, but they are shockingly, appallingly violent. Now some may argue that just because a kid plays a violent video game that doesn't mean he/she will go out and reenact the situation in real life, but the fact that these video games are hugely popular is just a symptom of what is wrong with this country.
The bottom line IMO is that Americans need to truly (and sincerely) focus on our youth by putting more $$ into our school systems and creating resources for families (no matter what their income level is!).