Connecticut shootings

[SAF_Legend]

^^ Bestie & Kamilo - Personally, I still maintain it's a mixture of reasons. Mental problems and proper healthcare facilities to deal with them appropriately are one thing, educating the masses another, and gun control is yet another. Law and control can only do so much, but will stop surely more than half of the incidents; education and healthcare completes everything else.

Another issue at hand should be why America and Americans (generalising) are so persistent on having guns in their households. Is it personal power? Is it really regarding safety issues and ability to defend one's home? Or perhaps just due to propaganda and advertisements endorsed by firearm industries, bandied around for political support? Sometimes, I truly think it's the latter most.

The murderer was described as smart and quiet, and if he were to set out to make a bomb just to kill people, it would require more time, effort and money - 3 issues which would have at least given more chances to be noticed and stopped. Availability of guns just made it all too easy - especially when his mother was a gun enthusiast and had brought her sons with her to shooting ranges... a perfect brew for trouble when the person in question has psychological issues.

Another problem is that the murderer was also home schooled, was he not? Now, I wouldn't say that his mother was not smart, but what would the chances be that his mother would have the proper information in dealing with psychological disorders in comparison to say, a high school equipped with school nurses and teachers who might pick out students with social problems? This could be another factor.

But all in all, I do think banning guns would help a lot, quite obviously. But it wouldn't solve everything - especially deeper issues such as mental illnesses and prognosis.

[jimbonda]

what i can't get my head around is why the killers mum kept a GLOCK. and some other semi-automatic, name of which i forget. they can argue for self-defence and the right to keep a gun but that's a bit heavy. that's a gang bangers weapon, what next, AK's?

also she's got to shoulder a lot of blame that the kid could get anywhere near them. my old man keeps shotguns as part of his job. they are under lock and key and i'd have very little, if any, chance of getting my hands on them.

[redcase]

=======================================================
Following Sandy Hook, gun deaths continue through weekend

The families of Sandy Hook, Conn., struggled to cope with the enormous grief of losing 28 of their neighbors, 20 of them children over the weekend.

President Barack Obama pledged to use whatever power the office of the presidency holds to prevent another tragedy like this one.

And elsewhere in the country, people continued to die from gun fire.

(More from Current: Occupy takes on the NRA)

On Saturday, shootings in Cleburne and Oxford counties in Alabama left two injured and three dead, including a child.

A sheriff's deputy in Missouri was shot in the back and killed while on the scene responding to an emergency medical situation. The patient's son ambushed the officer and shot him at close range in the back.

Authorities investigated the shooting death of a boy in southwest Denver.

A man was shot and killed in Harrisburg, Pa., his body dropped off at a local hospital.

A Nevada man shot and killed himself on Friday after shooting his girlfriend in the face.

In the early morning hours of Saturday, police responded to a murder/suicide. A 76-year-old man shot and killed a 51-year old woman with a rifle in California City, Calif.

A 28-year-old man was shot and killed while standing on a front porch early Sunday on the West Side of Chicago.

A 21-year-old man was shot and killed by someone he knew in Charlotte, N.C..

Two Topeka, Kan., police officers were fatally shot in the head outside a grocery store Sunday responding to a suspicious vehicle report.

The tattoo artist in a Los Angeles tattoo parlor was fatally shot in the early morning hours of Sunday.

Eliot Spitzer's message to Barack Obama on gun control:


These stories represent only a handful of the deaths from gun violence that took place in the 72 hours since Adam Lanza stormed Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg put it best on Friday:

"For every day we wait, 34 more people are murdered with guns."

==============================

[redcase]

[johnboy14]

More than 31,000 Americans have signed a petition calling for British TV host Piers Morgan to be deported.

They are angry about his advocacy of gun control, in the wake of the 14 December shootings in Connecticut.

The petition followed an interview with Larry Pratt, director of Gun Owners of America, on CNN - in which Mr Morgan called his guest "a dangerous man".

Petitions posted on the White House website only require 25,000 signatures to get a response from the government.

The campaign was started by a journalist in Texas following Mr Morgan's CNN programme of 19 December.

The petition says the talk show host "is engaged in a hostile attack against the US Constitution by targeting the Second Amendment", which protects an individual's right to own guns for the purposes of self-defence.

"We demand that Mr Morgan be deported immediately for his effort to undermine the Bill of Rights and for exploiting his position as a national network television host to stage attacks against the rights of American citizens."

Mr Morgan has responded, repeatedly, on his Twitter account.

"If I do get deported from America for wanting fewer gun murders, are there any other countries that will have me?" the 47-year-old joked after the 25,000-signature threshold was past.

He added: "Wanting America to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines isn't anti-constitutional - it's called 'common sense.'"

Later he said, in a reference to the Constitution's guarantee of freedom of speech: "Ironic US gun rights campaign to deport me for 'attacking Second Amendment rights' - is my opinion not protected under 1st Amendment rights?"

In the wake of the shooting in Newton, Connecticut, President Obama has vowed to push for immediate and concrete gun safety proposals.

But the pro-gun National Rifle Association (NRA), which has more than four million members, has rejected the need for tighter gun control. According to the Small Arms Survey, there were 88.8 firearms for every 100 Americans in 2007.
'Stupid man'

Mr Morgan's interview, on his nightly chat show, came five days after gunman Adam Lanza killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary school.

Mr Pratt said tighter controls on gun sales would not put an end to similar tragedies.

"The problem occurs in those areas precisely where we have said 'no guns'," he said.

"Where the guns are allowed freely to be carried... we have very low murder rates.

"We only have problems in our cities and, unhappily, in our schools, where people like you have been able to get laws put on the books that keep people from being able to defend themselves."

Mr Morgan responded: "You're a very stupid man, aren't you?

"You have absolutely no coherent argument. You don't actually give a damn about the gun murder rate in America."

He ended the combative interview by calling Mr Pratt "a dangerous man espousing dangerous nonsense" and declared, "you shame your country".

www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20838729

[SAF_Legend]

"Strangely", I'm on his side of the argument, albeit in a less harsh and moronic tone.

But also importantly, I hope he doesn't get deported back here.

[Kamilo]

www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/24/webster-new-york-firefighter-shot/1788917/

WEBSTER, N.Y. — A gunman ambushed firefighters at a house fire in the Rochester suburb of Webster, N.Y., early Monday, killing two firemen and injuring two others before killing himself.

Seven homes were destroyed as firefighters waited for police to secure the scene.

The gunman, who shot and killed himself at the scene, was identified as William Spengler, who was arrested by Webster police in 1980 for beating his 92-year-old grandmother to death with a hammer.

Spengler, 62, served 17 years in New York State prison on manslaughter charges, police officials said.

His 67-year-old sister, with whom he lived, is missing.

Police Chief Gerald Pickering, choking up frequently as he spoke to reporters, said all four firefighters who responded to the call at 5:35 a.m. ET came under fire when they drove up.

The dead are Lt. Mike Chiapperini, 43, a volunteer firefighter and the Webster Police Department's public information officer, and Tomasz Kaczowka. Chiapperini was named "Firefighter of the Year" two weeks ago.

"It is a very difficult situation," Pickering said, his voice quavering.

"People get up in the middle of the night to fight fires," he said. "They don't expect to be shot and killed."

The injured firefighters are Joseph Hofsetter and Theodore Scardino. Hofsetter suffered a severe injury to his pelvis. Scardino was shot twice, injuring his shoulder and lung. An off-duty police officer who was driving by at the time also was injured by flying shrapnel.

A Facebook page was set up in honor of the Webster first-responders.

Pickering said Spengler had staked out a position with an arsenal of several firearms on a berm overlooking the scene.

"It appears that it was a trap," Pickering said. "There was a car in a house that was engulfed in flames, probably set by Mr. Spengler, who lay in wait with his armaments and shot the first responders."

"Looking at his history, obviously this is an individual who has a lot of problems, who killed his grandmother, and I'm sure there were mental health issues," Pickering said.

He said Spengler's sister, Cheryl Spengler, was unaccounted for. He lived in the house with his sister and mother, Arline, who died in October.

The 911 call, he said, was apparently called in by a resident in the neighborhood of small, lakeside vacation homes.

LISTEN: Emergency dispatches from the Webster, N.Y., shooting

The police officer at the scene who first radioed in to report the presence of a shooter said he "could see the muzzle blast coming at me."

"It's going to be a rifle or a shotgun, high-powered," the officer said, according to a tape of the call. "He's right across from the house on fire."

Pickering said the first Webster police officer who arrived chased Spengler and exchanged gunfire with him, authorities said. The officer "in all likelihood saved many lives," he said.

Seven homes were eventually destroyed, as firefighters let the flames spread until the area was secured. At one point, a SWAT team escorted some residents to a bus that took them from the neighborhood.

At West Webster Fire Department, the flag outside was lowered to half-staff.

"These firemen are part of our family. You go into a fire with these guys. To see them go down with something like this is totally unexpected. We are in shock," said fire district commissioner Billy Gross.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the State Police and Office of Emergency Management were working with local authorities.

"Volunteer firefighters and police officers were injured, and two were taken from us as they once again answered the call of duty," Cuomo said in a statement. "We as the community of New York mourn their loss as now two more families must spend the holidays without their loved ones."

Harold Schaitberger, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, issued a statement calling the calculated shooting of firefighters "both senseless and cruel."

"The firefighters who responded today were performing a selfless, meaningful service to their community, unaware that a cold-hearted maniac was planning to ambush them and take their lives," the statement said. "Coming on the heels of the horrific tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, and on Christmas Eve, this shooting is even harder to comprehend."

Webster resident Michael Damico was among those neighbors who were evacuated.

"The whole strip's been evacuated," he said. "They're evacuating all of the houses and going through them."



Webster, N.Y.
Damico's son woke him up around 8 a.m. to tell him about the fire that was burning down the street.

"We looked out the window and we saw the SWAT team and everyone around," he said.

"Some people on this bus already watched their houses burn," Damico said. "They're not happy."

Webster, with a population of 5,000, is located northeast of Rochester.

[Kamilo]

curry.virginia.edu/articles/sandyhookshooting

The undersigned school violence prevention researchers and practitioners and associated organizations wish to comment on the tragic acts of violence at Sandy Hook Elementary School, which have shaken the nation, and express our deepest condolences to families and loved ones of the victims and the entire Newtown community. We all share a common priority: Keeping our children safe. We need to come together in our communities to share our grief and talk about how we can move forward in light of this tragic event. This document updates the School Shootings Position Statement that was disseminated nationally following the tragic school-related shootings of 2006.

It is important to emphasize that our concern is not limited to schools. The Connecticut tragedy is referred to as a school shooting, but it is better described as a shooting that took place in a school. It is also relevant to consider the hundreds of multiple casualty shootings that occur in communities throughout the United States every year. Few of them occur in schools, but of course are especially tragic when they occur. Yet children are safer in schools than in almost any other place, including for some, their own homes.

While schools are of paramount concern, the location of a shooting is not its most important feature, although it is the most visible. From the standpoint of prevention, what matters more is the motivation behind a shooting. It is too soon to draw conclusions about this case, but in every mass shooting we must consider two keys to prevention: (1) the presence of severe mental illness and/or (2) an intense interpersonal conflict that the person could not resolve or tolerate.

Inclinations to intensify security in schools should be reconsidered. We cannot and should not turn our schools into fortresses. Effective prevention cannot wait until there is a gunman in a school parking lot. We need resources such as mental health supports and threat assessment teams in every school and community so that people can seek assistance when they recognize that someone is troubled and requires help. For communities, this speaks to a need for increased access to well integrated service structures across mental health, law enforcement, and related agencies. We must encourage people to seek help when they see that someone is embroiled in an intense, persistent conflict or is deeply troubled. If we can recognize and ameliorate these kinds of situations, then we will be more able to prevent violence.

These issues require attention at the school and community levels. We believe that research supports a thoughtful approach to safer schools, guided by four key elements: Balance, Communication, Connectedness, and Support, along with strengthened attention to mental health needs in the community, structured threat assessment approaches, revised policies on youth exposure to violent media, and increased efforts to limit inappropriate access to guns and especially, assault type weapons.

Balance – Communication – Connectedness – Support

A balanced approach implies well-integrated programs that make sense and are effective. Although it may be logical to control public entrances to a school, reliance on metal detectors, security cameras, guards, and entry check points is unlikely to provide protection against all school-related shootings, including the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary. Indeed, shootings have occurred in schools with strict security measures already in place. A balanced approach to preventing violence and protecting students includes a variety of efforts addressing physical safety, educational practices, and programs that support the social, emotional, and behavioral needs of students.

Communication is critical. Comprehensive analyses by the U. S. Secret Service, the FBI, and numerous researchers have concluded that the most effective way to prevent many acts of violence targeted at schools is by maintaining close communication and trust with students and others in the community, so that threats will be reported and can be investigated by responsible authorities. Attempts to detect imminently violent individuals based on profiles or checklists of characteristics are ineffective and are most likely to result in false identification of innocent students or other individuals as being dangerous when they actually pose little or no threat. Instead, school authorities should concentrate their efforts on improving communication and training a team of staff members to use principles of threat assessment to take reasonable steps to resolve the problems and conflicts revealed through a threat investigation.

Concerned students, parents, educators, and stakeholders in the community should attend to troubling behaviors that signal something is amiss. For example, if a person utters threats to engage in a violent act or displays a pronounced change of mood and related social behavior, or is engaged in a severe conflict with family members or coworkers, it makes sense to communicate concerns to others who might provide assistance. Early identification is important not only to prevent violence, but to provide troubled individuals the support, treatment, and help they need.

Schools and communities must find effective means to overcome any reluctance to break unwritten rules against “tattling” or “snitching” by communicating to all community members that their lives or the lives of their friends might depend on seeking help for troubled individuals before problems escalate. Channels of efficient, user-friendly communication need to be established and maintained, and can be facilitated when community members, students and staff members feel comfortable bringing concerns regarding safety to the attention of school administrators.

Connectedness refers to what binds us together as families, friends, and communities. All students need to feel that they belong at their school and that others care for them. Similarly, local neighborhoods and communities are better and safer places when neighbors look out for one another, are involved in community activities, and care about the welfare of each other. Research indicates that those students most at risk for delinquency and violence are often those who are most alienated from the school community. Schools need to reach out to build positive connections to marginalized students, showing concern, and fostering avenues of meaningful involvement.

Support is critical for effective prevention. Many students and family members experience life stresses and difficulties. Depression, anxiety, bullying, incivility, and various forms of conflict need to be taken seriously. Every school should create environments where students and adults feel emotionally safe and have the capacity to support one another. Schools must also have the resources to maintain evidence-based programs designed to address bullying and other forms of student conflict. Research-based violence prevention and related comprehensive support programs should be offered, following a three-tier approach, operating at universal (school-wide), targeted (for students who are at risk), and intensive (for students who are at the highest levels of risk and need) levels.

Mental Health, Integrated Threat Assessment, Media Effects, and Access to Guns

Nationally, the mental health needs of youth and adults are often shortchanged or neglected. That needs to change. Using much-needed federal and state funding, community-based mental health organizations should work in cooperation with local law enforcement, schools, and other key community stakeholders to create a system of community-based mental health response and threat assessment. These efforts should promote wellness as well as address mental health needs of all community members while simultaneously responding to potential threats to community safety. This initiative should include a large scale public education and awareness campaign, along with newly created channels of communication to help get services to those in need.

Research has established that continued exposure to media violence (e.g., TV, movies, video games) can increase the likelihood of physically and verbally aggressive behavior, aggressive thoughts, and aggressive emotions. Exposure to violence in the media can lead to (1) displacement of healthy activities, (2) modeling inappropriate behaviors, (3) disinhibition of socially proscribed behaviors, (4) desensitization to the harmful effects of violence, (5) aggressive arousal, and (6) association with a constellation of risk-taking behaviors. Taken together, this research speaks to a strong need to revise policies on youth exposure to violence in the media.

Finally, it is also important to acknowledge that access to guns plays an important role in many acts of serious violence in the United States. Multiple lines of research have demonstrated a clear connection between local availability of guns and gun-related violent behaviors, with estimates of close to 2 million children and adolescents having access at home to loaded, unlocked guns. Although guns are never the simple cause of a violent act, the availability of lethal weapons including assault type weapons to youth and adults with emotional disturbance and antisocial behavior poses a serious public health problem. Our political leaders need to find a reasonable and constitutional way to limit the widespread availability of guns to persons who are unwilling or unable to use them in a responsible, lawful manner.

In summary, we ask for a renewed nationwide effort to address the problem of mass shootings that have occurred repeatedly in our schools and communities. Now is the time for our political leaders to take meaningful action to address the need for improved mental health services and protection from gun violence. At the same time, concerned citizens in every community should engage in comprehensive planning and coordination to prevent violence in our schools and communities. These plans should include access to mental health services for youth and adults who are showing signs of psychological distress, including depression, anxiety, withdrawal, anger, and aggression as well as assistance for the families that support them. The bottom line is that we must all work together toward the common goal of keeping our schools and communities safe.

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The best bit i have read after all the events. Nice multi reasoned approach and realistic.

[Bestie]

It's ironic that Piers Morgan finally takes a stance I (we as a sane people) can support and yet he still gets over 25, 000 people hating him.

[shrike59]

Thanks for all the great reading. I also own a glock,I used to like target shooting and god help any burgler.I also keep my gun under lock and key and am very responsible with it.Im not an nra member and have no problem with assault weapon bans.America is a "free" society and loves its rights whether right or wrong.Its not a perfect country but none of the others are either.

[Dan United]

Dec 24, 2012 22:43:29 GMT Bestie said:

It's ironic that Piers Morgan finally takes a stance I (we as a sane people) can support and yet he still gets over 25, 000 people hating him.

Not people - thick Americans who hold the Constitution in a sacred regard. It's out of date you stupid fucks. Time moves on, and people need to adapt. If your argument makes Piers Morgan sound like the voice of reason you're on to a loser.

[redcase]

Dec 28, 2012 8:16:31 GMT Dan United said:

Dec 24, 2012 22:43:29 GMT Bestie said:

It's ironic that Piers Morgan finally takes a stance I (we as a sane people) can support and yet he still gets over 25, 000 people hating him.

Not people - thick Americans who hold the Constitution in a sacred regard. It's out of date you stupid fucks. Time moves on, and people need to adapt. If your argument makes Piers Morgan sound like the voice of reason you're on to a loser.

LOL. And true.

[Dan United]

Oh, and well done to all of you that highlighted the more recent shootings. America only seems to pay attention to its antiquated gun laws when it's a large, public murdering spree. It's too easy to forget the smaller incidents.

[JamBritRed]

Just to update you on the Firefighting shooting. the shooter's sister was found dead in the house, it seems he had killed her first.

what i have not seen being asked, which is so obvious to me, and which i would love the NRA to explain, if how it is that a convicted murderer can get access to an arsenal of high powered weapons? is this not a little strange, or does the 2nd Amendment protect a murderers' rights to bear arms also?

[Tatty]

Dec 28, 2012 17:01:08 GMT JamBritRed said:

Just to update you on the Firefighting shooting. the shooter's sister was found dead in the house, it seems he had killed her first.

what i have not seen being asked, which is so obvious to me, and which i would love the NRA to explain, if how it is that a convicted murderer can get access to an arsenal of high powered weapons? is this not a little strange, or does the 2nd Amendment protect a murderers' rights to bear arms also?

Because criminals totally follow the law, and it's impossible to get guns from anywhere other than Walmart?