Shootings and Gun Control

Ok, what happened in Newtown was the most horrible thing that could happen.  Until recently, children have been off limits and so were elementary schools.  This nutcase picked an elementary for the simple reason that he would meet no resistance.  He knew that there would be no one there to stop him.  And there was not.  Several things strike me here obvious.  Age of shooter and the other shooters in other instances, ie Aurora, Colorado.  Notice that these shooters are in their early to mid-20's.  Immersion in violent video games, detached from reality.  This could be thousands of young adults around the country.  There does not necessarily have to be mental illness involved.  Apparently this young man should have been institutionalized years ago.  But this could have been any of our schools.  Every one is blasting Wayne LaPierre for the statement that the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun.  And as bad as this was, it could have been so much worse.  He didn't need a gun to do a lot of damage.  The Oklahoma City bomber used 1)a Ryder truck b) diesel oil and c)ammonium sulfate or common fertilizer.  His body count was 168 and a lot of those were children because he made sure that the truck was as near the day care facility in the federal building as he could get.  If a human being wants to kill, they will find a way.  The guns are just the symptom.  Or the chosen means.  His mother was wrong to have a mentally ill person in a house with guns.  She set the stage for this.  Granted she lost her life, but by her refusing to see that her son was capable of violence, she set up the community. 

Several things need to happen here and gun control is the least of them.  Parents have to step up to the plate and be parents.  You get involved with that child from the get go.  You teach that child that every action has consequences and that if he is the one doing the deed, he is the one that will suffer the consequences.