Gun murders at a clip of 9000 a year is the background noise here.  This present horror only highlights a distinctly American problem.  We have a misplaced attitude.  It is time to recognize a loaded gun causes insecurity to one's neighbors not the opposite.  We no longer need the Second Amendment.  It should be repealed and Australia's strict gun laws should be the model to take its place:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Arthur_massacre_(Australia)  Either we are civilized or we choose to live in a free for all universe that is much less than free.

What will it take for this country to wake up  ??? The writing is on the wall. It has been there for a while ... Are we blind ? I'm not opposed to the Gun owners interpertation of the second amendment. But there has to be some limit to how many guns  an how much amunition a person needs . There has to be a much deeper examination of the applications of a person wanting a firearm..

One thing should be mentioned more; indeed, emphasized. The NRA is not a civil-rights organization or protector of the constitution. It is an industry organization that would be more properly called the NGA (National Gunsellers' Association). Its interst is in making money at whatever cost to whomever.

I stand with the families of all those murdered in gun violence. We have failed the 20 children, their teachers and the many others killed by gun violence, but, I for one, will not stand ideally by and let it happened again. There is no place in MY COUNTRY FOR ASSAULT WEAPONS, HANDS GUNS or other weapons simply meant to kill my fellow human beings. We can talk about single or double shot hunting rifles, but the discussion for the rest of it is off the table. PERIOD. As a father, a citizen and a fellow human being, I will not rest until this has been corrected. We failed those 20 children, perhaps the lose of their innocence lives will move the people, and then the politicians to act....it has to. That is the only way it makes sense

What is more important, saving innocent children or being able to walk around like a big-shot thinking you're all powerful with a gun? In America we all know the answer to that question.

It seems to me that trying to ban or eliminate weapons that are deadlier than most is a strange approach to this problem.  It makes sense to pursue limits on gun capacity and ammo clips, to require training for lisencing, to require longer lead times and stricter background checks, all of those things.  I don't believe, however, that these measures alone will stop these tragedies.  There are 300 million guns in this country so forget about somehow baning and confiscatng them all.  Totally impossible.  They are all capable of killing people, some more profusely than others.  Even if a deranged person with any degree of weapons training were to enter a school with a muzzle loader, he could kill 6, 8, or 10 people easily before law enforcement arrived.  The problem is there is mass caos and NO PROTECTION.  It's time to do some or all of the things mentioned above but more importantly it's time to protect our children.  Airplanes, all government facilities, and spoting venues now have some form of visible or invisible armed security personnel.  I think we should designate 3 or 4volunteers from the faculty or staff from all schools to train and provide with a weapon that is properly and secretly locked up.  It is no different from the highly sucessful US Air Marshall program.  As gastly as this may seem to some, it would immediately stop or at least greatly reduce the potential carnage of these awful incidents.  I want to protect our children NOW, not wait for the government to pass legislation that will do virtually nothing to stop this.

After reading readers' comments, I am heartened by the number of responses that dislike the further control of guns as the standard answer to violence through guns. Guns also protect. In fact, numerous independent studies demonstrate that the number of people SAVED because they HAVE guns considerably outnumbers the deaths of those from them. Why aren't we being told of ANY of those cases? Is it because that violence sells papers and boosts viewership? We have seen our rights flouted repeatedly, especially in recent years. Why do we want to strip ourselves of the right to protection? A "gunless" citizenry invites lawlessness--even by those who will retain the right to carry. As for Australia, the citizens have organized to reclaim their rights to self-protection, and are experiencing how hard it is to restore rights that have been lost.

I'm all for stricter regulations on gun ownership, but I doubt it would have much of an impact on mass murders. I think what motivates these depraved, deranged losers is publicity. This guy knew he'd be on the front page of every major newspaper in the country. He knew he would be the lead story on every newscast. He knew he'd be everywhere on the interest. He knew he would be famous. He knew he'd go down in history. That's the motivation and it's the same for all mass murderers. What we need to do is limit the news coverage of these incidents to the basics. Never name the killer or show his picture. After the initial report, nothing else. This would have a far greater impact on reducing mass shootings than gun control legislation.

The movement to control guns has been far too timid.

Essentially, the NRA is an unpatriotic and anti-American organization. It prefers weapons of mass destruction to the lives of children, not only in Connecticut this week but in working class communities all over the country plagued by gun violence.

The rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness should be cherished over the right to be armed to the teeth. If there were 1/100 the number of guns in circulation, even the angriest citizien would not have the means to wreak such devastation. All arguments claiming disseminated guns help preserve liberty are specious and absurd. The evidence of this past week makes that sadly clear. There is only one reult of guns everywhere: when violence happens, it is lethal and irreversible.

Time to tell the truth and stop being intimidated by a crazy, right-wing arms-obsessed lobby.

paulh