Let The Blame Games Begin!

1) It was those violent video games!

2) It was feminism!

3) It was the devil's work!

At the NRA's news conference Friday, look for these and more mis-directions on the cause of the Newtown massacre. But don't EVER blame the gun manufacturers and their NRA stooges! Always remember, guns don't kill people; people kill people!

As Hunter at Daily Kos said:

"Prediction: We're going to limit the number of rounds people can shoot off in video games long before we think about limiting the number of rounds they can fire in real life. Not joking on that one."

Reflections

"We worry about the hormones in their milk, the violence in 'Spongebob Squarepants,' and yet this country tolerates the existence of a military-style assault weapon built for no other purpose than killing lots of people on a battlefield -- fast... But nothing will change when it comes to guns in America. That is something rotten and infected in our culture. And it breaks my heart, at least 27 different ways." Paula Dvorak, Kaplan Daily.

"This latest terrible tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School is not fluke. It is a result of the senseless, immoral neglect of all of us as a nation to fail to protect children instead of guns and to speak out against the pervasive culture of violence. It is up to us to stop these preventable tragedies." Marian Wright Edelman, president of the Children's Defense Fund, quoted by Dvorak.

In this country, the right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" takes a back seat to the "right" to carry a piece of child-killing hardware. That's our greatest sickness as a people and a nation.

Horror In Connecticut

We can't believe what we're watching: a shooter at an elementary school in Newtown, CT this morning has apparently shot and killed at least 27 people, the majority of whom were children. Several news organizations are updating the toll, as the chaotic scene develops, but we're told that the gunman, who was shot and killed, was 20 year old Adam Lanza*, and armed with two 9mm handguns and an assault weapon. How could anyone commit such a deeply sick and evil act?

What makes this especially horrifying is the location of the murders: an elementary school. The young age and sheer number of casualties will rank this as perhaps the most devastating mass shooting in U.S. history, along with Columbine High School and Virginia Tech. This is so hard to absorb, we're at a loss for words.
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*initial media reports identified the shooter as "24 year old Ryan Lanza" who is actually the brother of the alleged shooter.

(photo: Children are led away from the Sandy Hook Elementary School. Newtown Bee photo)