A look at the world's worst mass shootings

A gunman at a Connecticut elementary school killed 27 people, including 20 children on Friday. It is among the world's worst mass shootings. Here is a look at some others:

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Officers display heroism during Wis. Sikh temple shooting

Aug. 5, 2012: Army veteran Wade Michael Page kills five men and one woman and wounds three other people, including a police officer, before taking his own life at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin outside Milwaukee.

• Slain Sikh temple leader built a life in America after arriving with nothing
• Photos: Suspect in Wis. shooting: "Frustrated neo-Nazi"

July 20, 2012: At least 12 people are killed when a gunman enters an Aurora, Colo., movie theater, releases a canister of gas and then opens fire during opening night of the Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises." James Holmes, a 24-year-old former graduate student at the University of Colorado, has been charged in the deaths.

• Full Coverage: Aurora movie theater massacre
• Photos: The Aurora shooting victims

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Afghanistan massacre survivors speak out

March 11, 2012: Sixteen Afghan villagers, including nine children, are killed during a predawn attack in which Army prosecutors have charged Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, 39.

• Children give graphic account of Afghan murders
• Watch: Death penalty sought in Afghan massacre case

July 22, 2011: Confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik kills 77 in Norway in twin attacks: a bombing in downtown Oslo and a shooting massacre at a youth camp outside the capital. The self-styled anti-Muslim militant admitted both attacks.

• Norway mass murderer Breivik complains of prison's bendy pens
• Norway court: Anders Breivik sane, going to prison

Nov. 5, 2009: Thirteen soldiers and civilians were killed and more than two dozen wounded when a gunman walked into the Soldier Readiness Processing Center at Fort Hood, Texas, and opened fire. Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder.

• Judge ousted in Fort Hood shooting case amid beard debacle

April 30, 2009: Farda Gadyrov, 29, enters the prestigious Azerbaijan State Oil Academy in the capital, Baku, armed with an automatic pistol and clips. He kills 12 people before killing himself as police close in.

March 10, 2009: Michael McLendon, 28, killed 10 people -- including his mother, four other relatives, and the wife and child of a local sheriff's deputy -- across two rural Alabama counties. He then killed himself.

Sept. 23, 2008: Matti Saari, 22, walks into a vocational college in Kauhajoki, Finland, and opens fire, killing 10 people and burning their bodies with firebombs before shooting himself fatally in the head.

Nov. 7, 2007: After revealing plans for his attack in YouTube postings, 18-year-old Pekka-Eric Auvinen fires kills eight people at his high school in Tuusula, Finland.

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Virginia Tech and Gun Control

April 16, 2007: Seung-Hui Cho, 23, kills 32 people and himself on Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Va.

• Virginia Tech gunman identified

April 26, 2002: Robert Steinhaeuser, 19, who had been expelled from school in Erfurt, Germany, kills 13 teachers, two former classmates and policeman, before committing suicide.

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Remembering Columbine

April 20, 1999: Students Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, opened fire at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., killing 12 classmates and a teacher and wounding 26 others before killing themselves in the school's library.

April 28, 1996: Martin Bryant, 29, bursts into cafeteria in seaside resort of Port Arthur in Tasmania, Australia, shooting 20 people to death. Driving away, he kills 15 others. He was captured and imprisoned.

March 13, 1996: Thomas Hamilton, 43, kills 16 kindergarten children and their teacher in elementary school in Dunblane, Scotland, and then kills himself.

Oct. 16, 1991: A deadly shooting rampage took place in Killeen, Texas, as George Hennard opened fire at a Luby's Cafeteria, killing 23 people before taking his own life. 20 others were wounded in the attack.

June 18, 1990: James Edward Pough shoots people at random in a General Motors Acceptance Corp. office in Jacksonville, Fla., killing 10 and wounding four, before killing himself.

Dec. 6, 1989: Marc Lepine, 25, bursts into Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique college, shooting at women he encounters, killing nine and then himself.

Aug. 19, 1987: Michael Ryan, 27, kills 16 people in small market town of Hungerford, England, and then shoots himself dead after being cornered by police.

July 12, 1976: Edward Charles Allaway, a custodian in the library of California State University, Fullerton, fatally shot seven fellow employees and wounded two others.

Aug. 20, 1986: Pat Sherrill, 44, a postal worker who was about to be fired, shoots 14 people at a post office in Edmond, Okla. He then kills himself.

July 18, 1984: James Oliver Huberty, an out-of-work security guard, kills 21 people in a McDonald's restaurant in San Ysidro, Calif. A police sharpshooter kills Huberty.

Aug. 1, 1966: Charles Whitman opened fire from the clock tower at the University of Texas at Austin, killing 16 people and wounding 31.

[pipefuser]

Actually the worst mass shooting in the US was at Waco Texas. The feds killed 76 men women and children. Thats another reason to be armed to the teeth.

[random_soul]

The article also fails to mention the shooting that happened on April 3, 2009 at the American Civic Association in Binghamton, NY that left 13 students and teachers dead.
The American Civic Association provides citizenship and language classes to local immigrants.

[RICHIVAREA]

I just saw GOP Texas GOV Rick Perry on TV News. Perry said he'd approve Texas Teachers to carry their "Registered Concealed Handguns", into the classrooms at Texas schools. WHAT??
My parents and my wifes parents are retired Texas Teachers. My wife is a Texas Teacher - 31 years. I taught educators in 9 States. Every educator and administrator I know, UNANIMOUSLY AGREE; "ONE GUN ON ANY CAMPUS, IS ONE TOO MANY!" Perry claims he killed a lone coyote, with a semi-automatic pistol, while on his morning jog, in a gated residential subdivision. I'm glad I live in Rural Texas Hill Country, where real packs of coyote live. Shooting a lone coyote is COWARDESS, not machismo.

[CB1445]

All attacks were carried out by men.

A variety of weapons were used, in a variety of countries. The only common link seems to be the gender of the murderers. Interesting and not at all surprising.

[bullycoco]

guns don't kill children. children kill children. signed, the NRA

[CB1445]

MEN kill children.

[nicoleleej]

Please sign the petition at white house dot gov in wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School Massacre to "Re-evaluate gun control laws: Have every gun owner re-register his firearm yearly like his vehicle." Re-registering firearms annually promotes responsibility in managing gun control. We need a hunting rifle, a powerful firearm and more bullets not an excess of guns.

[Donovan1661]

The REAL place to look, is the common thread of psychiatric drugs almost universal to all of these senseless mass homicides.

[Kindyle]

In no sense of any situation does anyone have the right to call someone else an idiot. I don't agree or disagree with the above statement, but this is a fragile situation and should be treated as such. America should be in a state of peace and thought right now. Grieving for the others. Not picking battles of political nature over the internet. It's time to be big boys and girls. The mistake most humans make whether it be with their guns or their words is believing they have rights to use them however they see fit. They are both dangerous and fragile if misused in the slightest.

[mcsameahole]

The second ammendment does not say that there will be no regulation or control of guns. It talks about a "militia". The US has a serious gun problem and we need to do something about it now before the slaughter of innocents happens again. I am sick and tired of the selfish gun toters whine about their "right" to "bear arms". The children in Connecticut had a right to live and to be safe. So, to hell with your selfish and childish want.

[johnlockesghost]

Actually, the 2nd amendment is to provide a means to overthrow a tyrant. For that reason, it is a necessary part of citizen's rights. Governments simply cannot be trusted.

[MidRoadAlone]

The Preamble to the Constitution says to "promote the general welfare" and liberals have used that to say that welfare, food stamps, medicaid, HEAP, WIC, etc., etc. is required by the constitution.

The 14th Amendment has been also "interpreted" to say that a women has the "right" to an abotion. Apparently nothing about rights for an unborn child. More children are aborted each year than die by gun violence.

So why is it that these same liberals always seem to interpret the right of the people to keep and bear arms is something different. It is much clearer language either of the other examples.

Now for me, I live in New York State and have no issues with the gun control laws here - a responsible person can own a handgun or rifle with what I believe are reasonable background checks and permitting.

The issue always overlooked in these mass killings is the lack of mental health attention these people receive - this mans mother must have known he had issues. The story hasn't unfolded, but as a responsible gun owner, her weapons should have been in a safe and inaccessible to her son.

Otherwise, these weapons appear to have been acquired legally in a state with some of the toughest gun laws.

[johnlockesghost]

Four murderers over the age of 30, seven murderers of unknown age and eleven murderers under 30 years of age. Possibly, the purchase of hand guns should be limited to married people over the age of 30.

[CB1445]

Or perhaps men shouldn't be allowed to own guns, seeing as all attacks were carried out by men.

[pmommy1980]

My Sincere Condolences Goes out to the family and victims
My\\\\http://youtu.be/OL7dUdxEEWw