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As Conn. residents mourn, feds visit gun shops
Mourners gather for a candlelight vigil at Ram's Pasture to remember shooting victims, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012 in Newtown, Conn. A gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Friday and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children. / AP Photo/Jason DeCrow
NEWTOWN, Conn. While a still-stunned community tried to cope with the horror of Friday's school shooting which killed more than two dozen people, federal agents planned to fan out to dozens of gun stores and shooting ranges across Connecticut, chasing leads they hoped would cast light on the life of school shooter Adam Lanza.
Among the questions: Why did his mother, a well-to-do suburban divorcee, keep a cache of high-power weapons in the house? What experience did Lanza have with those guns?
Grief at every corner in Newtown
48 Hours: Newtown
And, above all, what set him on a path to shoot and kill 20 children, along with the adults who tried to stop him?
WCBS Station CBS reports that police say evidence found at the bloody scene points to a motive, but they will not discuss it yet. According to correspondent Lou Young, the police have no note from the killer.
Lanza shot his mother, Nancy Lanza, to death at the home they shared Friday, then drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School in her car with four of her guns, forced his way in by breaking a window and opened fire, authorities said.
Within minutes, he killed 20 children, six adults and himself.
All the victims at the school were shot with a rifle, at least some of them up close, and all were apparently shot more than once, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. H. Wayne Carver said. There were as many as 11 shots on the bodies he examined.
All six adults killed at the school were women. Of the 20 children, eight were boys and 12 were girls.
Asked whether the children suffered, Carver said, "If so, not for very long." Asked how many bullets were fired, Carver said, "I'm lucky if I can tell you how many I found."
Parents identified the children through photos to spare them some shock, Carver said.
The terrible details about the last moments of young innocents emerged as authorities released their names and ages — the youngest 6 and 7, the oldest 56. They included Ana Marquez-Greene, a little girl who had just moved to Newtown from Canada; Victoria Soto, a 27-year-old teacher who apparently died while trying to hide her pupils; and principal Dawn Hochsprung, who authorities said lunged at the gunman in an attempt to overtake him.
The tragedy has plunged Newtown into mourning and added the picturesque New England community of 27,000 people to the grim map of towns where mass shootings in recent years have periodically reignited the national debate over gun control but led to little change.
Residents and faith leaders were sure to reflect Sunday on the mass shooting and what meaning, if any, to find in it. President Barack Obama planned to attend an interfaith vigil — the fourth time he will have traveled to a city after a mass shooting.
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On Saturday, overflow crowds packed St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church. The Rev. Richard Scinto, a deacon, gave a homily.
"In the past 48 hours I've said the phrase 'I don't know' about 1,000 times," he said. "That not knowing has got to be the worst part of this whole thing."
Victims of Conn. school shooting
At St. John's Episcopal Church, 54-year-old Donna Denner, an art teacher at an elementary school in nearby Danbury whose classroom was locked down after the shooting, said she feels the same way she did after 9/11 but isn't sure the rest of the country does.
"I don't know if the rest of the country is struggling to understand it the same way we are here," she said. "Life goes on, but you're not the same. Is the rest of the country — are they going about their regular activities? Is it just another news story to them?"
The gunman's father, Peter Lanza, issued a statement Saturday relating his own family's anguish in the aftermath.
"Our family is grieving along with all those who have been affected by this enormous tragedy. No words can truly express how heartbroken we are," he said. "We are in a state of disbelief and trying to find whatever answers we can. We too are asking why. ... Like so many of you, we are saddened, but struggling to make sense of what has transpired."
- Conn. gunman broke in, shot kids multiple times
- "Always smiling": Portraits of Conn. victims
- CT. shooter's relatives express "heartfelt sorrow"
- Teachers risked, lost their lives to protect Sandy Hook children
The rifle used was a Bushmaster .223-caliber, according to an official with knowledge of the investigation who was not authorized to speak about it and talked on condition of anonymity. The gun is commonly seen at competitions and was the type used in the 2002 sniper killings in the Washington, D.C., area. Also found in the school were two handguns, a Glock 10 mm and a Sig Sauer 9 mm.
A law enforcement official said Saturday that authorities were investigating fresh leads that could reveal more about the lead-up to the shooting. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
Ginger Colbrun, spokeswoman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said earlier there was no evidence Lanza was involved in gun clubs or had trained for the shooting. When reached later in the day and asked whether that was still true, she said, "We're following any and all leads related to this individual and firearms."
Dean Price, director of the Wooster Mountain State Range — a shooting range in Danbury — said two ATF agents visited the range Friday night and stayed into the early morning looking through thousands of names on sign-in logs.
He said that he had never seen Adam or Nancy Lanza there and that agents told him they did not find their names on the sign-in sheets.
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America murdered over 500,000 Iraqi civilians and thousands of Afghans. Are the lives of Muslim children killed by the military industrial complex any less special than the lives of those slain by a troubled person? Our president is a hypocrite, a murdering criminal pos that dutifully follows the orders of the military contractors. Listen to CIA operatives that explain how all our aggressions are not due to fighting terrorism, but to line the pockets of industries that profit from war.
Keep the numbers of dead and reasons for such in perspective.
Not one shot was fired and killed that many. Maybe we should outlaw fertilizer that he used to make the bomb. Like who needs that stuff? We just use it for our crops that we grow.
And let's outlaw alcohol that impairs and causes deathly accidents. Outlaw cigarettes because they cause cancer. Outlaw fast food restaurants and all junk food that causes obesity and heart disease. The list could go on.
We, the silent majority, hate the gun culture that has taken over America since the founding of right wing think tanks in the 70's. ALEC and the NRA care not for America citizens but profit.
My heart is with the families. May God bless and keep them always.....
TAKEN OUT OF SCHOOL
18 children were taken out of school,
and with 8 adults, makes 26 in the pool.
A lone gunman, now we're being told,
Was all it took to end their lives,?
but I think their lives were sold.
Who is there amongst us, who doesn't clearly see,
The madness all around us that made this come to be.
We need more guns, the lobbyist say,
We could have shot him down,
If every boy and girl today?
were packing in that town.
We need more guns politicians say,
Every man has a right,
To buy and sell assault weapons,
And children , young and bright.
We need more guns, the senate says,
It's not us should make a rule,
To take away those super guns
From every crazy fool.
We need more guns, the Congress says,
It's written in the law.
It's not our fault, these kids lay dying, calling for their Ma.
We need more guns, we know this, from the NRA,
And any politician who doubts them
Ohhhh, dearly he will pay.
The NRA, it owns them,
The politician has been paid,
With re-election money,
And children so afraid.
Guns don't kill, it's people,
These wiseman always tell.
Won't you buy a gun from me,
Before I burn in hell ?
So now I finally get it,
Not guns, but people kill.
Boehner, McConnell,Cantor,
To name a few, if you will.
Ohh, and Mr. President, I can't say your hands are clean.
I've voted for you twice now,
But my eyes see how it's been.
"Now's not the time " you said to us
When Giffords was sadly shot,
Do you think that maybe now's the time
You can start to make a fuss.
My hands are clean, says Cantor,
Mine too, Boehner shouts out.
You need us re-elected,
Is there any doubt ?
We have no blood on our hands,
These children , WE didn't kill.
Why should we do anything,,
Why should we pass a bill.
At the hands of politicians,
It seems we've all been sold
For even less than Jesus
By Judas Iscariot of old.
Oh, and me as I am writing,
Just noticed my bloody hands,
For silence, more than guns,?
Has destroyed so many lands.
And how many times must the canon ball fly,
Before they are forever banned?
I think I'll copyright that line
Before Dylan shows his hand.
Certainly, our forefathers ,
Knew this day would come.
And wanted us to protect
The politicians, not the young.
My thoughts are with the families ,
No parent should lose a child,
Especially from lack of laws
That clearly should be filed.
And to the young survivors,
A day you won't forget,
Forgive me and all adults,
For something that we let.
I'll steal some words from Dylan,
It's me he'll probably sue,
But he has so many,
He won't miss just a few.
"May God bless and keep you always,
May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others,
And let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
And may you stay
Forever Young"
And now I'll ask Piers Morgan ,
The bloke's been speaking out,
Can you turn that Limey voice more into a SHOUT?
I feel like Dylan's Mr. Jones,
As I sit chilled to the bone
Hearing all the talking heads,
My God, am I here all alone ?????????
This kid did not use a machine gun. He used a semi-automatic rifle and/or pistol. That is what the majority of weapons in this country consist of.
Your obviously one of the extremist straight jacket cases that are responsible for supporting the pro gun lobbyists organizations like Gun Owners of America, NRA etc. Under your insane logic, people have gone from keeping 1 plain handgun (non-automatic) to carrying concealed automatic large magazine rapid dispensing weapons and loose unregulated sales of weapons resulting in mass killings being reported almost weekly, but at least monthly. You have no credibility here, and quite frankly with the comment about the government, you are almost certainly certifiable.
I'm sure that, if guns never were invented, he would have found a butter knife.
I hate to use the R-word since gun-nuts typically hate it, but REGULATION might be in order, even putting serial numbers on bullets, therefore promotion RESPONSIBILITY so that gun owners won't be lax in storage and letting others take them so readily...
RIP God's Little Wonders, and See You All on the Other Side!! :(
"With budget shortfalls creating staffing crunches and federal law requiring putting children with disabilities in regular classrooms when possible to remove the stigma and encourage diversity, general education teachers now may find a number of pupils with special needs in their classes."
"There used to be one or two. You'd sit them at the front of the class, but now there are 10 or 12," said Barbara Schulman, an Orange County special education teacher who heads the California Teachers Association's special education committee. "Teachers need to know what they're doing."
The ADA Act
Children who are protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Public Law 101-336. The ADA's protection applies primarily, but not exclusively, to individuals with disabilities. The term disability means, with respect to an individual:
Has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities such as caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working
Has a record of such an impairment, or Is regarded as having such an impairment
Examples of these impairments are: orthopedic, visual, speech, and hearing impairments; cerebral palsy, epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, mental retardation, emotional illness, specific learning disabilities, HIV disease.
In short, keep your prejudices and stereotypes to yourself, please.
Now, to bring up the opposing viewpoint, some people who are more violent (as actions or reactions, there is a difference), should be kept away.
But let's see a little more analytical thinking. Teachers, principals, parents, pretty much everyone involved has to play their part, and the part is not defined as "sweeping it under the rug" or "handing out 'A' grades as quickly as possible to shove people along."
SLOWNEWS is right. Locking up innocent people is not morally or ethically right... and since laws are supposed to be created along moral or ethical principles (good luck)...
People need to wake up. There is big money form state and federal in school systems to identify mental problems in kids and to mainstream them. This has been going on in increasing numbers in the past (2) decades. There has been a huge increase in prescribed drugs to treat mental problem in kids, what happens when they go off the their meds? These dugs are often called "brain altering". Perhaps they do more harm then good.
;)
This week, two children in different states got a hold of their parents guns and shot them, one shot her brother and one shot himself. The gun was in a nightstand, HOW STUPID IS THAT? The Father is in security, who should have known better.
So, sheer ignorance and stupidity is partially to blame. Lock your guns up in a proper gun safe TODAY before your child gets a hold of it.
He apparently found some way to get the guns from his mother, most likely by force, then killed her. He then took those guns to the school to kill again.