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Crime scene tape surrounds the home of Nancy Lanza, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. Nancy Lanza was killed by her son Adam Lanza before he forced his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Friday and opened fire, killing many others, including 20 children. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

What will the NRA say?

BY Dave Ross  on December 19, 2012 @ 7:40 am (Updated: 7:56 am - 12/19/12 )

Yet another detail about the Newtown gunman is now in question.

Fox News last night quoted the son of a local pastor saying, "Adam Lanza may have snapped after learning his mother wanted to send him to a psychiatric facility."

But then the NY Daily News quoted the pastor himself as saying his son's statement was hearsay and shouldn't be used.

So this story continues to be all over the place. This scramble for some explanation to cling to is distracting from what we DO know for sure, which is that Adam Lanza's mother kept a military weapon at home that he used to kill 26 innocent people.

And the mom obviously never dreamed such a thing could happen -- because no one believes this of their own child, and if they did, they would make sure such a weapon never got into the house.

We also know that whatever his motive was, his access to a military weapon turned a family crisis into a national tragedy.

Which means there's a pretty clear choice if we decide as a nation to do something: either you control the weapons or the people who own and possess them.

We're told the NRA will finally speak on Friday. I hope they address the question of what we have a right to expect of people who own weapons. The NRA's Eddie Eagle program tells kids what to do if they find a gun in Mommy or Daddy's closet, "There's a gun up here I heard Josh say," the cartoon voice sings. "That's when I knew this was no place to play."

It's reassuring to think that kids will do the right thing and go dancing to their parents when they find a gun in the closet. But someone needs to ask why any parent would leave that weapon unsecured in the first place.

Dave Ross, KIRO Radio Talk Show Host
Dave Ross is co-host of The Ross & Burbank Show on KIRO Radio (weekdays 9-Noon) and never too far from the spotlight.
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Comments (52)


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  • MagneticPatriot wrote...
    The problem is with people, not guns!
    December 19, 2012 9:00 am
    I am all about gun control and limiting it but we have to do it right! New laws really are only going to affect law abiding citizens that already fill out the proper paperwork and register their weapons, basically giving more guidance to those who do already.

    Criminals don’t obey laws nor do they restrict them from using them.

    Laws also don’t prevent those with mental issues, (Café Racer, Oregon Mall and Sandy Brooke) from buying or stealing firearms. We need to find a better way to address those with mental or violent issues first instead of just trying to ban firearms regardless of what kind they are.

    So, go ahead, ban assault rifles! The next shootings will be by a person buying a 12 gauge from Wal-Mart or getting them at a Gun Show or off of Craigslist, keep in mind criminals will always find something and crimes with assault type weapons will continue for our generation and our children’s.

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  • AtheisticallyYours wrote...
    THANK YOU DAVE!
    December 19, 2012 9:12 am
    The closing sentence of your commetary is EXACTLY the point I have been screaming about since I found out that the guns of this tragedy were the mother's, AND that the kid was a whack job! WHY would any parent have firearms (and UNSECURED ONES AT THAT!) in a house where there is a mentally ill individual? That in and of itself is a clear explaination as to why the mother was killed with her own weapon! She was probably as unbalanced as the kid that killed her!
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  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    Gun laws make little or no difference. Piling on more laws is useless from the preventive standpoint.
    December 19, 2012 9:20 am
    By definition, a criminal is a person who defies the law.

    We can't stop criminals from robbing banks because we make it illegal to steal from a bank. We can't stop criminals from mugging people in an alleyway by making armed robbery illegal. We can't stop criminals from getting any sort of weapon ever commonly circulated and committing mayhem, including the mass murder of innocent children, simply by making it even more illegal to do so.

    So, why have laws if they don't prevent crime? So we can prosecute people after they have already done evil or destructive things and (with any luck) imprison them to protect the rest of society from their insanity and uncontrolled impulses.

    We have almost no hope of sorting this out. Not in this life, not in this nation. But, if we were ever to sort it out and make meaningful progress toward preventing these random massacres in the future we would need to look at what *causes* people to pick up a weapon an begin gunning down strangers; not concentrate on the weapon that one particular madman or another happened to use.

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  • messiah101 wrote...
    CG In the SHORT term your correct
    December 19, 2012 9:33 am
    However culture change takes years. You need only look at the changes in the USA between how we treat Black Americans as well as Gay Americans.In my youth the KKK still hung Blacks, now we have a Black POTUS, the police would regularly raid clubs where Gays socialized now we have Gay Marriage. This country has shown its ability to change but has shown change takes time and is done in small steps.As far as what causes people to pick up weapons and kill mass amounts of strangers goes I believe that you need only go back to the first time period when these tradgedys started and look for what occured socially in that time period that possibly influenced SOME particular individuals (tv,video games,movies,even DIET).You can learn to fly Jets using videos perhaps you can learn to KILL also
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  • Regularjoe44 wrote...
    A military weapon??
    December 19, 2012 9:25 am
    Every time I hear the press or liberal talk show dummies jump on the ol "assault" weapon bandwagon I wonder if they've even shot, owned, or seen an actual firearm. They believe what ever they are told...the sheeple just follow along to the beat of whoever has the mike. Just because something looks similar to a "military weapon" doesn't make it so. My .22 long rifle can fire nearly as fast as an AR... Does that make my .22 a military weapon? My glock, a 17 round capacity...is that an assault weapon? You can ban every AR and AK semi auto, and there will be dozens of fire arms that are similar......but they won't look so scary to the sheeple so everyone will be safe then. Since our elected officials are generally clueless to this...they, and the sheeple, will focus on things that will have zero impact to the problem while they work the knee jerk reaction of never letting a good crisis go to waste. That being said...lock up your fire arms. There are plenty of systems that allow locking and quick access. If you are an irresponsible driver, there are penalties. And so should there be penalties if you are an irresonsible gun owner.
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  • HLC wrote...
    As usual messy you open your pie hole before getting a clue.
    December 19, 2012 9:44 am
    The bushmaster that may have been used in the killing was not a military weapon. The Bushmaster company make a weapon for military use that features full auto but is illegal to own by the general public. This was a civilian model that can be fired semi auto.Get a clue before you run off at the mouth. It shows how stupid you are. Like as has been said what if it was a 12 ga. pump? He could probably have killed more.
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  • messiah101 wrote...
    HLC
    December 19, 2012 1:16 pm
    As I stated the Bushmaster is used by military units around the globe. It fires bullets as fast as you can pull the trigger and certainly has much more fire power then a 12 guage pump.The weapon used in this shooting fires the same cal bullet as military units,the military version usually has a modification that allows for 3-4 shot bursts,in almost any situation in the military guns are used in the semi auto position because the rate of fire is so high with these weapons. Hope you learned a little.I have fired thousands of rounds with a M-16 and I used the auto position only ounce
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  • Roark wrote...
    What does the NRA have to do with this?
    December 19, 2012 10:34 am
    Just the fact they are 2nd amendment enthusiasts? Why don't we ask car companies what they think when someone mows down a crowd with one of their cars. Why don't we ask the makers of kitchen knives what they think when someone kills someone with one of their knives? You liberals are apoplectic about this and the NRA has NOTHING to do with it, UNLESS you just want to do away with the 2nd amendment. If that's your goal, then why aren't you talking about having a Constitutional Convention? Get the states to approve it and you can have no more right to self protection. Do you think that will stop criminals from killing people. You're not a very good judge of human character then, because killing gun rights will only change the method insane people use to kill. Grow up and act like an adult Dave. WORK THE REAL PROBLEM which is since 1963, thanks to liberals like YOU there is no legal means for the state to use a "civil commitment" process to put crazy people in a safe place away from the population at large.
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  • William Lawn wrote...
    The NRA manufactures weapons??????
    December 19, 2012 10:35 am
    I didn't know that Roark.

    So your "argument" fails in the second sentence and then the third.

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  • William Lawn wrote...
    BTW, Roark just an FYI
    December 19, 2012 10:42 am
    http://www.dshs.wa.gov/mhsystems/civil.html add an s in front of html.

    This cite is ridiculous

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  • WashingtonCitizen wrote...
    Yep......culture change takes years...
    December 19, 2012 10:49 am
    little baby steps. That's exactly how Socialists do it. Before the average person realizes what has happened; it is too late. I personally believe POTUS is crying crocdile tears over the recent shooting for it is EXACTLY what he needed to push his anti-gun agenda that we all knew would be coming in his 2nd term! Socialist leaders know socialism sucks when they eventually run out of other peoples money. That's why they always disarm the public first so they have no means of revolt when the enevitable happens. So called assault weapons, high capacity magazines, and ammo are flying off the shelves in all local stores and stores nationwide. Online retailers are nearly sold out of ammo and magazines. Local store had 200 people "delayed" on NICS checks last night due to the overwhelming of the NICS system. Buying a firearm from an FFL is far harder than getting a driver's license. Sandy Hook killer, age 20, could have bought a rifle or shotgun legally; not a handgun. With a pair of popular cargo pants, anyone can carry 100+ rds of ammo in 10rd magazines for any rifle or pistol. Limiting magazine size by law is utterly stupid. Shooter's mother knew he was more then "odd" and should have secured her firearms so he couldn't get at them. I blame her; not the gun or any gun law. I am not advocating that anyone be told how to store their guns. Taking 20 seconds to get to your gun could very well be 19 seconds too long when the bad guy is standing over your bed in the dark! I own two of the biggest gun safes you can buy without having custom made, however, a shotgun and a pistol for things that go bump in the night are unlocked at bedside and ready to go at a moments notice. "Endowed by their creator"......your constitutional rights are granted by god, not gov't. If gov't grants your rights; gov't can take them away.
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  • William Lawn wrote...
    "Buying a firearm from an FFL is far harder than getting a driver's license."
    December 19, 2012 11:07 am
    Really? I had to take a driving and written test when I got my drivers license.

    When I got my motorcycle endorsement, I had to take another written test and get a certificate of proficiency.

    When I bought my LCP, I gave the store owner my CCL, ten minutes later I strolled out of the store with it.

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  • William Lawn wrote...
    And to get the CCL, I was figure printed and had a background check run
    December 19, 2012 11:14 am
    No proficiency requirement.
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  • messiah101 wrote...
    Washington Citizen
    December 19, 2012 1:23 pm
    So your insinuating that the average person is basically a nitwit?How is it you knew Obama had a "anti gun agenda"?Why didn't he use that anti gun agenda in his first term?HMMM "Your constitutional rights are granted by god not gov't" So are you saying that ALL the People of the world are covered by the same Constitutional rights" So why are the jails in GitMo filled with prisoners that we want to try in GitMo?OH do atheists have any Constitutional Rights?
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  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    You need only look at the changes in the USA between how we treat Black Americans as well as Gay Americans.In my youth the KKK still hung Blacks, now we have a Black POTUS, the police would regularly raid clubs where Gays socialized now we have Gay Marria
    December 19, 2012 11:30 am
    Great attempt at humor messed up one oh one.
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  • messiah101 wrote...
    haha
    December 19, 2012 1:25 pm
    Glad to see that you read ALL MY posts start t finish.They are VERY informative aren't they?
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  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    Far more people are killed by cars than people with guns.
    December 19, 2012 11:37 am
    So Willie if you don't like your CCW tear it up don't carry. Nobody forced you to do this.
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  • WashingtonCitizen wrote...
    So Mr Lawn.........
    December 19, 2012 12:52 pm
    Can you get a CCL or buy a firearm while being a felon, under indictment, non-citizen, convicted of domestic violence, previously commiteed to a mental institution, dishorably discharged from the military, active restraining order, etc? Funny...........none of those would keep you from getting a DL. Really....how hard was it to pass the written and demo test to get a DL? A test you don't have to study for isn't much of a test. The background check for a CCL is the same NICS check done when you buy a firearm. Finger printing is only required because you are applying to carry a concealed firearm. Personally I don't agree with being fingerprinted at all! Next it will be a DNA sample or how about we just get DNA samples from every live birth in this country and start a large registry. You know.....to solve future crime,,,, I'm being sarcastic...
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  • William Lawn wrote...
    None of it was "hard" but it existed. Sort of a baseline.
    December 19, 2012 1:22 pm
    The CCL, if you are a sort of straight citizen none existed. I'll assume someone who hasn't ridden for many years could find the MC endorsement a bit challenging. I don't know that because I've ridden since I was a kid.

    I think if you put my 100 pound wife on my BMW and told her to pass the proficiency test for a MC endorsement, she'd struggle.

    She'd have no problem with a CCL even though she has only been to the range once.

    That is MY point.

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