TCTI: Too Crazy Too Ignore
 Dave Ross
AP: 6d8366c3-356b-4cbc-9134-d255f3daaccf
Rain drops gather on a rose near a teddy bear on a makeshift memorial in the Sandy Hook village of Newtown, Conn., Monday, Dec. 17, 2012, as the town mourns victims killed in Friday's school shooting. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Are we fed up yet?

BY Dave Ross  on December 17, 2012 @ 8:28 am (Updated: 10:46 am - 12/17/12 )

Is the massacre in Connecticut going to be the watershed that breaks the deadlock on gun control?

A new Huffington Post poll found 50 percent of Americans say they want stricter gun laws now.

But the same problem is still there: What new law would have prevented Adam Lanza from shooting up that school?

Maybe a law that would have required his mother to lock up her guns? With regular inspections? Or a strict ban on military-style weapons with high capacity magazines? Then his mother could never have bought that AR-15. And he might have been forced to stop and reload, which might have given those teachers a chance to tackle him.

But that's still no guarantee, because this shooter was single-minded, secretive, and suicidal.

Then there's the other reality: that there are members of Congress who still believe that Americans must always have access to the kind of weapons that would enable them to fend off government tyranny, and the Connecticut massacre changes nothing for them.

Rep Louie Gohmert of Texas on Fox News Sunday said if anything, you give the teacher an assault weapon to fight back. You don't take assault weapons away from the American people.

"A free people should be an armed people. It insures against the tyranny of the government. If they know the biggest army is the American people then you don't have the tyranny that came from King George," Gohmert said.

Well, the British seem to have no interest in taking us back. So I guess it's working.

You might also be interested in:

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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.
More Dave Ross

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  • mnpat wrote...
    "Are we fed up yet?"
    December 17, 2012 7:53 am
    Always looking for the quick band aid. We live in a society where any American or illegal may do whatever they want as long as they are willing to pay the consequences. So you want to begin with the 2nd Amendment, what's next the 1st, how about banning child birth until a couple can prove economic viability. You sir are always looking to point a finger at from your ideological perspective and slap a bandage on it when our issues in this anything goes society are much deeper than that.
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  • circuitfr wrote...
    dave..
    December 17, 2012 8:16 am
    it's a gun free zone and I believe all the victims (adults) were female? Were there even any male staff at the school? You want them to tackle the guy, but have no other way to defend them? It doesn't matter if you ban "rifles" and high capacity magazines" It's a gun free zone with women and kids. He could of done the exact same thing with a couple of single action revolvers. Or say he only killed 10 kids. If you truly believe that guns are the problem, you would have to support a TOTAL weapons ban where EVERY firearm is forcibly taken and it becomes illegal to purchase even a BB gun. I would at least respect people who agree with that line of thinking. A so called "scary looking gun" ban won't do anything. What about shot guns. You have a shotgun, he could of done the same thing. It's all or nothing. Unfortunetly, the right answer is not the popular one. The fact is Evil exist in this world and bad things happen to good people. That in no way helps the victims of this tragedy, but that is reality. People die, kids die, car wrecks, medical mistakes, baby cribs, cancer. It's sad that we as a society think that everything can be banned. If it was truly about the kids, then you would ban cars, beer, bicycles, 5 gallon buckets, blinds with strings on them, etc..etc..
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  • logical open mind wrote...
    ok how about these things first, right away and have a unemotional discussion right away.
    December 17, 2012 9:39 am
    Obama needs to tell gun owners to keep em locked up in a steel case. #2Mental health, mental health, mental health. We need a national plan if one knows of someone who is way on the edge. The mother of the killer allowed him to play violent video games in solitude when she knew he was slipping away. Kids need to notify authorities, even if in confidence, of a kid they are very concerned about. Stop Bully's-this needs to be enforced and taken seriously. Do these things right away, then talk about guns and ammo with people that dont get hysterical and not people who just flat out dont get why some good people need to have a gun. (I have shot coyotes and rattlesnakes to protect cows and people numerous times-it is nessasary.) Ask an Alaskan who likes to go fishing if they need a gun-have you ever seen a grizzly up close?
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  • gloria jackson wrote...
    Responsible gun owner and common sense
    December 18, 2012 8:17 am
    Why should someone have to be told by "the government" to keep their guns locked away in a safe? Isn't that just plain common sense? When I read of (events happening), the first thing that comes to mind is, why was the weapon so easily available to get into the hands of the wrong person?
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  • Macdoodle wrote...
    Gun safety
    January 12, 2013 7:36 am
    Guns can't be locked away if they are carried for protection. The person who legally carries a gun for protection, needs to be able to get to it. The majority of people who carry guns for protection are extremely safety minded. My biggest problem with the Government butting into law abiding citizens having guns is this, they all have Secret Service or body guards with them who carry guns to protect them. They may not think that I or my family are as important as they are, but I do. After all at the end of the day, the Kings and pawns all go back into the same box.
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  • gloria jackson wrote...
    "Are we fed up yet"?
    December 18, 2012 8:01 am
    I've advocated for over 30 years now that babies should be nuetered until the age of 28; this would solve the problem of teenage pregnacy. I'm glad to know I have your support.
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  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    The perp was sick. If ever single gun were magically removed
    December 17, 2012 8:14 am
    from the United States, the perp would still have been sick. When he snapped, he would have started killing people until he was stopped and there are a lot of means to do so that don't involve a gun.

    The Second has evolved since it was written. At the time, it was essentially protecting the rights of the citizens to store weapons in community arsenals and assemble to drill as a militia. When the drill was over, the most powerful weapons would be returned to the arsenal- but almost every farmer owned a "fowling piece" or an old blunderbuss to protect his homestead.

    Just like freedom of the press, freedom to keep and bear arms has evolved. The Second ensures a vibrant retail and wholesale exchange of firearms everywhere in the United States. The best we can hope for is that 90% of that trade is legal, and we can't get rid of the 10% that isn't without infringing on the rights of the 90% who follow the law. Those restrictions that say the public cannot have RPG's, mortars, tanks,fully automatic machine guns, etc are probably not constitutional, except by interpretation of a previous Supreme Court .

    Living in the United States is like being married to a beautiful woman with a couple of physical or psychological flaws. You have to put up with the flaws, because you will never find a totally perfect woman to replace her. (As if deserving of a "perfect" woman in the first place...) The fact that while trying to protect our freedoms from foreign or domestic tyrants we have made it possible for n'er do wells to more effectively threaten our personal safety and security is one of those flaws.

    Part of our beautiful life in the US is the fact that there are now about 2 guns in circulation for every 3 people in the country. Some of those guns fall into the hands of very, very, bad people- who would still be very, very bad people whether they had a gun, or not.

    Would the beautiful US be more "perfect" if we didn't have a problem with all of this gun violence? Of course. But we need to look beyond the guns for the true source of the violence, and we'll put up with the flaw to enjoy the rest of the beauty. As if we were all so flawless ourselves that we "deserved" a perfect country anyway....and of course we aren't.

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  • cw1997 wrote...
    Unfortunately
    December 17, 2012 8:23 am
    This is a true tragedy no doubt, but the fact is that cities who have set in place strict gun control laws have seen their crime rates go up. Can one spell Detroit or Chicago and establishing gun free zones is a farce...like this would have stopped him or some other whack job. Fact is that everyday in the US 27 people die as a result of drunk drivers so do we ban beer, booze and or cars? It goes back to personality responsibility of parents, putting some moral compass back in place in our society. Take a look at the films and TV shows today video gams...95% are killing someone, blowing something up sooner or later it becomes unreal and goof ball like this kid get caught up in it.
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  • Macdoodle wrote...
    Gun permit
    January 12, 2013 8:07 am
    My Uncle lives in Maryland. One of the only ways you can get a carry permit there is if you are carrying a large amount of money from one location to another for a business. As soon as you drop the money off you can no longer carry your weapon concealed. It would seem as if Maryland puts money above human life. Look at Baltimore. It is one of the most dangerous cities in the US and you can't carry a concealed weapon to protect yourself. Go figure.
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  • GloScot wrote...
    You answered it, Dave
    December 17, 2012 8:25 am
    I believe the instant discussion on gun control is so insulting to those who have suffered because it's trite and takes focus away from the grieving process. But as you aptly put it, Dave, even gun laws would not have stopped this. Guns were bought legally and there was nothing to prohibit the owner of these guns to have them. The shooter's age kept him from legally getting the gun, but how do you control ordinary people on an everyday basis? What many want following this tragedy takes us down a road where we willingly ask a government to take all our weapons, come into our homes anytime one wants to look around and confiscate anything else that might cause death. In essence, you are asking for a police state. Do you really want that? What you have here is something that people don't want to address: we have evil in the world and laws will not stop evil. Every day the equivalent of this school's death toll occurs around the country. Criminals have guns and kill others and it's so commonplace that it's not a cause for an outcry. So laws aren't going to keep people from killing each other. Folks, and you don't want to hear this, but the answer is we need to repent. We need to be our neighbor's keeper. We need Jesus to transform our hearts. Practically, do the common sense thing and keep your weapons locked up. Prepare to help your neighbor. If that means for you to have a CCP, then by all means, protect those around you. The guy that stopped the shooter in Oregon last week was someone with a CCP. But we will have trouble in this world because it is fallen.
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  • murr wrote...
    An agenda to get to
    December 17, 2012 8:31 am
    At anybody's expense
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  • ohyea53 wrote...
    As expected some are calling for more gun laws.
    December 17, 2012 8:41 am
    . Anyone care to guess how many laws were broken by the nut case in Connecticut? Forty-one !!! So there is something much more needed to stop this God awful violence. One thing is to start teaching these young people the value of life . To many it seems think it isn’t a very big deal if someone dies or is murdered. Maybe that is over simplified but we need to start somewhere.
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  • Lonestar wrote...
    Maurice Clemons was prohibited from possessing firearms
    December 17, 2012 9:08 am
    And he had a parole officer to enforce that ruling. How are we as a society going to enforce gun control for the masses when we can't even manage gun control in the small number of cases where it currently exists?
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  • mnpat wrote...
    Dave forgets that we as Americans
    December 17, 2012 9:14 am
    Have a right to overthrow our own government if we the people believe they have extorted too much control from the citizens they are supposed to represent.
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  • AtheisticallyYours wrote...
    Killed with HER OWN GUN!
    December 17, 2012 9:22 am
    I hope the idiot anti-gun control militants will remember that the OWNER of these automatic weapons was KILLED WITH ONE OF THEM! So much for "control over a gun" when its owner is killed by her own. As for automatic weapons possession, I will defer to the families of the victims in this tragedy. Let's get THEIR opinions on the matter. Theirs should count first. PERIOD!
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  • SeattleD wrote...
    At the beginning of the school year
    December 17, 2012 9:32 am
    Each school should take up a security fund drive which then would be used to pay for armed guards. Schools would then be protected to the extent the parents are willing pay.
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  • mpgunner wrote...
    A scitzo could use...
    December 17, 2012 9:38 am
    Shotgun's? Vent a propane tank and ignite? Lots of stuff on trapped victim's. Yet lib's love to use this situations to blame the right and Sarah Palin (AZ). Let's work on scitzo detection and mental health. An area that has lapsed over the last 50 years yet we are reaping the pain of this in many areas.
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