I gotta say ....

[gupsterg]

Since I saw the news I have been feeling ...

Even yesterday whilst working my thoughts were on this tragedy... even this morning it has been swirling around in my head...

I just can not imagine how the families must be feeling... what a loss of young children's lives ...

What is wrong with these people?

Do we need genetic/mental profiling done forcibly then these types of people removed from society? so normal people can live without this happening to them?

[Brycie]

It is sickening isn't it. I really feel for everyone caught up in it. It happens too often in the USA, maybe they need to look at hiw readily available guns are over there.

[gupsterg]

On Saturday evening I was wrapping pressie with my 9yr old, you can just think what was going on in my head...

Yes adults get together at this time and socialise but the magic is with/for children... my heart wrenches thinking what the families must be feeling ...

Only this year my middle child did not do a letter to Santa otherwise every year there has been a letter to him, mapping his progress via the web...

When you look in their eyes you can see this innocence, hope, goodness, faith and belief in things which as adults we probably lose...

If that whatever wanted to do whatever to his mum (not condoning his actions towards her) why take so many innocent childrens/bystanders lives?

I just wish he had been alive to be tortured physically and mentally the bullet was too light...

[DSullivan]

It is absolutely sickening what happened there,perhaps stricter gun control could be a solution so that this,NEVER happens again.

[potshot]

We have the strictest gun control in the world - it didn't stop Dunblane or Hungerford. You cannot legislate for someone who is unhinged. If they didn't use a gun it could have knives, axes, chainsaws, cars or whatever - you can't ban everything. In most of theses realy distressing cases in the UK the POLICE have failed to act on information given to them and removed the guns and licences

[Brycie]

The difference is you're having to go back 30 years in the UK to remember incidents like Hungerford. In the USA, there have been about 3 that I can remember off the top of my head in the last few years. In fact there have been 2 in the last 2 months. I know what you're saying potshot, but if tighter control in the US meant just one of these psychos didn't have access to a gun, wouldn't you say it would have been worth it? And yes, thet could have gone & got a knife, axe etc, but they wouldn't have been able to take nearly as many victims without a long range weapon like a gun.

[gupsterg]

I gotta agree they need to tighten laws there...

I have family in America and Canada, when they visit they always say come and live here its so much better... regardless of the opportunities and maybe better lifestyle/living costs I can't bring myself to think of moving there because of the gun issue IMO...

You cannot legislate for someone who is unhinged.

I think this is the issue... in any form of detection/prevention of criminal act...

Is the future a Minority Report style law system?

[potshot]

What part of the laws are you going to tighten. What are you going to ban. Here in the UK handguns were banned but hey ho there are still hundreds of handguns on the streets - now only outlaws have handguns - so that really worked. The percentage of legally held sporting guns that are used in firearms crimes is less than half a per cent - so if you tighten up the laws for legally held guns IT WILL MAKE NO DIFFERENCE AT ALL. What you have to do is reduce the amount of illegally held weapons - these weapons (and you notice I use the word weapons rather than guns because weapons by definition are used for fighting) are bought in by organised crime for drugs, prostitution etc etc etc.

How about tightening up the laws on heroin as well, oh sugar, thats already banned but hundreds of people die from heroine addiction every year. But it is all about organised crime so it is no surprise that almost ALL firearms crime takes place in the Met and in the West Midlands.

For me the answer is to increase sentencing on firearms offences -and that goes for the US as well. Over there prisoners are released early because of overcrowding in prisons - if you haven't got enough prisons FFS build more prisons...

[Brycie]

Good points and all well made, rational arguments about those gun crimes that have happened in the UK. My suggestion that tighter controls on firearms should be introduced was regarding the USA however, not the UK. Do you think the massive difference in the number of gun-related crimes between the US and the UK could be because guns are far easier to get hold of over there.

[potshot]

I think if you look at the population differences the massive numbers you mention will disappear. You will also find that the number of burgularies and personal assaults in the US are dramatically lower that they are here - I wonder why that might be?