Wow! This is alarming!

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I used to think that guns in school here in America were a rare occurrence, but I just happened across this http://wadaduga.wordpress.com/2010/01/2 ... his-month/

This shows 10 incidents just this month! (I don't know why the link shows a different number than the article) That's 120 incidents of guns in schools a year! One of these is a seven year old!

I'm glad I homeschool my kids.

14 yrs ago when I moved to the city high school the gang guys would flash their guns under the table in art class. I grew up with guns and started shooting at age 8 I was given serious gun safety training I didnt learn my gun etiquette from video games.

Uh, in the city where I grew up, kids were required to use backpacks made of clear plastic, and walk through metal detectors, in order deter them from bringing guns to school. This started when I was in elementary school, in the mid-80's. Guns is schools were always a problem there.

I was clueless. I had no idea it was this bad.

What a sad state of affairs.

I'm not that surprised, given the nature of kids, and the number of families that believe in keeping firearms around. I'm really worried about the ones the schools don't catch ...

Guns in a city or suburban setting are accidents waiting to happen (I've been given many effective arguments for gun ownership in isolated areas over the years, but not for urban areas). I don't understand why people have them. But they do. My neighbor grew up rural and has one, that the neighbor on the other side learned about when it was pointed at a locked out teen trying to get back in. She made a point of letting me know so I could warn my kids not to ever do anything suspicious on "that" side of our house. It's scary, but those who own them don't think so. Just all of us who live near. There is always that whispering: "he/she owns a gun!"

Some kid at my son's middle school thought it would be funny to bring a joke gun to school, that shocked the person trying to shoot it. He got lots of kids to try it out. And he got suspended. It wasn't funny.

Yes, the whole deal with guns is sad. Like I said, I do understand it when you live isolated and near wildlife, or a senior citizen living alone in an iffy area, but I don't understand it where I live, and I can't say I ever will. In all the debates over the years no one has given me any decent examples of why it could be needed.

Puh-leeze. I was aware from the age of at least eight, that there were three rifles of various calibers and a handgun in the top of my parents' closet. I often saw them while sneaking looks at Christmas presents. My dad took me hunting and camping fairly frequently, so I knew how to use them. Not once in my entire young life did I ever even consider taking one to school, even when bullied. Not because I was afraid of jail, I was more afraid of my Dad thinking I was that stupid.

The only kid I ever knew who did bring a gun to school (fortunately it was disassembled), was a crazy redneck who was always in trouble with the law and the school system. Just as gang bangers flashing them under tables today, it's not the guns that are dangerous - its people. A gun is a metal tool, it doesn't jump up and shoot at people by itself. A power drill can kill in the hands of an idiot. An an idiot who wants to play tough or hurt people will find a weapon to brandish. You want to fear something, fear people having children who have no intention and no ability to be proper parents. Fear those who raise children to believe the world owes them something.



VV Yeah, that's what HE said VV



Why would a gun be needed? I wonder what would have happened to the good Senator's family if all he had to defend them with was a throw pillow? If you wake in the night and a stranger is standing at the foot of your bed, are you going to load a crossbow? You might try calling the police. They should get there in time to mop up the blood. Your blood.

People, DW. That's why guns are sometimes necessary. Because some people choose to do evil and cannot be reasoned with.

It is unfortunate that anything you create to defend yourself they may also use as an offensive tool, but disarming yourself is not going to convince them to play nice. Its just going to get you killed faster.

I am sorry, but just "keeping firearms around" does not cause gun violence. I live in an area where about 70% of the entire town has guns in their houses. At least 40% of those people have concealed carry permits, most of those are Military Veterans. Almost no gun violence and the only fatalities in the area in the last fifteen years were a couple of guys who hit their wives one too many times. Hunting is a big deal, as well as competition shooting both with 4H for the kids and adult competitions. Children here go to a firearms safety class as soon as they are old enough to attend. (Age ten, they cannot get a hunting permit for even small game until then.)

Bullying, poverty, disillusionment, rampant child abuse and neglect... these are things that cause children to shoot people at school.

obviously government can't cure everyone and interfere with every case of bullying, poverty, not to mention cure mental instability and illnesses BUT it can take all the guns away.

And it should. I've been reading this guy's (gal?) blog and he makes some good points. Did you see the story about the 80 year old woman shot at church? Is it necessary for 80 year old women to carry guns to church to protect themselves, now? Is that the type of country we want to live in?

All of a sudden, I'm viewing all this very differently now.

People die every day in every country, even countries that do not allow civilians to carry firearms. If it isn't guns, it is just as easy to kill someone with rocks or baseball bats or knives...

the things that you wrote are wrong is so many ways (for example try to arm US military with baseball bats when it is so efficient to kill with them) and the topic is so disturbing so I will wave my white flag and slowly go away, away, away...

Guns have always been a problem in schools, but it's only been brought to the media since Columbine in '99. Blame the media - it sends the message "If I do this, then I'll be on the news too!".

Let's state all the facts that the article did not mention: were the intruders armed? Were other family members in the home? How close to other homes did he live?

Let's re-state what I said about guns: in some situations, I understand the positives of having one in your home. In your average urban or suburban setting, I don't, because I think the negatives outweigh the positives, as in more accidental injuries from the "defensive" weapon than actual injuries prevented in real threat situations.

If my neighbor faces an intruder in his home, he can yell and be heard, sending others running to his aid, and the intruder running for fear of being caught. When he brandishes his gun at an errant teen trying to get home at a neighbors house after curfew, he scares me one heck of a lot more than the remote possibility of an intruder, because that incident was REAL; the idea of intruders ... not so real.

I am NOT into banning guns. I didn't say that. I said they don't belong in certain places and situations, which is completely within the context of the OP's point. And they certainly don't belong at schools. And, yes, any stupid kid who lives with a gun in the home might get the hair-brained idea to take the thing to school to feel cool, show off, or take revenge - it doesn't matter, kids get errant ideas ALL the time. Trust me, I see it daily Just because you didn't, doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

Yes, people are the problem, not the weapon. But people do dumb things for dumb reasons, and all the education in the world won't prevent that from ever happening. So you weigh each situation based on it's unique merits: real dangers from the outside, v. unintended dangers from the inside.

Can you really convince me that guns are a positive thing in a neighborhood like mine? Homes 6 feet apart, lots of them, little crime? Have you got stories and examples that make it clear? Then we'll move this to the debate board. We're talking parenting here.

Right. I was 5 when my father first demonstrated a weapon to me. It was an MG-42 GPMG. I got a lesson on it's operation, field strip and theoretical field use and gun safety. It was mostly done to satisfy my curiosity, and it worked well. I never did anything stupid when guns are concerned.

I was also shown other weapons trough the years, for the same reason.


Sounds a bit like my neighborhood. One of the previous owners of my family house was butchered in his home by a neighbor. Not that I'm interested in antagonizing neighbors, but there are some crazy people out there.

Guns should never be the first option, calling out for help is still best solution, but it just might not be possible or viable.

There was a time when I considered getting a concealed weapons permit (when I had a child) and I was worried about being car jacked with my child in the car. My uncle had a car jack attempt, showed his gun and the guy left. He is from small town USA. Violent crimes happen everywhere. I can totally understand why people have them.

My husband has one. I don't care for it, but it's locked in a safe, in a place that is easily accessed by me and my husband and not my child. My son has no idea I have it, and will never lay eyes on it.

I opted not to carry and took a self defense class. The message that was strongly given is that a gun is a tool, one of many. If you are not willing to use it, or you see it as your ONLY defense, you are more likely to be shot by the very thing you are using to protect you.

Reality is, it's a scary world out there and people have had their lives saved by them. Having a gun requires a great deal of responsibility and is a decision that shouldn't be taken lightly at all. The problem is people don't take responsibility, or don't take the time to learn how to be safe and responsible.

I would do ANYTHING to protect my child, including using that gun, that I don't really care for, if I had no other recourse.

Having lived in Western Europe all my life and never having been to a country where it's that easy to get a gun, it seems very strange to me to find that normal. Actually, I have only seen a real gun once in my life (I worked in youth care and one of the boys smuggled it in), it was a small one (you can see that I have no idea what I'm talking about) and I found it very scary. I would find it very disturbing to have so much power at my hands - erasing another human being within a few seconds. I would definitely not feel safer in any way if I had a gun, on the contrary. I know that a) I would not be capable of using it, b) chances are high it could be used against me and c) even if I ever used it, I could not continue to live a normal life (as in, relatively un-traumatized.)

Yes, it's stupid people who do stupid things, but I'd rather make it as difficult as possible for them.