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December 16th, 2012
10:54 PM ET
'He shot his way in through glass doors'
The former chair of the Newtown Board of Education says the school shooting could be a defining moment to drive change.
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Post by: Anderson Cooper Filed under: Connecticut School Shooting |
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Maybe our schools need to install safe rooms in every classroom?
A suggestion to use the state//national guardsman to safeguard our schools was made on local radio which in turn led to guardsmen calling the talk show expressing how they felt it was a good idea as soldiers trained to protect (in lieu of suggestions to arm teachers) . Classrooms design, safe rooms in all classrooms and having trained guards are all things that will need to be evaluated. . All parities will have to resolve to work together and reach consensus on solutions and put them into action – and there will be the issue.
My deepest condolences to the families of the victims of this awful tragedy and to the entire town of Newtown. We are hurting and crying and grieving your loss here in New Jersey, so I cannot imagine the pain you are feeling there. I have a kindergartener and a 3rd grader myself. As a mother, the only thing that has helped me sleep at night is picturing these beautiful children up in heaven. In the back of my mind, I imagine the fear and horror in that school. But what keeps me going is seeing them in heaven together playing games, doing art work, jumping rope, singing – doing all the things they should be doing. I find a little comfort in seeing them together and taking care of each other. They will have each other forever. God bless them all!
Reasonable gun laws are needed. Laws should also look at how these weapons are stored when not being used by the permit holder.
Storing amunition separately from the bolt action and the weapon itself for instance. If these item had been stored and locked in separate cabinets perhaps the son would not have used his mother's weapons. It seems that it was easy to just pick up the the guns and AR and walk out of the house.
A gun is an inanimate object. Inanimate objects do not kill people. People kill people. We need to understand this is all media hype, and gun control is impossible. Think about it.
Your correct. We need to ban the irresponsible people from owning guns.
Anderson, this is a terrible event. I would suggest to the schools to look to the auto industry for private security firms, as one of the latest inventions is a laminate that can be applied to conventional glass that will dispel energy tested
by a .38 caliber at point blank range. Along with sensors at every entry to detect unlawful weapons with only
code shut offs/keypads for authorized employees, principals, etc. We must protect our children.
Arm the teachers or do as our town has done, post a police officer in each school.
I think Anderson is doing a phenomenal job covering this tragedy.
I am curious about the teachers who were not killed. Perhaps they are the most neglected "heroes" of the coverage so far. I certainly understand, however, the appropriate focus on those who died.
Anderson this is what I posted on my FB page today and how I feel.
Having work in a public school district for the past 15 years, we have all been required to attend workshops on "proactive behavior" and not be a "reactive" district. If the citizens of this "great" country will stop and think about the past 15 years, we will see by statistics, that these mass killings of and by young people have happened since our country has shut down all of our state mental ins
titutions. Why are we turning into a reactive country (when the information is publicly available to see) we need to make available for families and individuals a place that will help the mentally ill become stable (same may never) and get these individual people help or housed before they perpetrate more mass killings and everyone is asking why again. It will happen again if the following trend is not changed with our mentally ill citizens. God and gun control or turning our schools into prisons will not stop a mentally ill person from doing harm to another person until the person and families of this illness can get the help they need. I sat in a classroom of 40 high school level students all day on Friday, knowing that the next time it could be my school, the classroom I'm in, the students I'm sitting with. This will only change if we (society) demand a change, we as a country are our best during the worst of times. It's my hope that we as a society have had enough and decide to become a proactive country once again.