Yet ANOTHER school shooting...and another thread about gun control.

Like what?

Stop sending kids to school in Colorado, duh.

Guess those gun laws Colorado passed worked real good.

I have 3 hours on the over under before CNN reports another AR15 shotgun. 

Ok, since only the bad guy is dead I'll say it.............HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! 

But, but.... freedom of press is a Constitutionally protected right.

''The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers  reporters"........

YES THIS.  at least is a part of it.

I heard on the news it was a ham sandwich.

I should have known.

There was a lot of buzz about more restrictive fireworks laws after the Boston Marathon.

It ain't the weapon.  It is the mind of the malcontent.

So sorry to inform you that it was not a mass shooting.  The person was going after a specific individual (A teacher).  He is 18 and used a shotgun (not a hand gun or automatic weapon).  This is sad that people will jump to conclusion and make a huge deal about it.  When in fact it really deserves no more attention than the 3 people stabbed at the Bronco game the night before.

Gonna stop here because I don't want to get myself kicked off this site, but please keep in mind that my daughter goes to school less than 1.5 miles from Arapahoe HS.  My wife tutors many kids from there, and we know several kids that know the shooter.  So yes we do know a lot about what is going on.

Originally posted by SGirl Yes, exactly. Agreed. Not an easy or quick fix by any means, but if as a community ...people start reporting 'odd' behaviors at the first signs of them with respect to troubled youth behaviors, then we might see a change. It's not a guarantee, but it's a start in the right direction. It's important to educate students for example, when it comes to facebook, as that is where a lot of troubled kids 'air' their problems. So, students should be mindful to report behaviors they deem as out of the norm, and adults can then take it from there. I know this takes courage, and might seem intrusive at first, but quite a few of these shooting stories have as a common theme...a troubled youth, who many around him thought was troubled, 'different,' 'strange,' depressed, a loner...etc....etc...but, no one took it further than that. Healthy minded, well adjusted teenagers don't shoot people and then commit suicide. Something far deeper was going on here, and the incident at the school, was what pushed him over the edge. Increasing gun control or not...this incident most likely would still have happened...and will likely happen again and again, until we start getting to the heart of what ails these kids. Just my $.02

I agree with your premise......but it's hard to apply, and even if we can identify these kids/people, there is no teeth to any way to keep them in a situation where they are evaluated and receive help.  Do you have an idea how that should work?  I'm not being facetious.....I'm serious....we really do need some ideas on how to do this.  Current laws and regulations prevent any real and meaningful help. IMO you are correct, it's all about mental health......now what?

This is actually really hard stuff.  You are correct in saying that after the fact people say, "yeah, he had problems and I knew he could be capable of this" or something along those lines.  The reality is that it's really hard to predict.....and forcing someone to get help, or putting them in a situation that they don't want to be in, based on a hunch, or a feeling, is REALLY hard, and maybe not legal under current laws.

The truth is, we have a REALLY hard time predicting who will go on a shooting rampage.....in fact, so far we really can't do it.  Oh......we can get treatment for alot of peple we think may twist off......but irrational acts are just that.

Here's a story from my personal archives.  A young boy was kidnapped from his yard and went missing for close to 7 years.  He was eventually found, alive, although he had been the victim of someof the most heinous sexual/metal abuse you coulg imagine....a true horror story.  Do you know who had him?  The manager of a restuarant where dozens of cops ate every day.  We always thoought he was odd......but really,. how can you say, "you know, I bet that guy is a freak with a kid tied up in his basement".  You can't.  Yeah, in the end, we all said, "well, that's not surprising considering what a weirdo he is.".....but like I said, that's easy to do in hindsight.  So.........I don't put much credence in the folks who say, "I knew it" when someone goes nuts.....that's easty to do, and doesn't hold much water with me.

Still.......your thoughts absolutely have merit in my opinion.....this is a mental health issue.  I'm just not sure how to address it in a meaningful way.

One of the biggest obstacles is the fact that we virtually don't have any of these folks to interview in order to come up with some commonalities between them, and then some type of basic profile to work from........ a template, if you will, that we can use to place over some people and see if they fit.  Unfortunately, nearly all of these people either kill themselves or are killed by the police.  We really need a representative sample to interview and pick their brains......but due to the nature of this crime, I'm not holding my breath.

Originally posted by SGirl Yes, exactly. Agreed. Not an easy or quick fix by any means, but if as a community ...people start reporting 'odd' behaviors at the first signs of them with respect to troubled youth behaviors, then we might see a change. It's not a guarantee, but it's a start in the right direction. It's important to educate students for example, when it comes to facebook, as that is where a lot of troubled kids 'air' their problems. So, students should be mindful to report behaviors they deem as out of the norm, and adults can then take it from there. I know this takes courage, and might seem intrusive at first, but quite a few of these shooting stories have as a common theme...a troubled youth, who many around him thought was troubled, 'different,' 'strange,' depressed, a loner...etc....etc...but, no one took it further than that. Healthy minded, well adjusted teenagers don't shoot people and then commit suicide. Something far deeper was going on here, and the incident at the school, was what pushed him over the edge. Increasing gun control or not...this incident most likely would still have happened...and will likely happen again and again, until we start getting to the heart of what ails these kids. Just my $.02

dealing with depression is hard enough for a teenager to deal with, now let's add being labeled a potential psychopath.  i dunno, there are lots of weird lonely kids out there that wouldn't hurt a soul.  i agree that mental illness is the root cause, but you can't just lock up every person you think is odd.  and giving teenagers the right to report that?  a whole new weapon in a bullying arsenal.

Originally posted by mehaner

Originally posted by SGirl Yes, exactly. Agreed. Not an easy or quick fix by any means, but if as a community ...people start reporting 'odd' behaviors at the first signs of them with respect to troubled youth behaviors, then we might see a change. It's not a guarantee, but it's a start in the right direction. It's important to educate students for example, when it comes to facebook, as that is where a lot of troubled kids 'air' their problems. So, students should be mindful to report behaviors they deem as out of the norm, and adults can then take it from there. I know this takes courage, and might seem intrusive at first, but quite a few of these shooting stories have as a common theme...a troubled youth, who many around him thought was troubled, 'different,' 'strange,' depressed, a loner...etc....etc...but, no one took it further than that. Healthy minded, well adjusted teenagers don't shoot people and then commit suicide. Something far deeper was going on here, and the incident at the school, was what pushed him over the edge. Increasing gun control or not...this incident most likely would still have happened...and will likely happen again and again, until we start getting to the heart of what ails these kids. Just my $.02

dealing with depression is hard enough for a teenager to deal with, now let's add being labeled a potential psychopath.  i dunno, there are lots of weird lonely kids out there that wouldn't hurt a soul.  i agree that mental illness is the root cause, but you can't just lock up every person you think is odd.  and giving teenagers the right to report that?  a whole new weapon in a bullying arsenal.

agree