I blame the media for sensationalizing these events. These psychopaths see it as an opportunity to "be famous" and have their 15 seconds of fame, rather than just offing themselves in the basement. The fact that our media focuses so much on the negative events and tragedies, give opportunity for others who want to copycat or top the other person. The day we start to NOT give these events the amount of attention they receive, is the day things start to turn around in my opinion.
Secondly, I don't blame the guns (or in this case, the tool that was used). ANYTHING can be a weapon, so you can't ban everything. Knives, baseball bats, vehicles, etc. are objects that can be used to kill. Even common household supplies and cleaners can be used to make bombs, so ban those as well? Regardless, adding laws and regulations certainly won't make a difference other than changing the process for those of us who already do the right thing in life and follow laws.
Here's a quote from a teacher at the school:
"I told them we had to be absolutely quiet. Because I was just so afraid if he did come in, then he would hear us and just start shooting the door. I said we have to be absolutely quiet. And I said there are bad guys out there now and we need to wait for the good guys to come get us out," Roig told ABC.
Let's remember, EVERYONE in that school was a "good guy". The fact they all have to wait for help and be sitting ducks is what breaks my heart. What if teachers were also armed and could defend themselves and students? This is exactly what "gun free zones" do, is make EVERYONE "wait" for the good guys.
To close out my post, I quote Morgan Freeman who stated it perfectly:
It's because of the way the media reports it. Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall shooter like celebrities. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you know the name of a single *victim* of Columbine? Disturbed
people who would otherwise just off themselves in their basements see the news and want to top it by doing something worse, and going out in a memorable way. Why a grade school? Why children? Because he'll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody.
CNN's article says that if the body count "holds up", this will rank as the second deadliest shooting behind Virginia Tech, as if statistics somehow make one shooting worse than another. Then they post a video interview of third-graders for all the details of what they saw and heard while the shootings were happening. Fox News has plastered the killer's face on all their reports for hours. Any articles or news stories yet that focus on the victims and ignore the killer's identity? None that I've seen yet. Because they don't sell. So congratulations, sensationalist media, you've just lit the fire for someone to top this and knock off a day care center or a maternity ward next.
You can help by forgetting you ever read this man's name, and remembering the name of at least one victim. You can help by donating to mental health research instead of pointing to gun control as the problem. You can help by turning off the news."