14 December 2012

Today was my birthday, and normally I would reflect back on the past year. But I am going to copy things I've read on facebook about the Newtown/Sandy Hook shootings.

"Like everyone else, I am heart broken. I alternate between waves of heartbreak and waves of anger. 300 million guns in America...when is enough- enough. It keeps happening, we say it's bad but we seem to accept it. It truly makes me sick." --a friend at church

"I find it sad and sickening that we have gotten to a point in this country where we refuse to acknowledge or believe that our violent, gun-obsessed culture has nothing to do with these massacres. And we keep saying MORE guns is the solution. Yeah, that's working isn't it?" --a friend in Reno

"Mike Huckabee's god won't protect public school children because they don't pray in class. Huckabee and his god can go fuck themselves." --a friend in Florida

"Confuse liberty with weaponry and watch your kids act it out." --a friend in Florida

"WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO TALK ABOUT GUN CONTROL, AMERICA?! Do you think now is maybe the time??" --a friend in Canada

"I am gun owner I am so tired o f people blaming guns... Guns aren't loading themselves nor are they pulling trigger...It's people ... People are always using other things for them being sick and twisted.. These people need there ass kicked .. Kids really .....just sick..." --a friend from high school

and in response to his post: "It's not even people...It's demonic spirits who are controlling people!!! The world needs JESUS!!!I wish people would wake up and recognize how bad the world is because it's so evil and everyone just rejects God!! THE BIBLE says it very clearly....this is what we are dealing with........Ephesians 6:12 King James Version (KJV) 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

"I'm not going to say anything about the school shooting other than it is horrific and I am heartbroken for all the families." --a friend in California

"I obviously am heartbroken over what happened today in CT, so many lives lost and so many innocent children. I do not mean to take away from that...but every day hundreds (if not thousands) of children die from equally preventable causes: Lack of mosquito nets, lack of clean water, being born the wrong sex in the wrong country, lack of medical care, being in a war zone, like Syria, I could go on and on. Let us all try to do better by ALL of the children of the world and truly live as one, sharing the same planet and loving ALL. That is my wish for the New Year." --a friend from high school.

"What a sad day What a cowardly no good shitbag 5 year old children !!!!!! This shitbags soul will burn in Hell forever. How can we share the sorrow for famlies esp. Moms n dads of the Victims /children's, so much pain what a tragic loss my eyes tear up for them ,the world seems to have stopped for a moment!!!!!" --a friend from high school who changed his profile pic to one of him holding a gun.

"I am so horrified. 18 children dead. The majority of the shooting done in the kindergarten classrooms. 4-6 year olds. EIGHTEEN KIDS DEAD." I will say it now. I don't give a fuck about your right to bear arms. This is not ok. This is NOT ok. There is no way 18 fucking children would be dead right now if he didn't have a gun." --a friend from Colorado

"I'll take a little gun control with my Friday glass of wine."
"Today my heart broke into a 1000 pieces. People kill people. It's happened since we walked the earth and it will continue to happen until our brains and hearts evolve. #guncontrolnow" --a friend in NY

"'ll be honest: Ronald Reagan is one of my least favorite presidents, but the old saw about how "Ronald Reagan let all the crazy people out of the asylums when he was Governor" is an over-simplification of why we have a mental health problem in this county. That being said, we DO have a mental health problem (which dovetails with our larger healthcare problem), and we DO have a gun problem, and the two compound each other." --a friend in Reno

"I've been sitting here reading all of your posts about today's horrific events and simply don't know what to say. My heart is broken and I am so angry. Being a mother of 4 children, it's sickening to think about every good-bye kiss and "have a good day" could end up like this. I know we cannot live in fear and we have to talk to our children, but how do we comfort them when we ourselves are so hurt over this?
I've spent the evening mourning over this and the same question keeps coming to mind, WHY? I'm am sick thinking about the extreme unbearable sadness the families are experiencing, especially right before Christmas.
Hold your little ones tight and cherish them daily. Turn off the news and talk to your kids. We don't need the media or politicians sensationalizing these events and desensitizing our children. My thoughts and prayers are with not only the families of those victims, but with all parents who are as devastated by this as I am." --a relative

"Everyone on this page knows I spent the entire fall rooting for you Barack Obama. You are not making me proud in this moment. DO. FUCKING. SOMETHING." --a blogger

"Thank you, Mr. President" with a link to the video Obama weeps over school massacre. --a friend in Reno

"No more guns." --a friend in Canada

"We are a nation of guns, violence and disrespect. Listen to talk radio, vitriolic hatred is rampant there. To correct this we need to pay attention to the dishonesty, manipulation and rhetoric of our advertising, watch the violent games our children and even adults play, watch the horrific films and television... this tragedy is a result of all this negativity and hatrid." --a friend in Reno

"So sad to hear about the CT school shooting. These incidents are such huge red flags about how we need to get serious about treating mental health issues. No "well" person would go in the the kindergarten at their child's school and start firing." --a friend in WA

"We had a gun massacre here in 1996. 35 people murdered (the youngest three years old, the oldest 72) and another 23 injured by a young man with a semi automatic weapon and a grudge. Our government introduced some of the toughest gun control laws in the world in response. Since then, yes, the criminal element do still manage to access guns. Generally they shoot each other. Occasionally an innocent bystander is hurt. Most of our firearm deaths are suicides. We have had one attempted spree shooting that I am aware of in the years since. The young man in question had a legally obtained handgun and he managed to kill precisely TWO people at his university, wounding five. That's a grand total of seven people he was able to shoot before he was tackled by fellow students and subdued. He is currently under psychiatric care. You cannot convince me that the death toll would not have been greater had he had access to larger weapons. We lost 2 people that day, not twenty. Gun control makes a difference." --comment on blogger's wall