Time will heal all wounds but this killer will change America Forever!

And, Mr. Leonard shows why rational discussions regarding gun ownership and restrictions are as rare as hen's teeth. His depiction of the opposition (and I use the term advisedly since so far his opposition seems to be talking heads at MSNBC) as "The anti-gunners", and his characterization of their intelligence "how stupid these gun-grabbers are", and his challenge "We will never back down" issued to who knows who obviously sets the ground for a fair and balanced discussion of the issue.

I'm certain the debate will be courteous
, refined, and enlightening.

This terrible tragedy has really been a gut check for me. I am a life long hunter and gun owner. I have an ‘assault rifle’ but I would never even consider using it for anything but targets. I purchased mine just because it was ‘cool’ to shoot and yes I have fun going out to the range and destroying some coke cans. Now that this nutcase has committed this act of terrorism America is asking what we can do. Well I say we can't just BAN GUNS. We can put some reasonable restrictions on them but as anyone with some common since knows with 300 million + guns already on the street a ban just won't work.

What can we do? Well for starters we should look at our culture. Many countries have high firearm ownership but the US stands alone when it comes to firearm crimes. This has nothing to do with the guns but more to do with our morality. We need to limit the violence in video games and on TV. We have a rating system but for the most part that rating system is ignored. I have children and they may not watch or play anything with violence. My wife who works for a retail store tells me that when children, some as young as 7, are told they can't by a T or M rated video game they simply return moments latter with a parent who buys it for them. This is wrong and I point the finger at you PARENTS.

Another thing we can do is provide for better care for the mentally unstable. Years ago when someone had a sever mental illness they were locked away in a mental hospital. Today unless someone has already committed a violent crime or considered a danger to themselves they are turned away at the door. Mainstreaming is the buzz word of the day but we need better mental health facilities and better reporting of mental health problems. Look I think we all can agree all of these people were mentally ill so let us do something about mental illness before this kind of thing happens again. In this case I will point the finger at ALL OF US.

As to guns, like I said before, I am a gun owner and I have an assault weapon. What do I think we can do to without taking away our right to bear arms? Well I would support any reasonable restrictions such as limits on magazine capacity or increased background screening but I do not believe any restrictions will be effective unless we change our culture first. So when it comes to guns I will point the finger at MYSELF because I will be responsible for my actions with my firearms and I will make sure my weapons are safely secured when I am not using them.

I nominate Flowmaster for President of the United States!

it is my opinion that ANY weapon used to kill another human being is an assault weapon. banning the "assault weapons" wont stop the stupid people from killing.
you dont need a ar-15 to score high kill shots. example: i have a ruger 22 with a promag 50 round drum. load that guy with hollow point bullets. what kinda damage do you think i could do in a school room???? alot.
instead of crying gun control, folks should be trying to come up with some stupid control. but you cant fix stupid.
lets pretend we all wake up tomorrow and there are no guns in the usa. does this mean there will be no murders in the usa??? no. i would bet big knives would be the hottest thing selling though. or pipe wrenches. or maybe torque wrenches, they're pretty long with a good swing.
but i will agree we need to do something. and if starting with gun control is where it starts, at least its a start. i have no "assualt rifles".
i have plenty of the other ones though

You can have my Gun when you pry it from my Cold Dead Hand! End of conversation!

Flowmaster, I eat my sarcastic words about a reasoned discussion. Yours was well presented. Gun nut, you just made me regurgitate them. Your foolish statement is witness to the inability of many on both sides to discuss firearms restrictions and bears no relevance to the discussion. Not one politician I have heard has ever mentioned taking away any guns already in a person's possession. That's a non-starter for any reasoned discussion.

Thanks Bryant, this is a complex issue that we will not solve with a narrow minded approach. Like it or not that is just the way it is.