This is a very dark day and a time to take stock of our country.
How can anyone in good conscience approve of guns. Hunting for food is one thing. Hunting for sport or to kill is not acceptable to me.
Parents need to know what their children are doing and question if they as parents, have instilled the right values.

Cigale, check out the lounge, there are several posts since this morning. Just be prepared, some get very political about gun control.

Who cares if it is acceptable to you.

It is acceptable to millions of Americans who in good conscience believe in the 2nd amendment and enjoy hunting as a sport.

Yes it is truly tragic what happened today but hunting has nothing to do with it.

Get off your soapbox.

I don't give a bean I'm not on a soapbox but acknoledging a terrible thing that has happened.
And I AM entitled to my opinion. and thanks for yours, Frank

Thanks Faina. I thought most would be more respectful here but F &B is a second name and a coward not to post under their usual one.

when you say that a person who has a gun and enjoys hunting does not have a "good conscience"...that is a soapbox and very offensive.

You did not just acknowledge that a terrible thing happened. You made a very deliberate point to say that anybody who hunts is not moral and you implied that they are somewhat on par with that sick person at VT.

Shame on you.

The second amendment refers to "a well-regulated militia" not the ability of every idiot or lunatic with several hundred dollars to buy an assault rifle - or worse - with no checks or controls.

The number of perople kiiled by guns in this country - either purposefully or accidentally is a national scandal.

And I don;t buy that "guns don't kill people, people kill people". It would be practically impossible to kill more than 30 people and injure more than 20 more with a knife, a bludgeon or even with a car.

We have changed the constitution in the past when conditions in the modern world made it obsolete, and I think it's long past time that the second amendment be revised to reflect current reality.

And I think whoever sold that gun to the perpetrator should have to stand trial for 30 counts of murder.

And - if people feel they need to use guns for hunting then appropriate hunting rifles could be sold, with licenses, to responsible adults who are not unbalanced - as is done in much of europe.

As for hand guns - no one but the police need them.

Yes - this is a very dark day. And unfortunately we can't just mourn those lost and pray for their families. Every time anything like this happens, there is a debate about gun ownership.

I got involved in the debate over in the lounge, but you know what? I am sick of the whole damned thing.

I am not a fan of guns; but since the criminals always seem to find a way to get them, what do we do to defend ourselves if someone breaks into our home with a weapon? I don't have a gun. This is just a rhetorical question.

orangetravelcat, guns kept in a house for protection are usually the ones found by children who wind up shooting themselves or someone else. Not to mention the fact that that gun can just as easily be turned on the homeowner as be used for protection.

Sometimes I feel the world has gone beserk and I just want to curl up under my comforter. This is one of those days.

I hear you, orangetravelcat!

cigarettes kill more people than guns. Let's get back to the smoking ban issue....

I'm not a hunter, nor do I own a gun. But the old saying "guns don't kill people, people kill people" is really very true.
It takes a sick person to do what happened today. But if he didn't have access to a gun, who can say that his anger and sickness wouldn't have manifested itself in another way? Maybe he would have poisoned the water system killing thousands instead? Or created a bomb that would have been infinitely more devastating. The gun was NOT the problem.

I don't see what the above comment has to do with the violent murder of people trying to improve themselves by studying in school?

Cigalechanta I agree with you 100%. What is happening to this country is downright scary and it has been for a very long time.

That's incorrect. Guns give people a weapon to kill many in minutes. It is a tool for mass murder. Would 32 people be dead with from a lunatic with a knife? I am so tired of hearing that tired false old line. There is no reason for any civilian to own a semi automatic rifle.

I'm leaving now but making bombs is also illegal, owning a semi is not which is disgusting.

Personally, I favor stricter gun limits and more education for those that want to own them, much stiffer penalties for those who are not responsible, and so forth...

This argument goes both ways, however.

On one side: Ban all guns. This guy would not have had one and this would not have happened.

On the other side: If you gave every student on that campus a gun, I assure you this guy would have been stopped long before the 32nd victim fell.

I sit in the middle. It is absurdly unrealistic to think banning guns will keep something like this from happening. It will only drive up the price of guns and be a business boom for the black market. We do not have enough limits now, however. Restrictions and penalties are far too lenient. Education and training is not always mandated. These are all steps that will help.

32 people were killed.

That's a national tragedy.