To all those who believe more guns in "'good hands" will prevent gun deaths---I propose the question---How does our war hero, best sniper in the world get shot to death with another man AT A GUN RANGE, WITH MANY GUNS RIGHT AT HAND??? if he couldn't avoid it HOW in HELL do you expect some teacher assistant with a 22 to prevent another mass killing??? Tell me it's all in the training &MORE GUNS!!!

Crack and Meth are illegal. You can't buy them in ANY store, yet ask around and I'm pretty sure someone knows someone who can get it. Let's say the President makes all guns illegal, do you really think that's going to stop anyone who is determined to do harm.

The next great argument is let the gun shops know who are the crazies. How many of the shooters in the city have had the opportunity to talk to anyone in the mental health field? WIth HIPAA laws can a doctor can't even divulge a patients health to anyone unless there is a threat of immanent danger.

Chicago has the strictest gun laws in the nation. How many of the guns used in Chicago shootings are legally bought from gun stores?

To own a gun you are SUPPOSED to have a FOID card. To obtain one you have to request it from the state. This provides the government with a nice list of people who might own guns so when they start confiscating them, they have the list. That being said, is that going to take any guns out of the hands of many who have committed crimes? None of the mass shooters had FOID cards to my knowledge! Most of the mass shooters parents made comments after the fact that they felt something was wrong, but they didn't seek help. Personal responsibility!

As of yesterday Chicago has had 47 homicides and 178 shootings. I'll stick my neck out here but I'll guess no one used a legal gun or had a valid FOID card!

There were plenty of guns around in the 50's and we didn't have these problems. What is different now?

One thing is the prevalence of psychotropic drugs like Ritalin. Most of these people who committed mass shootings at these schools were taking them.

There are several things we can point at and question their impact on today's youth, including the amount of gun violence in tv and movies, and the advent of violent video games.

However, none of this helps the liberal narrative, so the Democrats concentrate on gun control. Obama, Holder and people like Rahm will not waste this opportunity to push their gun agenda...and will not let other factors get in their way.

Amen Dan

Gun control, restrictions have not worked when tried before. Yet that doesn't stop the agenda. like economic stimulus spending, history of the consequences and affects are of little concern. It is all about politics.

Know what's going to stop gun violence? Treating people like they MATTER. EVERY PERSON. No matter how different they are from you or how uncomfortable they might make you feel. Nobody is here on this earth for the purpose of serving ANYBODY else; we should all take on that serving towel. And, parenting your children. CARE about YOUR children and raise them with values about human life. Model good conflict resolution tactics and don't pretend that conflict doesn't exist. And CARE about other people's children when you can see that they do not. SERVE, LOVE, and SPEAK UP for everyone.

"And, parenting your children. CARE about YOUR children and raise them with values about human life"

You hit the nail on the head. This is the problem in the city of Chicago with black kids killing black kids every day. The family unit has been decimated.

My sixth grade daughter said it best. The bad guys don't want the good guys to have guns otherwise they can't be bad guys. Dan, great observation on the prescription drugs - it's just the elephant in the corner that nobody wants to talk about it. BTW my sixth grader will be going shooting with me this Summer her thoughts on gun control says she is ready the only question is which gun shall I let her shoot first?

Guns in schools is a ludicrous idea - unless you are teaching students to shoot. Prevent guns from getting into the schools through better security. If a real solution is the goal: evaluate why gun violence is happening and work to solve the why, not the how.

What Vortex said is spot on. As a Marine and a victim of gun violence by career criminal, I can personally tell you that it's the individual, not the weapon of choice. If someone is determined to do something, they will find a way. However, if there is someone with the ability or means to stop them, they may not succeed, they might be deterred or think twice. Its what our national security is founded on, deterence. Hence, trained armed security vs. non-armed at schools, the cost is not significantly more. Our HS has a security staff but they are not armed. Why not change that? On a positive note, we are fortunate to have one police officer assigned at our school. In regards to school staff being armed. I agree that it should be looked into. There are military veterans that are staff at schools, and if the proper training and annual qualifications were met, I think a select number of staff members armed could be an inexpensive and effective option. We obviously don't have the funds to turn our schools into Fort Knox nationwide, but there are ways to make the schools more safe, provide us peace and mind, and incorporate measures to deter the evil souls that wish to terrorize us.

My comment relates to having a valid FOID card; every law abiding Illinois gun owner has to have one just to handle a gun or purchase one. It is also required to buy ammo. So how are the gang bangers and illegal owners without a FOID card able to buy so much ammo and so many weapons? Enforcing existing laws and regulations may be just a start but a necessary one but clearly something more needs to be done; there's also a huge social problem here with how lttle human lives are valued by these people so quick to kill. Much of this is proven to be illegal drug related which is another issue that needs to be addressed.

In regards to assault rifles and high cap magazines. It does not matter what type of gun that is used to kill anyone including our children, or how many bullets a magazine holds, 7, 10, 30 etc. the bottom line is that each bullet can kill. Our politicians are more concerned with winning a party line issue than addressing the real issue, protect our schools. No ban is gonna stop a determined person from acquiring a weapon of choice to commit their crime. A well thought out security plan and properly trained and equipped personnel may.

Arming teachers and school staff? What is next. After what happened a week ago to the bus driver in Alabama, are they going to want to arm all bus drivers too? Come on gun lovers, unless the NRA want to pay for the training, and the weapons for the MILLIONS of teachers, school staff, (bus drivers?) etc.....lets pass some reasonable laws that will be in the best interest of the CHILDREN without compromising the 2nd Amendment. I for one DO NOT want to carry a gun with me when I go to work. Gettin my children to and from school safely is my #1 priority and I would do the same thing that that bus driver did. God Bless Charles Poland for protecting his kids that fateful day. May he Rest in Peace.

There is a significant percentage of the people who believe that the Republic is falling apart. We have moved from a free society to an Entitlement Society with people and institutions subsidized by politicians attempting to remain in power. The net result of an Entitlement Society will be a Statist nation and an overthrow of the Constitution based Republic in which Central authority rests on that granted by the States. That overthrow, if by force, is to be resisted. Already States and local governments have been cozzened by money received from Washington, D.C. It enables them to avoid direct taxation and face voter displeasure. The functioning family is the most efficient and effective level of government; the homestead must be secure. The result of a Statist government is Tyranny. Resistance will be necessary. The Second Amendment is a necessary condition for security and resistance.

It is up to each citizen to prepare their child for life in a Republic and to protect him or her from evil. This is the meaning behind the First Amendment. It is too bad that the failures of a few parents require armed guards in schools, but so be it.

Her normal modus operandi is to dodge your questions and resort to name calling and insults. She's been presented with the facts time and time again yet she's hell bent on making up her own and attempting to pass them off as legit. But I do have to confess, she is fun to watch on occasion.

A friend of mine gave a speech back in the 70's on how to properly check and clean a rifle in class. He brought in his rifle, showed how to load, unload and clean it. Guess what? No one was hurt! Now kids get kicked out of school for making a gun with their fingers. We've gone mad with Political Correctness.

And let's leave Sandra alone. She can say whatever she wants. It's her first amendment right, at least until the government says it isn't!

It all started when hand outs became a way of life and a career choice. Do a web search for Atlanta Mall Cop Taser. This is what the entitlement society now looks like, listen to her language. Listen to her kids language. No amount of hand out money will change this. No amount of armed guards are going to stop every nut case from doing harm. It starts at home and in the case of Chicago usually ends up in the morgue. Then it's always "he was just turning his life around." It's the same mentality that assault weapons can shoot down planes and blow up trains (look it up, another brilliant mind!)

The thought of armed guards in our schools breaks my heart - this should be a place where children can focus on learning and feel safe. However this is no longer the reality and unfortunately we can not ignore it. The reality is I actually do feel safer and have accepted having armed personnel at many other locations, the bank, the airport heck even at Black Thursday at Walmart so why would having armed guards protecting the place where our most precious children are be any different. Tougher gun laws are needed and screening are needed but and law abiding gun owners will most likely follow those laws (even if they complain about them) but until the people who wish to inflict harm also follow those laws I don't know think this is a discussion of "either, or" but rather of "both".

The left used to embrace guns and violence; Tom Hayden, Bobby Seale, James Forman, Huey Newton and the President's friend Bill Ayers all used violence to achieve their means. They were backed by the ACLU, Charles Garry and William Kunstler for their actions. Now that they have risen to a high place in Government they want to disarm all those who may oppose them. They have taken control of the power structure and the stupid American people are falling for it.

Peace through strength!

It would appear that Sandra Sims has done exactly like the others stated she would. Duck and cover!

As we continue to post on this topic, SOME prove exactly what this is, All about your own opinion and party beliefs, while using our children as the tool. Anyone who has served in the military, law enforcement, or a real security firm knows what options are realistic and effective. Politicians see one thing, an opportunity. We are a reactive country, think 9/11. We enhanced airport security, hardend cockpit doors, created a system for background checks, don't allow certain (security risk) persons on aircrafts, armed pilots (well trained, many of them veterans) and added armed marshals on the planes. Has there been another 9/11 or U.S. aircraft blown up since? Attempts, yes, but unsuccessful, perfect?, no system is. This HAS come at a cost, $, inconvenience, etc. You MUST have a last line of defense to be effective, I.E. a means to stop the threat. Or, our kids like others will wish at that last breath that there was, you will too. Limiting types of guns doesn't=security, effective and full security plan does.

Interesting discussion here in HP on guns. We had a similar one last week in Evanston. That said, the lady Sandra that you all seem to know did touch on something we learned in Evanston has an element of truth to it about the gun folks being afraid of much more than simply losing their guns.

http://evanston.patch.com/blog_posts/guns-and-the-second-amendment-i-finally-get-it-and-its-not-pretty

Earlier:
"Mr Rats, you said
"I don't care if we have to suspend the constitution and confiscate all guns at this point."
. and .
"Better red than dead".

So you are willing to throw out the Constitution and even accept Communism in an attempt to avoid disasters like this from occurring again. I admit that the price of freedom does seem rather high right now, but let's take a look at the price of oppression.

Cambodian Communists killed 1/4 of their own people in fours years between 1975 and 1979, 2 million people. That would be 1,369 killed per day for a four year period. But it get worse.

Soviet Union Communists killed 62 million of their own people over a 70 year period. That comes to 2,426 people killed per day... continuously for 70 straight years. Let that soak in before you move on.

Communist China's Great Leap Forward ended up killing approximately 30 million people between 1957 and 1961, a staggering 20,500 people died per day for 4 years. Imagine 1,000 Sandy Hook slaughters every day, for 1,500 straight days. Not a pleasant thought.

Most of these people were starved to death. Few guns were needed.

THAT is the price of oppression. The greatest killing machine ever devised by man is not the gun. It is the all powerful government which sacrifices the individual for the common good in an attempt to create a socialist Utopian State. In such a State you and your family would likely be dead within 4 years.

I'll take my chances with the Constitution."

Wow. I am new to the Patch; I will be checking in quite frequently if this is the typical nature of the discussion, very informed (mostly) and intelligent. I also learned a humorous new term: Patch troll. I also wonder where one poster got his information on all of the past (recent) shooters being on Ritalin. I am not doubting. I am just curious.