There was a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. There were a total of 20 students killed and 6 adults. My blog is more a demand. Pick one of the victims and write a blurb about them, their life and how they relate to you or someone you know. One of the victims parents did an interview and said "[...] is the country still carring on with their everyday life?" The answer for us is yes, but we need to acknowledge ones lost rather than the killer.
After the first part give your opinion on the right to bear arms.
I think that this is an excellent use of the blog for this week Emily!
ReplyDeleteDawn Lafferty Hochsprung was the principal of Sandy Hook Elementary School. She was 47 years old and had dedicated her life to education. In the 90's, she achieve bother her bachelor's and master's degree in special education and proceeded to rise through the ranks of smaller schools in Connecticut. On June 9th 2010, she was appointed by the Connecticut Board of Education to the position of Principal for the Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Even after she reached this level, she did not stop seeking to improve herself. She enrolled in a Ph.D program last year to continue her education. She also cared deeply about her students. Implementing many new initiatives as soon as she entered her position. She also worked to install a security system for the school itself. Several people commented saying how she was never seen without a smile .
In respects to the right to bear arms, I am in favor of the second amendment. After the events of this terrible tragedy, and many others like it in the past year, it has been proposed that more restrictions on weapons should be imposed or that automatic weapons, or weapons altogether should be banned. This however, is attempting to change the external because we cannot change the internal. While placing heavier restrictions or completely banning weapons would, in theory, lower the rate of shootings such as these drastically, it would not remove the desire to commit these crimes from disturbed individuals.
No it would not remove the desire to commit these acts but it would help to prevent these people from achieving the means to which they could accomplish their goals.
Deletenot necessarily, the restrictions on guns in Connecticut did nothing to stop the shooter in Sandy Hook from stealing guns.
DeleteThere is no need to ban automatics, because the very few that can own them undergo a complete federal investigation beforehand, and by owning a class 3 firearms license, you submit yourself to checks at any time by a federal agent. And it would not lower the rate of shootings by any drastic means whatsoever. Felons already can not legally possess firearms.
DeleteNoah was the youngest victim of this mass tragedy. He was a young Jewish boy who at the age of 6 lost his life because of a crazed gunmen. His sister also attended the elementary school but was not harmed. As far as the right to bear arms I find it ridiculous that people think there is no correlation between guns and mass shootings. I have included a link to show the truth regarding this nations pandemic. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/12/14/nine-facts-about-guns-and-mass-shootings-in-the-united-states/
ReplyDeleteI fund it incredibly hard to believe that any person could commit such an evil act. These were young children who had a future, they had dreams and goals. It is horrendous. This man should never had been able to get a gun. While I do disagree that we should completelu ban guns we do need to seriously rethink the screening methods for them.
DeleteI don't feel right about looking up a now deceased child. I think the media has given all of it way too much attention on glorifying everything that has happened.
ReplyDeleteOn the bare arms topic, my dad and I were literally just duscussing this. He said a very interesting quote. "If guns were outlawed, only outlaws would have guns." Do you guys really think that the person who shot all those children and teachers would have thought twice about doing that if every teacher was equipped with a gun? I think he would not have done it, given that situation.
In a town in the state of Alabama, it was made LAW that every household own a gun. Guess what? The crime rate went to almost 0%.
It's just something to think about.
I am in agreement about not wanting to look up a dead child. Yes, I respect them, but honestly the fact of a shooter killing innocent kindergarten children becomes very emotional to me.
DeleteI also agree with Tess. I respect the memory of all of the victims, but I believe that there lives have been pried into enough the last few days... I believe the families need peace and closure. They know that the whole nation has them in there thoughts and prayers, they don't need us to remind them of what they have lost right before the holidays.
DeleteThat is an excellent point Tess. Our country cannot repeal the 2nd amendment for then everyone would be defenseless, and violence would only increase. Perhaps a solution to this problem would be to offer that a few different staff members of schools should receive defensive firearms training, and also conceal carry a firearm to defend the school should such defense be needed.
DeleteI personally believe it is kind of weird to look up names of the deceased. As Tess said, the media has done a great job getting out information to the public and personally have maybe given out too much. There was reently a women posted on facebook, and how she saved her students. Not only this women/teacher, but all the adults in that building are heroes to me.
ReplyDeleteWhen dealing with the right to bare arms, this should always stay in context. Personally coming from a small town, guns are a sport and we thrive off of them. In a city, it is rather different and suspicious to have many, varied type guns. This topic has been a sore subject for many years now and most likely will still not be resolved.
I believe, as Tess and Jenn wrote previously, that the victims should have there privacy. They deserve the upmost respect from the world and to be at peace.
ReplyDeleteAs for the right to bear arms, banning gun rights would not have stopped this from happening. Guns would move into the black market and only the criminals would have guns. Everyday people would be left even more defenseless and fearful.
I agree. I don't think we have room to talk about the victims, because if this were closer to us then we would surely not want other people involved in it.
DeleteI personally agree with the three girls on the fact that researching the lives of these chidren just feels wrong. We should not be treating their lives a simple research project it is not right in my opinion. As for my opinion on the second amendment i believe that we should have the right to bear arms but there do need to be an increase in restrictions on guns. We cannot simply allow anyone to buy guns. The process to buy a firearm should be very intricate and deep. There should be no individuals that have some type of mental illness being able to buy guns. On another case the nation needs to come up with ways to protect and help these people who have serious mental disorders. These are people who can barely function in normal society yet somehow this man was able to get a gun. That is what truly is wrong with the system.
ReplyDeleteThe man who committed the murders did not buy any of the guns, he stole them. How would placing more restrictions on guns have prevented any of this?
DeleteIt wouldn't have changed the fact that the shooter would have hd possession of the guns, bringing them to the elementary school could have been another thing...
DeleteI agree with you on the mental illness restrictions. We should make anyone wanting to buy a gun take some sort of sanity test. But the government cannot regulate what they are not aware of.
DeleteAnyone who buys a firearm undergoes a background check. If registered as mentally unstable, the applicant will be rejected for possession of the firearm.
DeleteThe point of this blog was not to treat the lives of these people as a research project, but to show respect for the dead and raise awareness of such tragic events. How can we learn from our mistakes if we are never willing to examine them? Yes, writing a tribute to someone who has died is a hard thing, but it brings to the forefront of our minds the pain and anguish that the families are now facing. We cannot just push away or block out that these tragic events happened. We must learn to stand even when times are hard.
ReplyDeleteEmilie Parker, the daughter of Robbie Parker, was only six years old when her life was tragically cut short as she was a victim of one of the nations most heartbreaking school shootings. Emilie was born in Utah and will return there to be buried. Emilie loved to create artwork and was learning Portuguese from her father. Emilie is survived by her mother and father, and her two younger sisters.
My opinion parallels that of Logan's we cannot legislate a law to fix an internal problem. If people cannot discipline themselves and exercise self-control and restraint, no amount of legislation will stop them from accomplishing there malicious desires. We can only seek to teach and be an example, to those around us as well as our future children, of being self-respecting, God fearing, responsible citizens that are prepared to defend themselves when necessary.
What happened Friday is truly horrific. Events such as this destroy my faith in hummanity. The person who did this will rot in the deepest, darkest, most terrible corner of hell for what he did. To point fingers, though, is completely ignorant. A person who is so derranged that they would even think of doing something like this will not be stopped by any sort of prevention such as stricter gun control laws, or reduced media coverage. I agree with Jordan that to understand and hopefully keep things like this from happening agian is to look at what happened and to not in any way glorify those responsible.
ReplyDeleteChase Kowalski was seven years old. He loved being outdoors and was always outside doing something. He had just recently competed in, and won his first mini-triathalon. He had just lost his two front teeth, and with christmas coming soon, he just wanted to get them back.
As for gun control, Conneticut has some of the strictest gun control laws in the country. The crime was done with a .22 long rifle, so further hangun laws would be pointless. If a person is planning on commiting one of hummanity's greatest crimes, do you really think that a law saying it is illegal to have a gun will stop them? They will find somewhere to get the gun, the same way a convicted felon can illegaly purchase a hangun. How can the governmet regulate the private sale or trade of guns between people, when the government never even knew that it happened. If I am not mistaken, having heroine, cocane, or other narcotics is a felony offense in every state, yet the drug trade is as strong or stronger than ever.
If the government makes it illegal to own guns, then good, law abiding citizens will be the ones who will not have them to protect themselves from the already lawless people who are armed. I would like to see the look on the killer's face when he walked through that door, and was greeted by an administrator with a firearm.
The two handguns used were a Sig and a Glock - both 9mms. http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/12/guns_used_in_sandy_hook_massac.html
DeleteBut yes, any new legislation would be pointless.
I agree that the names of the victims shouldn't be discussed as an assignment, but I think for a personal remembrance, this is alright. So I do not treat this as Emily telling us to look them up, I treat this as getting to know those lost.
ReplyDeleteOlivia Engel - "The images of Olivia Engel will live far beyond her short lifetime. There she is, visiting with Santa Claus, or feasting on a slice of birthday cake. There's the one of her swinging a pink baseball bat, and another posing on a boat. In some, she models a pretty white dress, in others she makes a silly face.
Dan Merton, a longtime friend of the girl's family, says he could never forget the child, and he has much to say when he thinks of her.
"She loved attention," he said. "She had perfect manners, perfect table manners. She was the teacher's pet, the line leader."
On Friday, Merton said, she was simply excited to go to school and return home and make a gingerbread house.
"Her only crime," he said, "is being a wiggly, smiley 6-year-old."'
It is just sick, that someone would even think about doing this, never mind following through. This little girl was excited to go to school that day. What the hell is wrong with the shooter? It really pisses me off that some (pardon my language, this is the best way to describe him) piece of shit would do something like that.
As for gun control, there are many ways to look at this. I feel that there could be no way that this could have been any different. They firearms were his mom's, a law abiding citizen. Her son was mentally unstable, so she should have kept them out of his hands. But she failed to. Many will know, I am extremely pro-gun, but I agree that something should be done. The problem, nothing can be done that would balance this out. It is impossible.
In all honesty, when I heard about this tragedy on the radio, I found myself struggling to breath properly, and when I read this topic I felt nearly the same. What happened was unspeakably vile, and was an act so horrifically violent and evil that only the cruelest of all men could have thought it possible, but having said that, there is not much justice that can be served. The killer is dead, and no laws that are to be passed will ever take back what has happened. The fact of the matter is that parents lost their children that day, and they will live with that pain forever. I can hardly fathom the fear that they felt as they drove to a local fire department, not knowing if their child would be there waiting or if they would search hopelessly only to find out that their young child had been a victim. That is a horror that no human should ever have to experience, and for them I have all the sympathy and sorrow in the world. Having said that, I cannot possibly bring myself to conduct a Google Search for the names of the children lost on that day. I can bring them no honor by posting about their parents and short lived life. Who am I to discuss what their parents will do or even begin to tell their story? I know nothing about them, and I probably never will, and that is just the way it is. I am in no position to comfort the families and friends related to this crime, and having said that, I deserve to speak not another word of them, and I will simply wish for them peace and healing.
ReplyDeleteAs for gun control, what control? What are you going to control? I think people control is the real issue, and I don't see how that could ever be influenced by a law that this country is willing to pass.