Colorado Tragedy: 71 People shot

[GlennLover]

Wow, THAT is the mall where the Toronto shooting took place?

These are the kind of things that make you realize life is short and precious, and you can never take tomorrow for granted.

My thoughts exactly!

[Troubadour]

Like everyone else, I am shocked, saddened and horrified by this event. It is almost too hard to think about. My prayers are with the victims and their loved ones.

I will say that the idea of anyone being able to buy a gun terrifies me. Yes, there will always be people who want to cause harm to others but, without guns, their job is made a lot harder. A knife simply can't do the kind of mass damage that a gun can. Plus, a gun makes it easy to be somewhat removed physically from the victim. A scary thought...

[zeldabjr]

Like everyone else, I am shocked, saddened and horrified by this event. It is almost too hard to think about. My prayers are with the victims and their loved ones.

I will say that the idea of anyone being able to buy a gun terrifies me. Yes, there will always be people who want to cause harm to others but, without guns, their job is made a lot harder. A knife simply can't do the kind of mass damage that a gun can. Plus, a gun makes it easy to be somewhat removed physically from the victim. A scary thought...

You said it all Troub...

[Prettymaid]

May the victim's families and friends find some comfort in that the world is thinking of and praying for them during this difficult time.

Horrible, just horrible.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

This is another horrific, senseless crime committed by another madman. Although I am a big advocate of gun control, I honestly don't think it would have stopped this evil man. The people who commit these kinds of acts are so deranged that they will find a way - the fact that a gun is illegal won't stop them. There's certainly not an easy answer on how to prevent these kinds of attacks, but it seems to me we have to figure out a better way to identify the mentally instable individuals who are capable of committing these kinds of violent acts. Every single time this kind of thing happens, we always hear that "no one saw this coming". There must be a better way of identifying and dealing with these disturbed people before rather than after they harm innocent people.

My heart goes out to these victims and their loved ones. Once again, a community will have to deal with the painful healing process from the act of a terrorist.

[Topkat]

There is really no way to know which person is going to "snap" and commit a mass murder. This guy had no criminal record. He had no terrorist affiliations. You can't throw people in jail for saying something a bit sick or being mentally ill. There is no reason any civilian needs an assault weapon. This is a military weapon that is easily available to anyone! That is just insane to me?? It is not a hunting weapon or for protection.

These weapons should only be allowed in the military, not on our streets. I do want to see politicians rally for gun control. This guy was crazy, but to easily buy this assault weapon & over 6,000 rounds of ammunition made it so easy. I do think that if this gun was not available for sale, this could have been avoided or had many less victims. How many more mass murders do we have to have before something is done about it??? To say we need to identify these people & get them help is just not realistic. There are way too many crazies out there & they are buying guns every day!

Prayers to all the victims & their families. This tragedy affects their lives forever.

[Glennhoney]

There is really no way to know which person is going to "snap" and commit a mass murder. This guy had no criminal record. He had no terrorist affiliations. You can't throw people in jail for saying something a bit sick or being mentally ill. There is no reason any civilian needs an assault weapon. This is a military weapon that is easily available to anyone! That is just insane to me?? It is not a hunting weapon or for protection.

These weapons should only be allowed in the military, not on our streets. I do want to see politicians rally for gun control. This guy was crazy, but to easily buy this assault weapon & over 6,000 rounds of ammunition made it so easy. I do think that if this gun was not available for sale, this could have been avoided or had many less victims. How many more mass murders do we have to have before something is done about it??? To say we need to identify these people & get them help is just not realistic. There are way too many crazies out there & they are buying guns every day!

Prayers to all the victims & their families. This tragedy affects their lives forever.

I agree..."GUN CONTROL"....is desperately needed...

[Brooke]

I think the problem with gun control is that any time it's brought up they are trying to make all guns illegal and then you get all the sport hunters upset. Why can't they separate out these types of guns from hunting types of guns? I agree tk, these assault weapons should not be available for anyone to buy except the military. Yes, hunting guns kill people too, but you wouldn't have these mass murders like this.

[sodascouts]

I'm a moderate on this issue. I think people should be able to buy hunting rifles and handguns for self-defense. As a woman living alone I've even considered buying a handgun myself in case someone broke in and attacked me. I had a break in several years ago and it scared the crap out of me; I realized that if those two men had been real robbers instead of just drunk frat boys, I would have been completely defenseless.... and probably would have wound up dying a very ugly death. I finally decided against buying one because I figured I'd be that person who gets the gun wrestled out of her hand and gets shot with it! Still, I don't blame those who decide they need the protection.

However, as for these assault rifles and machine guns... I agree with TK and Brooke. There is NO reason why they should be sold to any private citizen. These are weapons designed for one thing: taking out a LOT of people. There is NO reason why anyone outside the military should possess such guns.

[Topkat]

I think the problem with gun control is that any time it's brought up they are trying to make all guns illegal and then you get all the sport hunters upset. Why can't they separate out these types of guns from hunting types of guns? I agree tk, these assault weapons should not be available for anyone to buy except the military. Yes, hunting guns kill people too, but you wouldn't have these mass murders like this.

Brooke, there was a ban on assault weapons after the Columbine shooting, however it was not renewed, & expired in 2004. There was a separate law regarding these particular weapons. It was not designed to prevent people from hunting, or the right to "bear arms" for protection. People need to stop assuming that "gun control" bans ALL weapons. The laws were banning only THESE assault, semi-automatic & automatic , basicly machine guns!! Yet, some just go nuts & refer to these rights. Back then, when these laws were written, there were no automatic weapons. These are for the military, & should be sold only for that purpose. They are not something you need in your home to shoot an intruder.

To easily stockpile weapons is a sure sign that something bad is going to go down, but the law allows it. This one guy had enough ammo for a small army. Every state has their own laws on this. I hope that people rally their Congressmen to ban these weapons in their states. It's a hotbed of politics with the NRA, but there needs to be stronger laws in every state, not just 5.
America has the 2nd highest gun deaths in the world. Brazil has the highest.