Amen BonTemps, if the media would spend 10% of the time wasted on gun control debate to mental health care reform it would still be a thousand times more exposed than it is now

The more coverage I see, the sadder I get........... i see all of the posts about gun laws .. right now all I can think about is the unimaginable pain that these families are feeling. Gun laws/ politics..... not what is on my mind. I just can't imagine the loss and the unbearable pain.

I honestly can't even wrap my head around it and what these families are going through.. and it's going to be so far spread .. so so sad :0(

I know my insurance has very little accommodation for mental health care. And so many people fall through the cracks in our society. It literally affects everyone and yet it is a cause pariah.

Luvmytitans, it's just helping me not to dwell on their pain, sorry if it upset you

The more I hear about The shooting The sadder I get. Those poor. Kids don't even get to celebrate. Christmas Adam Lanza Took thier lives away from them Thier poor moms and dads don't get to kiss thier kids goodnight tonight Its just heartbreaking Losing. a child is heartbreaking Its Something that No parent should ever have to go through

Nothing is worse than a young life being taken, even worse multiple lives being taken, send prayers to the family's affected , this is why schools need at least one armed guard , situations like this prayers won't bring back there lives, but actions will help save others god bless!!

Istill.. I am just upset.. I understand what you and the other are saying. I truly do. I do. gonna hug my boys harder tonight......

no hard feelings at all.
Just so sad. :0(

I don't have mental coverage either.. we need it........ we deserve it....... if we did...... and especially the young people who are so broken........ I pray that things could change...... I truly do.

No disrespect intended to anyone, but if now is not the time to talk gun control then when is?

I understand. I am just so sad for the families who are grieving...it's all I can think about.. I want gun laws........just don't want to get into a debate about it at this horrible day....... I get it. I do........ I am just thinking about all of the pain for these families.

saying prayers!

sickening. scary. wtf???

I understand and respect your feelings, LMT. My heart is so heavy for those families and those children.

I think it is a debate society needs to have, though (not necessarily on here lol).

"You go to a movie theater in Aurora and all of a sudden your life is taken," Columbine Principal Frank DeAngelis said. "You're at a shopping mall in Portland, Ore., and your life is taken. This morning, when parents kissed their kids goodbye knowing that they are going to be home to celebrate the holiday season coming up, you don't expect this to happen."
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you never know....there were days i was so angry at my daughter for not listening to me in the morning when getting ready for school (she has ADD) but from now on i have to remember that no matter what, before i leave my kids at school, i am going to give them the biggest hugs and kisses each time. you just never know anymore........

It's the saddest thing ever. And horrific.
I can't imagine the pain the parents are going through.
It's mind boggling to why someone would do this. I usually think of mental illness, instability of some kind. When these crazy shootings happen.
I have a beautiful 2 yr old grandson. I want him to be safe when he starts school. I can't guarantee that he will be. I worry for his future.

I don't know what the answer is in how to prevent this kind of tragedy from happening again.
And I hear in the newscasts after these shooting tragedies occur. Words like
"What can be done to prevent this from happening again?"
"this has to stop". "something needs to be done"

But then nothing changes. Nothing is done. And a few weeks later or months another mass shooting occurs.
And I hear the same thing.

But really What can be done?
There's millions of people in this country. Think of that number. MILLIONS! How can you prevent the occasional nut case from losing it?
You can't.
If a person wants to cause harm, they will, gun or no gun. They will do it.
Basically every morning we wake up it's a friggin miracle because anything can happen. Whenever we leave our home we take a risk.

It's the world we live in.

This is just so sad. I'm mad and I'm sad too. It's a mix of emotions.

Those poor mothers. my heart breaks for them. losing a child is a mother's worst nightmare.

This is so not a gun control issue. The people who really want the guns, if they were outlawed, would get them anyway. This is why the gang members have automatic weapons...do they have permits? I don't think so.

It's an issue of mental health, and it's a catastrophically tragic example of what happens when people with a mental illness which can turn violent are left to thier own devices.

And yes, I am assuming here, as I've heard nothing on what the shooter's mental state actually was.

There's this thing, in mental health, where the 'patient's right to choose' comes into play. This is a good and fine rule, in almost all situations. When it becomes dangerous is when they CHOOSE not to take their medications. The powers that be can do nothing about this, because it violates the patient's 'right to choose.'

What began as a way to help the mentally ill get out from under the ice baths and lobotomies of the past has turned into a situation in which people who function perfectly normally while on thier medications decide not to take them anymore.

A former co-worker of mine is sitting in jail this minute because he decided to go off his medications because they were too expensive and if he took them, he couldn't eat or pay rent. His case worker simply 'didn't notice' the situation or, in other words, he slipped through the cracks. The result? He used a samurai sword to murder an acquaintance.

Another acquaintance is currently 'choosing' not to take her medications. This exercise of her free will has her in porn films to support her heroin habit. Her case worker can't intervene because 'it's her choice.'

For her entire adult life, my aunt lived in a nightmare of hallucinations because she wouldn't take her medications. At about 50 she was committed to a hospital and then a group home, the only place where her medications could be monitored.

We're not doing the mentally ill any favors by letting them choose when their illnesses make them incapable of choosing what's best for their lives. It's not about a gun. It's about fear, stigma, carelessness and laws which have been twisted frighteningly far from thier original intention.

Guns will be had by the 'bad guys' whether they're legal or not. Nobody can change that. We CAN change our health care, and do the truly responsible thing by helping people who can't help themselves.

I shall now get off my soapbox. Sorry I wrote a book here. Just...hits a nerve. All the tragedy of these shootings, all the pain, the suffering...and so much of it comes back to the same thing. Prayers sent up for the victims, families, police, witnesses, the entire town, the shooter's family...everybody whose world was darkened by this. It's just sickening.