My heart goes out to Adam's family - it must be awlful to be the parent & family of someone who was capable of such violence----

If Adam had a history of mental illness, how and why did he have access to guns at his mothers house? Why was not being monitored?

Susan

It's such a sad tragedy for the victims and their families. Whatever happened in Adams mind his father & brother and extended family are suffering from grief from their loss and grief they have to live with knowing what their family member caused. My prayers are with them all.

I'm sure the father being out of the picture didn't help.

I often wonder where the father was when their kids are struggling... Fathers are so important. I hope Peter Lanza was actively involved in his son's life.

Sorry for his family??!! This woman had an emotionally unstable 20 yr old kid living in the basement and she had an arsenal of weapons in the house. Did her ex husband know this and realize what any normal human would see as a powder keg situation. Unbelievable and sympathy is with the kids and teachers that were slaughtered. #prayersfornewton

I would like to suggest that we all put out a small candle on our front steps in memory of the victims of the Newtown, Ct shooting, especially those innocent 6 and 7 year old children. I put one on my front steps, it's a small battery operated candle that can be purchased almost anywhere, including drugstores. This insures no danger from candle flames. Please keep these children in your hearts, which I'm sure is as broken as mine. Tama Flynn

i have learned not to judge anyone unless you have walked in their shoes......this is such an incredibly sad tragedy for all parties invloved...,and if you have a beating heart you feel bad for everyone!!!! Let us hope this NEVER happens again!

Susan: I agree. My prayers go out to all who lost there lives and there families, Sadly it will be harder for those who's little Angels were stolen from them, however I pray GOD will strengthen them and that they will be supported much. Also, I hope they will not hate (although hard) it just makes it less stressful to mourn and hate. R.I.P. to all you Angels and Hero's who are now in heaven.

While I can sympathize with the family's family grief, what baffles me is why a mother would an assault weapon in her possession? And why would you have a desire to teach your children how to shoot and take them to target practice? Especially with a learning disabled son who had limited comprehension. My thoughts are this mother was not wrapped too tight herself. I raised two sons alone myself and I would never ever have any guns near my children. You do not keep dangerous items easily available to your children. There was something not right in that home.

Thou shalt not judge

One of the first things I heard on the news was the father's statement about their family grieving. Sorry, but not interested in his grief . It's a known fact that the shooter had mental health issues and the mother buys assault rifles and teaches him to shoot them? And keeps them in the house with him? I don't know where the father was in his life, but how about some personal accountability for being divorced, leaving the kid home with the ex-wife alone with guns all around - a divorce couldn't have helped his mental state....Sorry, my grief is for the innocents how lost their lives at the hands of his son....

While we can hope this will never happen again, I believe it is healthy and good to have this discussion.

Clearly, the people involved with this tragedy did not think through this horrible possibility. Some people don't realize that they have accountability for their children, even if they divorce the child's mother. Some think when their child is 20 years old they are no longer the concern of the parent. Some don't realize that assault weapons should never be brought into the home of a child who has mental issues.

I'm not saying I know the answers and I do have many, many faults and shortcomings of my own, but for those who say we should not judge and should only hope, I think we will miss a healthy discussion. Perhaps some of us will learn from the opinions of others and think carefully about how we take accountability for our lives and how we engage with our families.

I'm thankful we can have this discussion and can share our different perspectives and welcome hearing from everyone... Even those who think I should not speak, because that lets me know how you feel.

While I Agree about not judging others, the guns should have Never been within his reach as well he should have had not even known about the guns given his mental health!!!! If his mom had such an interest in guns and target shooting, she should have had kept the guns in a secret spot, maybe rented a storage unit just to be safe, whether or not she thought her son was ever capable of anything such things or not....
One Never knows what makes a person snap, however, we don't need to have weapons available for them!!!!

As long as guns are easily attainable and the population continues to grow, it is a mathematical certainty that these types of slaughters will continue to occur. Soooo...either we have to control population growth or control the accessibility of guns. Which is easier?
It's common sense. Unfortunately we live in a world devoid of it.

Sadly, things like this will happen again. It is not the fault of parents or guns (not even the "assualt weapon" canard) or "the system". By definition, events like this are outliers for which there can be no real solution that would be acceptable in a free society. There are already laws against murder but it doesn't seem to have abolished it, has it? Evil will always be with us.

The kid was described as a quiet nerd "genius" - no signs of disturbance, only weird. The kid was very thin and could have learned ways of self-defense. He was moved to a new environment in a divorce home. Mother and son relationship could be so private to identify problems. What could be done for intervention? However, the kid was dressed in black for the attempt actions with unknown motive. This whole TRAGEDY makes me think the notion of "live with mental illness, in jail or die."

The other side is the question to the criminal justice to mental illness.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1651002,00.html

While it is specifically because my son has Aspergers and his behavior is irradic at times, that I dont own firearms, I do support the ownership of guns. My daughter wants to be a state trooper, she will carry a gun even around her brother. that said, unless you personally live with a young MAN in the autism spectrum (and let me tell you, if he is high functioning, sometimes you can't even get a proper diagnosis) you have NO IDEA what that family goes through. And there are people in your community that you may not even think who have Aspergers. they may just seem a little anti-social or querkie. There are college professors with families who have Aspergers. So please, clearly something else significantly triggered this kid. From my experience, he probably had the maturity of a 12 or 14 year old. But there is EXTREMELY limited resources for people who have a range of disabilities that leave them sometimes brilliant, other times, well, nuts. But the families of these people are essentially trapped by their own loved ones. There are very few places that are equipped for their needs. They are not mentally ill. This kid clearly was, to do such a thing, however, its discovery is complicated by his disability. Sometimes my son says the most bizzare things, and other times, I marvel at his scope of understanding (better than most college educated adults I know). But kids and adults with autism spectrum do not belong in places like greystone. BELIEVE ME.

Let's say for one moment that Mom didn't teach the son to shoot. She knew he had a mental illness, yet she chose to keep 3 guns, one of which was an assault rifle, in her home with him. There is no good reason for a suburban housewife to keep an assault rifle in her home (and as a parent with a 6 and 8 yr old, I wouldn't keep a gun of any type, secured or otherwise, in my home). Guns don't kill people, people kill people but to essentially arm a mentally ill person is beyond comprehension. Awful things can and will happen - however, there is common sense and accountability especially when you have children.

Rosie continues with her comments:

Others around her saw the problem with him. His father did - where was he? His adult brother with a good job in NY knew of the problem. Where was he? Now it is to late. Apologies and sympathy for the 26 families means absolutey nothing. Too little, much too late. You just had to look into the eye of Adam Lanza and see that something was off there. I am an outsider and I can see this from the pictures. Our hearts our broken and saddened for these 26 families. As for the Lanza family, I have no sympathy for them. Sorry!!!! They should have not turned around when all of this was going on and, I am sure, their relative (son, brother, nephew) was crying for help.

yes, we need to focus on mental health issues more. But let's face it, you Americans have a bizarre and sick fascination with guns and violence and this crap is bound to happen over and over again. Slogans such as "guns don't kill people, people do" are insulting to anyone who can understand socio/economic realities. A fetish about a document written more than 200 years ago and often no longer applicable is also insane. If you like your guns so much, accept that these tragedies will be a part of your news cycles on a monthly basis. It's a tragedy and there is no turning back for America.

It was inappropriate for a mother to have a gun collection in her home, particularly since he was mentally unstable. Why does a mother need a semi automatic gun? I do believe we must do a much better of regulating guns. As someone said ealier - perhaps an investigation of family members. However there is always a way around this for someone wanting to purchase a gun. Our mental health services are defiicient and need more funding just like our schools. There must be a way for those of us who see someone in trouble or suspect trouble to report this and not rely entirely on families who often have redefined what is normal and lose perspective for loved ones with mental illness or behavior issues. Possibly a reporting mechanism like Child protective services. We had a young man with mental illness almost burn down a huge mall two years ago. He had growing mental health issues and unable to get help although going to numerous emergencies room. Fortunately noone was injured but many people lost their jobs and the expense was huge for the businesses which then is passed onto the general public in one way or another. Money that could have funded mental health programs.

Bring back prayer in the schoolrooms!!!!!!!!!!!

This child's anger did not erupt overnight. The family must have seen evidence of his his temper over the years. This kid was a loner, and when you see this in your child, you get him help, you go or therapy yourself nod learn how to del with him, and perhaps put him in a group home where he could interact with others of his mentality level. Sometimes parents think keeping a problem child in the home is doing the right thing but often it is the wrong thing for the child. You are not shirking your responsibility if your child is getting the help and guidance he needs. The more this boy stayed home, the more isolated he felt.

It is so easy for us to sit behind a computer with our armchair wisdom and condemn and judge.....we don't know all the facts yet.

Perhaps his mother was mentally ill as well. How can you all have such strong opinions when you don't know all the facts? It's easy to look back and blame, it makes most of us feel more protected but how about listening for a change? When you listen you can learn a lot.

We do not know all the facts but we do know that guns are dangerous and deadly in the wrong hands.

No we do know ALL the facts, but we do know that guns and ammunition in the wrong hands can be deadly.

No we do not all of the facts -but we do know that guns in the wrong hands can be deadly.

Big mistake. Teach a unstable. Young man how to shoot a gun. Adam. Knew. What he was doing. When he set out to kill.

Unbelievable to see the callous comments on here towards the Lanza family. This is an abominable tragedy with many victims.

Since they knew he had a problem they sould of got him professional help and get the guns out of the house the mother sould never taught this kid to shoot guns but should of paid more attention to his well being

These comments and discussion are fantastic. While I agree with some and totally disagree with others, having the freedom to voice how you feel is the first step in making a change. With all due respect prayers and hoping this doesn't happen again is not what we should be doing, in my humble opinion. Getting gun experts, mental health experts, sociologist, family counseling experts together to discuss how we can make a positive change in our society maybe our best chance at understanding and avoiding these tragedies. It's much more productive than laying blame or sitting around and hoping.

The parents could have encouraged him into so many other activities like bowling, tennis, photography, golfing, art courses, etc. etc. instead of a potentially violent past time. My next question is where did this kid get the money to buy all the ammunition? Who sold it to him, no questions asked? I also have two autistic nephews, one is high functioning and the other one is not. No way would we trust either of them with guns or target shooting.

Many parents are in denial and claim their children are just fine when in fact they are not. If a child has a violent temper, immediately a parent should seek help and have her child in therapy. Always talk to your children about all different topics to see how they respond. Always try to explain to them in a very loving way what they have done wrong and see if they can explain why they did wrong and also that they can admit they've done wrong and apology where needed. When seeing teachers, find out if the teachers notice any problems in their behavior or if they write a composition about a topic they choose, read it carefully and read between the lines. I do have an opinion about the games these kids play, so many violent games out there, a lot of them about killing, either with a car, or throwing arrows, don't buy them these games if they contain violence and sometimes a troubled child might take these games too seriously and they become addicted to win all the fights. A child on life time medication could also become toxic and out of touch with reality and want to go on a killing spree, as he does in his games. No child in their right mind would shoot their mother in the face, think about it. If they were loved all their life and received therapy and checked regularly with their medication levels there might have been a different result. Any parent who loses a child as I did, knows the pain for the rest of life. Some parents suffer more from their own guilt. RIP all

PATCH is playing a very important role in today's society/world by providing a "venue" that not only delivers local news to everyone in a community but also provides a "venue" that permits all members of community -- both local and beyond -- to interact, respond and express his or her thoughts, concerns, and opinions about issues large and small. In a very short period of time, PATCH has filled an important void and provided a voice to everyone in the communities it serves. THANK YOU PATCH...keep up the good work !

My heart goes out to the victims of this horrible tragedy. I don't like to blame or point fingers but I truly believe that the blame should go to the mother of Adam Lanza. Her son should've been institutionalized in a mental hospital. Why on earth would you have a mentally unstable child in your home with automatic weapons? Those children and teachers did not do anything to this person. Again, my condolenses goes out to the community of Newtown, CT.

I'm very happy that our president is making gun control a priority. We need to ban assault riffles and other weapons of mass destruction. The US needs to do a steep and deep background check on individuals who not only want to purchase a weapon but the owners of these weapons needs a background check as well. The world can no loner afford to loose anymore children. This tragedy would've been prevented if the mother of Adam Lanza traded her weapons and force Adam Lanza to get treatment for mental illness. Newtown, CT would take a long time to recover from what has happen but by the grace of GOD they city of Newtown, CT will have the wisdom and faith to recover. Politicians should make gun control in their state a major priority for the year 2013. Enough is Enough.

What are you talking about Mr. Mitchell? Our whole nation (except the gun lovers) is in mourning over these innocent beautiful children. There is nothing to feel good about in this situation. It is too late to save these children, but what we want to do is save the lives of other children and citizens in the future. What if this kid did not have access to these multi-round guns? Then all of these children and adults would be alive and able to celebrate Christmas with their families. Instead their parents will probably be donating the gifts they bought for their kids to a shelter.

All goes back to the MOTHER who did not secure her guns properly. Also goes back to the mother who brought her mentally sick/ill son to gun ranges with her! I myself shoot guns, love them...Understand people are upset/mourning etc. No reason to ban guns or do anything crazy of that sort...I simply say do better background checks. When a person goes to buy a gun do background check that takes more then 5 minutes. Make it last a week. I'm sure plenty of crazy people would not sit and wait a week for a gun. But gun lovers would.

I think crazy people with guns who do crime usually steal the guns from others who have left them unlocked or not secured at all.
Which goes back to it is not the gun's fault, it is the idiot who owns the gun's fault.

I also think carrying permits should be allowed. Less crime would happen if an innocent person could carry there own gun and protect themselves/others.

So, what would the background check on the MOTHER have come up with?

After a certain age it is the person not the parents fault. We've all hard some crappy things happen to use but we don't go around killing people because of it. Shoot Zombies www.airsplat.com/Items/AC-TARGET-NAZI.htm not people