America massacre

I definitely didn't say women are much, much worse johanna, nor do I feel the need to make such condemning comments about other women. I accept there are a few women who are not representative of the female species in general, but I think women have a hard enough time without other women wading in to say how bad they are. It's my feminist leanings - can't help it!

But why do men [in general] feel the need to take so many lives? It's usually men that murder their children to 'get back'at their estranged wives and men [often young men] who go on a rampage such as what happened to these poor children. I agree that women can be cruel and devious but, in general, they don't take innocent lives and leave a trail of heartbreak and devastation. So, again, my question is 'what is in the male psyche that feels the need to do this'? And, how can it be prevented [other than not allowing access to weapons that can maime and kill]?

A good question crimson. In mammals males are generally more aggressive, the exception being females who have just given birth. But this shooting is not just an aggressive reaction, it is the result of an individual who is totally screwed up.

I bet we can write his psychological profile ourselves. A loner, socially inept, a chip on his shoulder..etc.

Such sad individuals have always and will always exist but the difference nowadays is they feel they have the right to take out their feelings on others and they have (in the USA) access to guns which make this easy.

Many petitions have been taken to the White House in the last day, including some from staunch gun control advocates, calling on Obama to immediately put forth gun control legislation. Even the Gun Lobby are saying that access to guns has gone way beyond what was intended in the 2nd Amendment.

The petitions are a good thing. Stricter laws on gun control, yes. However, people who do this kind of massacre will probably still manage to get hold of a gun.

So deeply distressing to hear the testimonies of parents talking about their children's lives, and to learn that the psychologist working with the school has advised parents to ensure their own guns are kept locked away and inaccessible to their children, as there coud be angry reactions from some children who do not comprehend the loss of their schoolfriends.

An interesting blog here that comments about the gun culture of America and questions the widespread use of violent video games. At the same time I have been listening to American politcal commentators on BBC News, saying that we in the UK superimpose our own culture onto the USA's and we have to understand where the right to bear arms has come from, and that in the USA guns are a tool. Oh really?

www.phillyburbs.com/blogs/news_columnists/jd_mullane/it-s-not-the-gun-culture-it-s-the-american/article_9ea6a289-f3a9-5764-9722-50d2db1e3429.html?mode=jqm

We do understand where the right to bear arms comes from. But the USA is not now the lawless place it was when that right was deemed necessary. What we don't understand is why Americans think they still need to own guns. It's irrational in a civilised society with a good police force.

Actually, none of the Americans I know does own a gun. Small sample, I know, but still....

This was a terrible tragedy but I hate how the news media picks over every detail. They were actually interviewing children about what it was like to be in the school! Surely that shouldn't be allowed. l We have distraught parents paying "tributes" to their children live on television. We have every detail of the shooter's life and of his family. I don't think the media should have access to these people while they are in such awful shock.We seem to turn everything into a soap opera. I wish we could return to the days when the news was reported without us having to intrude on peoples' lives and tragedies every 15 minutes on tv. I really hate it. What is worse every time there is another tragedy ( and no doubt there will be) these same interviews will be trotted out for years to come.

My son often recounts the story of his visit to a business colleague's home when he was visiting upstate New York. As he walked up the driveway he passed several signs warning that the owner would use his gun if the visitor was not there on legitimate business. The man opened the front door brandishing his gun, which was loaded. He had a grin on his face, and thought it was funny to posture like this. My son cut the visit short and refused to go there again. He was told that the majority of people in that average neighbourhood had their own guns.