19 children and two adults murdered in school shooting in Texas

Horrific Esspee those poor families ripped apart - why
I saw Biden on TV this morning saying there must be gun law changes, how many times has this been mooted.

Nothing is ever done. They quote the right to bear arms all the time. I've been reading some US comments in the press. Why are they selling assault rifles at all?

This is beyond tragic. Those poor babies and their families having to bear their loss. It doesn’t bear thinking about. My heart goes out to them all. RIP all.

Some states do have tighter gun controls, Texas is not one of them, gun ownership is so deeply ingrained in the US, it’s hard to see change any time soon, certainly automatic weapons should be banned as a first step.

It is just so sad. I don't believe anything will change.We lived in New Mexico when l was first married. The law there was as long as the weapon wasn't concealed it was OK.
People drove around with rifles on the dashboard of the trucks.
I was amazed and appalled, a young country girl from East Anglia, l had never seen anything like it.

There have been 27 school shootings this year alone in the USA and we are only 5 months in.
My grandchildren are at primary school in Texas. It is a private school and you enter through security gates with an armed guard.
I am going to have to ask my son if the children have rehearsals on what to do if a gunman enters the classroom.

They want to ban abortion because a woman can’t possibly have control over her own body, yet they let any idiot ( usually male ) buy a gun.

I have absolutely no idea why people see America as a progressive country, it has always astounded me.

Just shocking. RIP

Unfortunately the NRA hold sway over every USA Government

This is the 27th mass school shooting in 2022 these children were under 11, just babies along with two of their teachers.

This is the 200th general mass shooting in 2022, you can go to the supermarket or shopping mall with no guarantee of coming home.

22 children (under 18) are shot each day in the USA, of those 22, 5 will die…

When will they learn??????

Esspee It said on the BBC news this morning that Active shooter lockdown drills are a common part of the school curriculum, from primary to high school.

It also said Guns overtook car crashes to become the leading cause of death for US children and teenagers in 2020.

What more can be said?

There is a large, powerful, entrenched gun lobby based around the National Rifle Association, which has the Republican party in its thrall www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/17/nra-gun-lobby-gun-control-congress

Guns cause more child deaths in America than any other reason. Mind boggling...

How come the shooter entered the school via an unlocked back door?

I thought all schools had doors with coded keypads on them nowadays?

Tragic and utterly heartbreaking. 10 years on from the horrific day at Sandy Hook when 28 lives were cruelly taken. When they didn’t take action after that appalling tragedy there isn’t much hope that they will now.

I've been reading this thread and comments. It includes a picture of parents waiting outside the school to have their DNA taken because their 6 year olds have been so shredded by automatic rifle fire that they are unidentifiable. Not just shot; shredded.

And a poster asks why was a door unlocked to let a maniac with an AR in?

I would ask 'Why were they allowed to own a weapon of such indescribably horrific capabilities in the first place?' Why should schools have to barricade themselves in in the first place?

mobile.twitter.com/juliettekayyem/status/1529253998418599941

I don't know how the NRA can live with themselves. Clearly they think that their "rights" are more important than children's lives.

It's time that there was a compromise between rights and safety at the very least.

Even if virtually anyone can buy a gun, I still fail to see how anyone outside the military - or perhaps the police - would ever need an automatic rifle. You’d think that at least the general sale of these would be banned by now.
The trouble is, they will never have enough votes against them - the gun lobby is so all-powerful.

Sickening! - will it ever stop!?

It simply shows a very skewed society.

Where children are regularly taught what action to take should a gunman enter the building.

Where freedom to own a gun takes precedence over a child’s life.

Where those supporting the right to own a gun deny any right to a woman to choose whether to continue with a pregnancy.

Where overt Christianity produces a society with the highest murder rate in the world.

I just saw an item in the news I will précis

USA has 5% of the worlds population, it’s population has 54% of ALL privately owned firearms

I am lost for words…

Two of my GC are at school in America. The knot of fear in the stomach is so very real when I read such headlines.

I cannot understand why, in America, you are regarded as a precious being, sanctified above all else, when you are nothing more than a bunch of cells yet the moment you emerge from the womb you’re nothing but a target for anyone with a gun.

Anyone who supports the current US gun laws is complicit in child (and adult) murder, in my book. America should be ashamed of itself.

Urmstongran

How come the shooter entered the school via an unlocked back door?

I thought all schools had doors with coded keypads on them nowadays?

Yes, terrible.
But quite frankly if you've got a gun you can walk up to the front door and shoot your way in.
Get rid of guns.

This is just dreadful.

I echo everyone's comments about the gun lobby, the gun laws, and everybody complicit in this state of affairs.

What difference would a locked door have made. He could have walked straight into reception and shot the staff there. Doors are not the problem.