Today's Youth Dealing With Too Much Gun Violence

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We are living in a different world these days. It seems every time the news comes on there are reports of shootings and deaths involving young people, either targeted or caught in the crossfire of somebody elses beef with another person or group of people.  When I was in middle and high school, the biggest threat one might face is an actual fist fight.  Your hair might get pulled and you may be called names, but never did we fear a gun would be introduced and used in a schoolyard fight.  What is happening to our world?

My sister and her husband are both high school teachers, and I have to say I honestly fear for their safety. They don't have much security at their school and they deal with some angry young people on a daily basis.  Who will protect them?  School security?  The police?  By the time anybody responds to an active shooter, a lot of damage can be inflicted.  From Columbine, to Virginia Tech to Sandy Hook - it's happening at an alarming rate.  Columbine has been glorified by a number of unhappy and perhaps inbalanced teenagers who long to become part of this violent history.  This would be their fifteen minutes of fame - and they want to set records of becoming the worst of the worst.

While there seems to be no clear cut answer, GUN CONTROL of some kind seems to be an obvious place to begin.  The NRA is so influential and powerful that few dare to challenge them and their "right to bare arms" mantra. It's true, we do have that right. But what we don't have the right to do is bare arms and blow away dozens of innocent tax paying citizens with families, hopes and dreams. Nobody had that right. The NRA can't even admit there is a problem.  Blame the people SOLEY and not the gun laws that make is pretty simple to get a handgun - even felons find a way.

The kids who tote these guns to school in their backpacks with their turkey sandwich get them from their parents for the most part.  Parents, LOCK UP YOUR GUNS....or be held 100% responsible.  Now I'm really sounding like an old crackpot, but violent video games don't help the cause. This is where the training for the future killers takes form.  Training grounds,so to speak. Corporate America has a responsibility in all of this too - I firmly believe it. Obviously not everybody who plays these video games go out and commit mass murder. But quite a few of them seem to admit to being familiar with them.

Deadly school shootings since Columbine:

Theo J. Buell Elementary School
Feb 29, 2009

6 year old boy shoots and kills classmate Kayla Roland, also 6, at a school at a school in Mount Morris Township. The boy was not charged because of his age.

However, Jamelle James, 19 at the time was living with the boy was sentenced to 2 to 15 years in prison for storing the gun where the boy could easily access it.  The boy's uncle who owned the house the boys were living in plead guilty to possessing the stolen gun.



Lake Worth Community Middle School
May 20, 2000

Honor student Nathaniel Brazill, 13, shoots and kills his teacher Barry Grunow on the last day of classes in Forth Worth, FLA.  He was sentenced to 28 years in prison.










Santana High School
March 5, 2001

15 year old Charles "Andy" Williams opens fire inside the Santee, CA high school killing 2 students and injuring others.  He was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison.









Sept 24, 2003
Rocori High School

15 year old freshman John Jason McLaughlin shot and killed classmates 17 year old Aaron Rollins and 15 year old Seth Bartlett.  McLaughlin was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison for killing his classmates.

March 25, 2005 - Red Lake Senior High

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16 year old Jess Weise killed 5 students, a teacher and a security guard before taking his own life at Red Lake Senior High School. The High School is located on an Indian Reservation. Law enforcement later discovered Weise had also killed his grandfather and a companion of his grandfather in addition to the killing spree at school.

November 8, 2005 - Campbell County Comprehensive School

15 year old Kenneth Bartley shot and killed assistant principal Ken Bruce and wounds two others at a Jacksborough, TN school.  Bartlett avoided a first degree murder conviction somehow, but was instead convicted of reckless homicide.






August 30, 2006 - Orange High School

Former student Alvaro Castillo, 19, is arrested after murdering his father and then opening fire in the Hillsborough NC school's parking lot - wounding two.  He was allegedly obsessed with the Columbine shootings and police found two pipe bombs and two rifles in the van he was driving.  he was later found guilty of murder and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.  In an eerie side note, prior to the shootings he allegedly sent a letter to the principal at Columbine forewarning him of the horror yet to unfold.

Sept 27, 2006 - Platte Canyon High School

Adult gunman Duane Morrison takes six girls hostage at the Bailey CO High School and fatally shoots 16 year old Emily Keyes before killing himself.











September 29, 2006 - Weston High School

Weston High School

15 year old Erik Hainstock shoots and kills school principal John Klang. Hainstock had received a warning the prior day for getting caught with tobacco.













As you can see, I'm only on 2006 events and will have to finish up at a later date..  Just goes to show just how many of these school shooting have occurred and continue to happen..  We need CHANGE N OW!!

Mass shootings scarring the American landscape - Las Vegas becomes deadliest mass shooting

This may be an unpopular viewpoint but frankly I don't care.  I am truly concerned about how utterly violent America has become and how often we are encountering mass shootings across the country. Is our society changing, are we producing angry and violent people hell bent on killing and injuring others - even innocent people they don't know?  With the influx of 24 hour news via television, Internet, smart phone and social media, we are being flooded with news as soon as it happens.  Look at some of the crazy videos people post on YouTube of themselves with a gun in their hand, or an illegal or modified firearm. They obviously don't expect to get into any type of trouble for these photos so what's the downside for them?

What has happened to our country and why has it become so violent?  In particular gun violence seems to be more prevalent than ever.  Starting with the first mass shooting that got the nation's attention, the Columbine shootings.  Here we had 2 teenagers who may have been the subject of bullying at their school - instead of dealing with their frustrations in a positive manner, they meticulously planned to enter their school armed with assault rifles and handguns and kill as many of their perceived enemies as possible.  I don't know that they ever expected to make it out alive themselves, but they were in this for the glory.  If not, why take as many pictures dressed in the garb and holding the weapons they would use to gun kids down with?

Erik Harris & Dylan Klebold

Harris & Klebold planned their attack in order to cause the most casualties and deaths as possible. They ultimately killed 15 people (includes both gunman) and injured 24 more people. It could have been a lot worse considering the arsenal they had. As the photo to the left depicts, they had access to assault weapons that went well beyond what a handgun could do.  99 explosives were also found with other weapons law enforcement ultimately found they more than likely intended to use. This is probably the first time the general public had fear in sending their kids to school.  If it could happen to Columbine, it could theoretically happen anywhere.

My sister and her husband are both long term high school teachers in the San Diego area, and I worry about their safety every time I see one of these headlines.  Some schools may have stepped up security measures, hiring security guards or implementing metal detectors, but many schools lack the funding to make such changes.  I can say that I was never afraid to go to school back in my day.  The most we had to fear would be a fist fight.

Then the most innocent of victims were targeted at an elementary school - Sandy Hook.  20 year old Adam Lanza killed his mother and then went about gunning down people at Sandy Hook Elementary School.  The death toll there was 20 children between the ages of 6-8 and 6 adults.  I don't know what his connection to the school was, if any. It seems in some of these shootings a connection isn't necessary for the shooter.  Elementary school children were an easy mark.

Virginia Tech was another mass shooting that shocked the nation. Seung-Hui Cho was a senior at Virginia Tech when he decided to amass an arsenal and gun down people at his college.  He ultimately killed 32 people and injured 17 more.  There was talk of him having a mental illness diagnosis of some kind, but he was bright enough to make it to his senior year of college and was said to be intelligent.  Looking at photos he took of himself dressed in his killing gear paint a picture of what was in his mind at the time of this attack.

Virginia Tech Shooter

He either looks crazy or as if he's trying to look like a tough guy/bad ass.  So much for the mental illness diagnosis.  There are many people who battle mental illness successfully without ever hurting another sole.  I just don't buy any defense on his part.  He wanted to become infamous and with the shooting his name is in the history books.  Apparently he couldn't make it happen with positive actions.

Perhaps the most eerie of mass shootings in recent memory were the "Dark Knight" movie theatre killings.  We love our movies, and people of all ages, races, colors, sizes and nationalities go to the movies as one of our favorite pastimes.  I've always felt safe in a movie theatre and viewed it as a very pleasant experience.  That is until James Holmes burst into a late night showing of "the Dark Knight Rises" and opened fire in a theatre full of confused and panicked moviegoers. Many of the moviegoers believed Holmes actions to be a stunt of some kind, but the bullets and mayhem were all too real.  He ultimately killed 12 people and injured another 70 people during his rampage.  It seems he meant to cause more destruction as law enforcement found his home booby trapped with explosives and he had many weapons and ammunition at his disposal.  Why did he do it?  We may never know.  His court appearances made him appear mentally imbalanced, but that may have been part of his grand scheme.

Then there was the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando that truly shocked the world. One man caused so much death and destruction and it's hard to make sense of the senseless. Since the Pulse nightclub was a place frequented by the LGBT community, there was an undercurrent of hate crime there. Omar Mateen killed 49 people and injured 50 - but he shattered the lives of so many more with his senseless and cowardly act.

That brings us to the mass shooting in Las Vegas.  Las Vegas, a destination that reminds you of lights, gambling, shows and fun.  Sure, there is a seedy side to Vegas but most people go to experience all the good Las Vegas has to offer.  62 year old Stephen Paddock may have been in Las Vegas for a different purpose.  From his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort, he had a perfect vantage point for the outdoor concert taking place below him.  His room was found stockpiled with weapons and ammunition. There were an estimated 22,000 people attending a country music festival when Paddock began unleashing round after round after round, spraying the unsuspecting crowd with bullets and sending the crowd from confusion to panic.  Law enforcement has said that Paddock possibly suffers from an undiagnosed mental illness that may have contributed to his murderous rampage.

That may be a contributing factor, but law enforcement also confirmed they found a handwritten note by Paddock where he was calculating how many targets he might hit and the distance and trajectory involved.  He had to have been SANE enough to think about these calculations.  Paddock had also attempted to purchase "tracer" bullets, but he wasn't able to because the store was out of stock.  Sounds like a calculating move of somebody who was hell bent on killing as many people as possible.  Paddock killed 58 people and injured an estimated 500 people.  It was a scene of absolute panic as people tried to discern if they were hearing fire crackers or rapidly firing bullets. I can't imagine.  Not wanting to believe someone was opening fire on a large crowd, but then realizing that's exactly what was happening as bodies began to fall. It must have been absolutely terrifying.

Haven't we seen enough of these scenes play out across America?  Is it finally time to force a change?  Does anybody really believe the framers of the Constitution meant we should have the right to bare arms for these purposes? I sincerely doubt it.  The NRA will fight any further restrictions for as long as it takes.  Gun makers profits will rise when these topics come up, as people run out to purchase firearms in the fear that restrictions will toughen up laws and they will be left without a firearm.

Guns do have a place and purpose in our society - police officers need them to protect themselves and the public.  Homeowners can own them to protect their families and their property against deadly threats.  However it seems the guns on the street are being used for domestic violence, mass shootings and domestic terrorism, gang warfare and other criminal activities.  Let's be honest about the state of our country.  Murder with firearms is at an all time high and only getting worse.  Disturbed people looking to make a name for themselves grab a gun and plan the next mass shooting so they can go down in a blaze of glory.  Not all gun owners are irresponsible.  For the most part, people who own and license their guns take their responsibility seriously.  It's the other population of people who illegally own guns that are a danger to our society.

When are we going to wise up and demand change from our government? What can we as a society do?  If anybody has ideas, please share them here.  There is strength in numbers.  I'll never get through to anyone on my own and  neither would you.  But together, maybe we can get some changes enacted.  Let's stand up for CHANGE and a safer America!!