General News At least 17 dead in Florida high school shooting

So sad.

 

Yeah. Trying to figure out if it's anyone I know. Condolences to anyone involved. My God.

 

RIP to the victims and condolences to the the families affected.

 

That's the county I'm from... and I knew people at that school growing up

Sucks to see something like this happen so close to home.

 

I'm not even shocked or sad, anymore. I'm just angry. That's it. I'm sick to death of this issue being ignored while kids die. School needs reform, yes. Schools need major reform, but active shooter drills should absolutely not have to be a thing, and yet they do have to be. And no, this isn't a "More guns would have solved this thing" issue, because Florida is full of Senators and Representatives with A ratings by the NRA.

We need a better solution, and nobody's coming up with anything other than "more guns"

 

I am a country guy that like hunting and fishing but NO ONE needs any kind of automatic rife, multiple clips, or to buy any kind of weapon at a gun show without any kind of background check! When do WE the USA respect human life over old ideas that our forefathers had? The weapons of the day could fire +/- three (3) aimed shots per min. I know, I OWN a black powder rifle. No matter how hard I try, 3 shots. I think the UK, Europe and Canada have better fire arm rules than we (USA) have. FOR CHRIST% sake when are WE going to stop killing one another.

Oh and why can't WE (USA) the GREATIST country in the world have better MENTAL HEALTH care. Our elected officials nedd to sop worring about their pockets and DO WHAT IS RIGHT!

It can start with things like the former senator from my state AL Frankin. Why are we giving a disgraced senator a PENSION when he is worth & million freakin dollars? A military parade with and estimated cost of 30 million dollars? Cutting programs for the poor? Mr. Trump I could give a shit less what you are worth, prove you ever shoveled the snow off your own sidewalk and maybe I will respect you!

Dean

 

RIP This is absolutely terrible news. My heart goes out to their family and friends as well as the students and staff who had to go through this trauma.

 

It's a terrible and tragic incident that should be a wake up call, but I fear it will be business as usual within a week.

I think the United States really needs to get a grip on this issue and realise that gun control is a reasonable and sensible thing to do in the 21st century. We're no longer living in the days when the US constitution was drafted. Times have changed, guns have changed and attitudes have changed - these are facts that cannot be ignored.

Some people go all hyperbole when the idea of gun control is raised, immediately jumping to the conclusion that it means banning all guns, but that's not what gun control is about at all. Gun control doesn't stop you from owning or using a gun for legitimate purposes (sport, leisure, pest control), but it does bring in a system of checks and balances that requires all owners to be licensed and subject to individual scrutiny. I just cannot understand why that is so objectionable to some people in the US. Maybe it's because I have grown up in a country where gun control is the norm and murders and massacres like these are thankfully rare.

What does it say about a society when people are going shopping carrying guns? It just seems out of control, like the Wild West. All of the arguments I have heard in favour of the status quo seem rather irrational, eg. "If they have a gun, I'd better have one too".

I know many people will argue that it's an issue for the United States and foreigners like me should shut up, but it actually does concern other countries now, because the lax gun culture in America is exporting problems abroad, especially over the border. What happens in the US, doesn't always stay in the US.

 

It is sorrowful, that such a thing happened. To the victims family and friends: they are in a better place now, sleeping without dreams. And for the victims:
hoʻomaha mālie, nā kamaliʻi (rest peacfully, little ones)

 

Yesterday was a horrible day that I'm sure will be mentioned in history books, definitely a tragedy. My heart breaks for the families of the victims, this is so sad. What's even more sad is the fact that as mentioned above things will be back to usual within a couple weeks, honestly I'm surprised the POTUS responded as fast as he did, and that alone is sad to say.

I feel like now is the time that people need to realize we definitely need more strict gun laws in the US, people need to obviously start an uproar about this because if not nothing is going to be done. Everyone needs to realize that this could effect them, this could have easily been your family member killed, your child, your spouse, your parent, etc. It could happen any time at school where everyone should be safe, at church where everyone should be safe, at an unsuspecting event where everyone should be safe. People shouldn't have to stress and have this anxiety about daily life, like this is a reality people. Don't ignore it and wait until it hits home for you, do something about it. Some people argue that we need more people carrying guns to prevent these issues, but I definitely do not agree with that, more guns is not the answer. What we need are stricter gun laws. Personally I think assault rifles should definitely be banned along with certain weapon enhancing equipment. Don't get me wrong I believe in the 2nd Amendment, but I think people also need to take into consideration the time period in which the 2nd Amendment was written which was 1791. Now I don't know about you, but I'm pretty confident they didn't have any of the style weapons we have today. In my very strong opinion I believe the amendment should be reworded to suit the time period in which it was written. Such as we have the right to bear arms, arms meaning muskets and maybe like revolvers, because I mean those were the weapons being used during the time period in which it were written. And I'm not even gonna get started on the statistics of the US vs. countries with more strict gun laws, but I'd recommend looking at the statistics to anyone who hasn't.

And then there's the real reason why we don't get more strict gun laws and that's the political contributions pro-gun organizations and people donate. Which is super messed up if you think about it. Regular people are experiencing tragedy on a daily basis, and developing health issues such as ptsd and anxiety, either experiencing these tragic events or worrying about their childs life being in danger on a daily basis, meanwhile these politicians who really could care less because they're getting money are kicked back worry free while their child is in a safe guarded private school and they're getting followed around by body guards. It's bull and definitely needs to change. People really need to wake up, we should not be having this issue in this time period and given the country we're in.

I want to add also that bullying and security in schools needs to be addressed more. I'm not condoning any ones behavior and I'm not sure of the facts of this shooting yet, but I've noticed on some occasions when there's a young shooter that the kid has been bullied. And a common occurrence I've noticed when the child is bullied is that it's always on record for us to know about and know that it happened, but clearly nothing is ever done about it.

This is just a very sad time and as mentioned above my heart truly breaks for these families of the victims, and by victims I am referring to all the students and staff. Just because they're physically uninjured doesn't mean they're mentally uninjured. So sad. R.I.P. to all the lives lost.

 

I heard a comment on the news when I got home that just absolutely floored me. The anchor said something like "it's been two weeks since the last mass shooting with a fatality". Is that really the best we can hope for now? If we average two of these events a month, that's the new normal?

I just don't get it.

 

Mental health. Bingo. Spot on.

Greatest country in the world comment. Wrong. USA has a high GDP (gross domestic product) but overall it actually has one of the lowest standards of living of any Western World country. Poor access to health care, one of the highest infant mortality rates, highest teen birth rates, poor access to mass transit, the poverty level is pathetic , on and on.

 

Its all about money Patrick. The NRA and gun manufactures can generate hoards of cash. It's not about standard of living.

 

At least ban certain types of weapons... Do you really need automatic combat guns to protect your house from a burglar?

I am not American, but this is not just an internal a problem of the USA. Nowadays, we are all, more or less, citizens of the world.

 

This just makes me mad. Sorry, rant overdue. I just get so emotional about this when it comes up. The administration and even citizens can be so caught up building a wall, banning muslims, etc and yet kids are getting killed in their own schools. This was YESTERDAY and just TODAY i saw on twitter than in Houston a kid was found with a gun in his hoodie and arrested! When is the administration gonna shut up about the border security and the muslim ban and turn their attention to school safety. Just an already neutralized school shooting threat alone is the most terrifying thing ever to a high school kid - i know, we had that happen once at my highschool growing up. Its more and more common and yet people are too busy arguing their political stance to do anything. While they argue kids die. Or get put under lockdown terrified for their lives cause there's been a bomb or shooting threat. Or sit in their classrooms and beg for the door to be closed, and jump every time it opens, because a boy was taken away by the cops yesterday for threatening to shoot up the school in the cafeteria. The last one is what happened at my highschool growing up. We had on campus security but no extra security that day. The teachers tried to reassure us but everyone was terrified that the boy would come back like he said he would and do precisely what the 19 year old in Florida did yesterday.

 

These events just make me mad, not sad anymore.

Why is it that the US is literally the only first world country that I can think of where mass shootings occur regularly? Sure, Canada, Australia, Japan etc aren't prefect. People get murdered here too. Its sad, but not nearly as frustrating.

 

So sad.

 

You are absolutely right. I was talking with a friend today who has a friend whose brother was shot yesterday, and we started talking about how easy it is for people to obtain automatic guns and assault rifles in the US. It's shocking, really. And yet here we are one more mass shooting later.

 

You hit the nail right on the head. In my country 80% of the murders are carried out by guns and guess where the guns come from? The United States of America. I find it so funny when people argue that guns don't kill people but people do. It's just like saying nuclear weapons don't kill people but people do.

I also find it horrifying that some people are now advocating for teachers to be armed. The NRA has gotten out of control and America's love of guns will be their ultimate demise.