Wow - How naive to trust the government the way your do.

I think what everyone is missing is that this military style (assault rifle) was in fact stolen/taken from his mothers house. THE ASSAULT RIFLE WAS FOUND IN THE TRUNK OF LANZA'S CAR!!! Not 1 round was fired with the assault rifle. This maniac (Lanza) went on a killing spree with only hand guns. Im all for having tougher and stricter laws to prohibit felons, mentally challenged, and drug abusers from possessing or ATTEMPTING to purchase firearms. You can outlaw assault rifles. The next maniac will just use a shotgun, (which most people can walk out of the store that day with it, no waiting period for a background). Then you'll outlaw shotguns. The next maniac will use a handgun or bolt action hunting rifle (no magazine, shells fed 1 at a time). (Again Lanza used handguns. The rifle was in the trunk of his car). Then you'll outlaw all firearms and hand guns. Guess what will happen next. The next maniac will get any firearm he can get on the street from your average criminal or gangbanger. Or if he has the resources, he could get anything from a little .22 caliber to a automatic AK-47 or Uzi on the black market. WHAT PEOPLE DONT REALIZE IS TOUGHER RESTRICTIONS ON GUNS ONLY HURTS LAW ABIDING CITIZENS. We already have many laws as the ownership of guns by felons. WHEN DO THEY ABIDE BY THE LAW!!!!!

I commend AOL for taking a position in this important issue.
There is little doubt that position that AOL has taken is held by the majority.
I wish to offer two additional suggestions that I believe could be accepted by the majority.
1) Laws addressing vigilantism be made nationwide and enforced aggressively.
2)Locally, “Hot Lines” be established with the police specifically for the reporting of dangerous persons carrying lethal weapons

Um, all AUTOMATIC WEAPONS ARE OUTLAWED to civilian's Way to stay on top of things!

Right Frank. If it was that easy let's outlaw drugs, bank robberies, rape, home invasions and the list could go on and on. Oh wait, those things are already "Banned". If someone can gaurantee me that I can walk anywhere in the US at anytime and NO ONE will ever stick a gun in my face, then, I'll give you mine. All my guns in 40 years have killed NO ONE. That's a better record then an ex Senators car.

Those are the weapons that are and should be banned.
If one of those adults had been trained and had a concealed weapon in possession. The body count would have been much much lower.
Maybe it may not have happened at all had the "nutcase" known there would be armed security at the school.
The people in this country HAVE to grow up. Taking the guns away from responsible people is easy. Taking the guns away from criminals......eehhhh....not so easy. In fact impossible. Which would make us all "a gun free zone" and easy prey to all the criminals the government failed to get the guns away from.

The past three presidents have all signed a United Nations agreement stating that the only people who should be allowed to carry guns are government personnel only. The question is why has the last four presidents signed an agreement which blatantly violates this country constitution. If you take away the guns from the people, then a dictatorship will rise and American will fall to chaos. In December 2012 Obama and congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act which allows for the pre-detainment /incarceration of U.S. Citizens without trial, if the government feels the person is a threat to national security even though they have "NOT" committed any crime. Why does the government want to restrict our rights and freedoms? Unless there is a dictatorship in the wings hiding waiting for the right opportunity to rise. Hitler and many other dictators have done the same; passed laws stating it was for the protection of the people, the betterment of the society and before the people realized it they had no more rights. Beware of rash decisions; look at the whole picture and the long term implications. The only reason this country has never been invaded by a foreign nation is due to the fact that US citizens are well armed and no invader could ever gain true control over the people. The conflict would never end. What happened was terrible, but it is primarily due to the psychological effect of violence in the media, movies, video games, economic conditions and a serious lack of ethical and moral teachings in today’s society. America is going into the shitter; we are slowly declining into a third world regime. It is a domino effect, banning guns will not solve our problems it will only worsen them and create others. Everyone should be required to pass a gun law and safety program before being able to purchase their first firearm. The ones who go off the deep end usually got their legal training from Rambo, Video Games, media and the movies. Educating future gun owners as to the legal effects and ethical obligations of owning a firearm is a much better solution then handing some kid a firearm that just turned 18yrs and has no real legal or responsibility training whatsoever. Get rid of guns, and what your constitutional rights quickly fade away. This is not a theory, but a fact. Civilians carrying guns helps keep the government in check and wards off an actual dictatorship and helps prevent a foreign government from taking control of this country. Think about it seriously before jumping on to some ban wagon to pass a law that will in the end solve nothing. Emotionally disturbed people will still kill; it is only you rights and freedoms that you will be signing away.

Automatic weapons are already virtually banned. Ownership of a machine gun (automatic weapon) is tightly controlled by the ATF. Unfortunately many people share your confusion on this matter.

Seriously you people scare me, you would abolish your rights under the false pretense that it would save you. Look at Egypt! Look at Korea! We have our second amendment rights to protect us from any government or foreign power that oversteps its boundry NOT for fighting your neighbor! Don't ban or take away guys make strict background checks, psychological exams and limit the amount not the type! Foreign governments already have tanks, bombs and jets, you are already brining muskets to a cannon fight!

I agree with the little girl from Newtown. In her letter to the President she said no one needs guns but the military and the police. Guns should stay on shooting ranges.
Assault weapons are for killing people. No one needs one. It is a shame that people are so filled with fear they believe they do. Be Fearless Be kind

Ridiculous take away guns and do you not think the so called criminals and crazies will find any other way? Irresponsible, uneducated people kill people. People kill people No GUN has ever killed someone it is the person using it guns dont go on killing sprees and kill people any more then that fork your eating with makes you FAT...Stop trying to give up your rights keep making tougher laws, keep disarming the american public and we might as well watch right after right pass away. It is ridiculous to attempt to keep trying to disarm the american public, maybe instead teach, educate and inform them and give them a defense not disarm. Look at history of nations who have disarmed their citizens and see what follows, fact is history repeats itself- stop disarment before we repeat what has come before-In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
-Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.-In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. >From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated

Frank, you forgot to include the criminal, to which we have dozens of laws already that are not fully enforced and they don't abide by. Another political feel good knee jerk reaction to a situation that has happened globally and throughout history. Prevention? Remove gun free zone signs and be allowed to carry and conceal.

He did NOT use an automatic weapon!

Automatic weapons are already banned. They have been for many years. Writing a Law that will stop gun violence is impossible. You cannot legally own an AR15 in the State of Connecicut, but the mother had one. If a written law could have stopped this, the mother would not have had an AR type weapon. The only thing that will stop the killings in Schools is to put an armed guard in every school. I do not like this, but today schools are Gun free zones, and everyone knows this. Let the principal have access to a weapon that is locked in the office, and this violence in schools will stop.

HEY FRANK; HITLER SAID THE SAME THING...YOU KNOW WHERE THAT SOCIETY WENT

Thank you AOL for taking a stand. It is time ALL peoples stand up and be heard. We have been silent too long. The killings MUST stop. I believe banning semi-automatic weapons does not go far enough. I think only guns used for hunting purposes should be allowed. Take a look at statistics for all civilized countries (Canada, Great Britian, Japan for example) that do not condone widespread ownership of firearms. What is happening in our country is not what our good founding fathers had in mind.

the general public cant get automatic weapons only semi auto and banning guns are not going to do anything......... taking guns from honest people will not stop sick people from doing stuff like that............. dont need more gun laws lets inforce the ones we already have!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just read Charles Krauthammer's syndicated column in todays paper. Dec 21, 2012. He nails the whole problem and why.

They already are.......... You need a class 3 federal license to obtain an automatic weapon, and those are next to impossible to get.

Idiot Lib