With only a week left until Christmas vacation, I think I would just keep my children home from school. There isn't much learning going on during this week, anyway. After a few weeks of quiet, I would be much more ready to send my children off to school. In the long run, I would seriously consider home schooling until they get this gun nonsense figured out.

OH COME ON keep your kids at home? Don't let them get into a car cause it could kill them, don't let them eat food that could make them sick, don't let them watch tv or listen to music it could turn them crazy. how about we talk with our kids and teach them how to live and deal with things like this. some parents really need to step up and start parenting, but i guess people like aanen1 would rather just shelter and put blinders with bubble wrap on the kids...

That's the way to jump off the virtual cliff @aanen1! Good thing you don't have kids, so parents who live in the real world don't have to deal with you at PTA meetings and Rec. soccer!

I know the cost is high, but one police man or woman at the only open door at each school is a necessity. This is necessary as long as we allow everyone to buy guns, guns, guns. And, furthermore, as a teacher, I am really angry that students and staff have to put up with this ever increasing danger(and it is) because of the 'rights' of gun owners. When I was in school no one ever heard of shootings at schools. Now look at us.

jaynedrake: You know whenvI was a kid in the 50's there was gun ownership too and this never happened. It isn't like gun ownership in the United States is something new. The problem is society in general and gun control isn't going to change or rein in angry or disturbed people. They will find other avenues of revenge that could possibly be even more dangerous and lethal.

While most adults have the individual right to have a gun, that right does not extend to large capacity semi-automatic weapons that enable any individual to become a mass murderer. I have been reading a lot about people going on about their gun rights, but at what price. This one horrible act of violence has taken away the innocence of all our children. Do we just have to accept that this is going to happen again and again, or cannot the parents of America band together and put a stop to it now? These WMDs must to be taken out of our society now.

jaynedrakeDec. 17, 12 2:18 PM I know the cost is high, but one police man or woman at the only open door at each school is a necessity. ------------That didn't work at Red Lake in 2005.

Aanen I agree with you. How parents can blindly just go along with the fantasy that it will "never happen here" is beyond me. Of course there are dangers inherent for children in this life--that's part of the deal for all of us. But being brutally murdered by a madman while at school shouldn't be one of them. It is horrifying to realize that our society only gives lip service to the idea that children are valued and protected; it really is 100% up to the parents to protect them when the "village" fails.

Although the 2nd amendment guarantees gun rights, it does not provide the right to own assault rifles. If this shooter would have had only a handgun in the school (bad enough I know), wouldn't the casualty rate have been drastically decreased? The scene less horrific for the children and adults that survived? People do not need assault weapons in their home, stick to sporting rifles and pistols. They will provide enough protection. Its time gun owners look to "necessity" vs. "desire" when demanding gun rights.

Even though statistically it is so remote that sending your child to school will result in them being shot and killed, emotionally it feels all too possible right now.