Connecticut Elementary School Shooting

[General Zod]

His idiot mother left her firearms freely accessible to her angry, autistic son. I'll be the asshole that says it, quite a bit of the blame rest on her for not keeping her firearms locked up(I'll walk back this statement if the cops think he forced the combo out of her).

Is it possible she kept the gun safe key on the same keyring as everything else and he got the keys while she was sleeping? I don't see the need for force here.

[Aaron MkII]

The only thing that would have stopped him is if he somehow couldn't get into the safe after he murdered his Mom. And that's no different then relying on luck. Even as a fan of safe storage, it wouldn't have helped.

[Lonestar]

Is it possible she kept the gun safe key on the same keyring as everything else and he got the keys while she was sleeping? I don't see the need for force here.

I don't for that very reason(well, losing the keys/getting them stolen), and my safe has a combo as well. The key is hidden and I only have it in case I kick it and the executor of the estate needs to get the safe open.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

I'm just going to post this anyway:

In 2010 the FBI estimated that, in all, there were 14,748 murders in the United States.

Link to source.

Out of these murders, 67.5% or 9,955 were firearms murders.

Here's that statistic for the breakdown

Also in 2010, accidents involving alcohol killed 10,228 people on the United States' highways:

As we can see here.

So, cars are used to commit 103% of the number of homicides, which just happen to be called vehicular homicide rather than regular homicide when you make the decision to get in a car and drive drunk, which are committed by people who make the decision to pull the trigger on a gun. So the auto analogy is actually excellent: Drink drivers use cars to kill more people each year in the US than murderers use guns to kill people in the US.

[General Mung Beans]

Thoughts on the President's speech?

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/1 ... -shooting/

To all the families, first responders, to the community of Newtown, clergy, guests, scripture tells us, “Do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly, we are being renewed day by day.

For light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all, so we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven not built by human hands.

We gather here in memory of 20 beautiful children and six remarkable adults. They lost their lives in a school that could have been any school in a quiet town full of good and decent people that could be any town in America.

Here in Newtown, I come to offer the love and prayers of a nation. I am very mindful that mere words cannot match the depths of your sorrow, nor can they heal your wounded hearts.

I can only hope it helps for you to know that you’re not alone in your grief, that our world, too, has been torn apart, that all across this land of ours, we have wept with you. We’ve pulled our children tight.

And you must know that whatever measure of comfort we can provide, we will provide. Whatever portion of sadness that we can share with you to ease this heavy load, we will gladly bear it. Newtown, you are not alone.

As these difficult days have unfolded, you’ve also inspired us with stories of strength and resolve and sacrifice. We know that when danger arrived in the halls of Sandy Hook Elementary, the school’s staff did not flinch.

They did not hesitate.

Dawn Hochsprung and Mary Sherlach, Vicki Soto, Lauren Rousseau, Rachel Davino and Anne Marie Murphy — they responded as we all hope we might respond in such terrifying circumstances, with courage and with love, giving their lives to protect the children in their care.

We know that there were other teachers who barricaded themselves inside classrooms and kept steady through it all and reassured their students by saying, “Wait for the good guys, they are coming. Show me your smile.”

And we know that good guys came, the first responders who raced to the scene helping to guide those in harm’s way to safety and comfort those in need, holding at bay their own shock and their own trauma, because they had a job to do and others needed them more.

And then there were the scenes of the schoolchildren helping one another, holding each other, dutifully following instructions in the way that young children sometimes do, one child even trying to encourage a grown-up by saying, “I know karate, so it’s OK; I’ll lead the way out.”

As a community, you’ve inspired us, Newtown. In the face of indescribable violence, in the face of unconscionable evil, you’ve looked out for each other. You’ve cared for one another. And you’ve loved one another. This is how Newtown will be remembered, and with time and God’s grace, that love will see you through.

But we as a nation, we are left with some hard questions. You know, someone once described the joy and anxiety of parenthood as the equivalent of having your heart outside of your body all the time, walking around.

With their very first cry, this most precious, vital part of ourselves, our child, is suddenly exposed to the world, to possible mishap or malice, and every parent knows there’s nothing we will not do to shield our children from harm. And yet we also know that with that child’s very first step and each step after that, they are separating from us, that we won’t — that we can’t always be there for them.

They will suffer sickness and setbacks and broken hearts and disappointments, and we learn that our most important job is to give them what they need to become self-reliant and capable and resilient, ready to face the world without fear. And we know we can’t do this by ourselves.

It comes as a shock at a certain point where you realize no matter how much you love these kids, you can’t do it by yourself, that this job of keeping our children safe and teaching them well is something we can only do together, with the help of friends and neighbors, the help of a community and the help of a nation.

And in that way we come to realize that we bear responsibility for every child, because we’re counting on everybody else to help look after ours, that we’re all parents, that they are all our children.

This is our first task, caring for our children. It’s our first job. If we don’t get that right, we don’t get anything right. That’s how, as a society, we will be judged.

And by that measure, can we truly say, as a nation, that we’re meeting our obligations?

Can we honestly say that we’re doing enough to keep our children, all of them, safe from harm?

Can we claim, as a nation, that we’re all together there, letting them know they are loved and teaching them to love in return?

Can we say that we’re truly doing enough to give all the children of this country the chance they deserve to live out their lives in happiness and with purpose?

I’ve been reflecting on this the last few days, and if we’re honest with ourselves, the answer’s no. We’re not doing enough. And we will have to change.

Since I’ve been president, this is the fourth time we have come together to comfort a grieving community torn apart by mass shootings, fourth time we’ve hugged survivors, the fourth time we’ve consoled the families of victims.

And in between, there have been an endless series of deadly shootings across the country, almost daily reports of victims, many of them children, in small towns and in big cities all across America, victims whose — much of the time their only fault was being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

We can’t tolerate this anymore. These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change.

We will be told that the causes of such violence are complex, and that is true. No single law, no set of laws can eliminate evil from the world or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society, but that can’t be an excuse for inaction. Surely we can do better than this.

If there’s even one step we can take to save another child or another parent or another town from the grief that’s visited Tucson and Aurora and Oak Creek and Newtown and communities from Columbine to Blacksburg before that, then surely we have an obligation to try.

In the coming weeks, I’ll use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens, from law enforcement, to mental health professionals, to parents and educators, in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this, because what choice do we have? We can’t accept events like this as routine.

Are we really prepared to say that we’re powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard?

Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom?

You know, all the world’s religions, so many of them represented here today, start with a simple question.

Why are we here? What gives our life meaning? What gives our acts purpose?

We know our time on this Earth is fleeting. We know that we will each have our share of pleasure and pain, that even after we chase after some earthly goal, whether it’s wealth or power or fame or just simple comfort, we will, in some fashion, fall short of what we had hoped. We know that, no matter how good our intentions, we’ll all stumble sometimes in some way.

We’ll make mistakes, we’ll experience hardships and even when we’re trying to do the right thing, we know that much of our time will be spent groping through the darkness, so often unable to discern God’s heavenly plans.

There’s only one thing we can be sure of, and that is the love that we have for our children, for our families, for each other. The warmth of a small child’s embrace, that is true.

The memories we have of them, the joy that they bring, the wonder we see through their eyes, that fierce and boundless love we feel for them, a love that takes us out of ourselves and binds us to something larger, we know that’s what matters.

We know we’re always doing right when we’re taking care of them, when we’re teaching them well, when we’re showing acts of kindness. We don’t go wrong when we do that.

That’s what we can be sure of, and that’s what you, the people of Newtown, have reminded us. That’s how you’ve inspired us. You remind us what matters. And that’s what should drive us forward in everything we do for as long as God sees fit to keep us on this Earth.

“Let the little children come to me,” Jesus said, “and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

Charlotte, Daniel, Olivia, Josephine, Ana, Dylan, Madeleine, Catherine, Chase, Jesse, James, Grace, Emilie, Jack, Noah, Caroline, Jessica, Benjamin, Avielle, Allison, God has called them all home.

For those of us who remain, let us find the strength to carry on and make our country worthy of their memory. May God bless and keep those we’ve lost in his heavenly place. May he grace those we still have with his holy comfort, and may he bless and watch over this community and the United States of America.

I found the speech very moving and also am glad to see the President intends to address mental health issues.

[Block]

I'm just going to post this anyway:

In 2010 the FBI estimated that, in all, there were 14,748 murders in the United States.

Link to source.

Out of these murders, 67.5% or 9,955 were firearms murders.

Here's that statistic for the breakdown

Also in 2010, accidents involving alcohol killed 10,228 people on the United States' highways:

As we can see here.

So, cars are used to commit 103% of the number of homicides, which just happen to be called vehicular homicide rather than regular homicide when you make the decision to get in a car and drive drunk, which are committed by people who make the decision to pull the trigger on a gun. So the auto analogy is actually excellent: Drink drivers use cars to kill more people each year in the US than murderers use guns to kill people in the US.

You want to know why your statistic is meaningless? The average car gets used significantly more per day than the average gun. If you'd like to break it down further into murders per operating hour, it doesn't look nearly as even, because for every vehicular homicide committed that person also used that car for tens of thousands of hours for its intended purpose.

[SirNitram]

When I am the world ruler, I'm taking away cars AND guns. You can use knives and public transit like civilized nations.

More seriously, some info on the mother. Link

The Telegraph reports that Nancy Lanza was a “prepper” a part of the survivalist movement that we’re sure to hear more about in coming days. According to the paper:

Nancy Lanza, whose gun collection was raided by her son Adam for Friday’s massacre at Sandy Hook school, was part of the “prepper” movement, which urges readiness for social chaos by hoarding supplies and training with weapons.

“She prepared for the worst,” her sister-in-law Marsha Lanza told reporters. “Last time we visited her in person, we talked about prepping – are you ready for what could happen down the line, when the economy collapses?”

It also emerged that Mrs Lanza had spoken of her fears less than a week before the attack that she was “losing” her son. “She said it was getting worse. She was having trouble reaching him,” said a friend of Mrs Lanza who did not want to be named.

I really don't know what to think about these preppers, other than they sound a little too ready to go off the deep end while being well armed.

[Simon_Jester]

You want to know why your statistic is meaningless? The average car gets used significantly more per day than the average gun. If you'd like to break it down further into murders per operating hour, it doesn't look nearly as even, because for every vehicular homicide committed that person also used that car for tens of thousands of hours for its intended purpose.

Why does this make the statistic meaningless? Could you explain in more detail why we should only worry about the deaths per hour of operation of a machine, not about the deaths per year?

[Broomstick]

You want to know why your statistic is meaningless? The average car gets used significantly more per day than the average gun. If you'd like to break it down further into murders per operating hour, it doesn't look nearly as even, because for every vehicular homicide committed that person also used that car for tens of thousands of hours for its intended purpose.

One of the basic flawed assumptions in these discussions is the notion that every single gun is purchased with the intent of killing a human being, and that everyone who picks up a gun has murder on his mind.

In reality, people who purchase guns for, say, target shooting typically have no intention of killing anything with them and will take precautions to ensure no one is injured. Hunters purchase guns to kill, yes, but kill animals, not humans and responsible ones take precautions to ensure only their intended targets (not humans, not other animals) are hit. I had several uncles who were policemen and thus required to carry a gun, a gun that yes, was most likely going to be targeted a human being if drawn in earnest, but when they strapped it on every morning they certainly had no desire to get into a situation where using it would be one of the choices and did their best to avoid/defuse situations prior to that point.

So, for every firearm homicide there are many, many more instances of use for intended purposes were no person is hurt, much less killed.

[Aaron MkII]

When I am the world ruler, I'm taking away cars AND guns. You can use knives and public transit like civilized nations.

More seriously, some info on the mother. Link

The Telegraph reports that Nancy Lanza was a “prepper” a part of the survivalist movement that we’re sure to hear more about in coming days. According to the paper:

Nancy Lanza, whose gun collection was raided by her son Adam for Friday’s massacre at Sandy Hook school, was part of the “prepper” movement, which urges readiness for social chaos by hoarding supplies and training with weapons.

“She prepared for the worst,” her sister-in-law Marsha Lanza told reporters. “Last time we visited her in person, we talked about prepping – are you ready for what could happen down the line, when the economy collapses?”

It also emerged that Mrs Lanza had spoken of her fears less than a week before the attack that she was “losing” her son. “She said it was getting worse. She was having trouble reaching him,” said a friend of Mrs Lanza who did not want to be named.

I really don't know what to think about these preppers, other than they sound a little too ready to go off the deep end while being well armed.

*shrug* The intention is good. I'm a "prepper"...well sort of. After the ice storm in 98 I figured I should have enough to get by for a month, just in case the army doesn't show up with food and water. That's far over the 72 hours the government recommends but at least I can share with my neighbours if need be. It's also significantly different then expecting the economy and country to collapse.

[Aaron MkII]

But a quick question. How many people here actually think that anything will come of this tragedy? Anyone think that efforts to stop these in the future or even greater access to health care will be allowed to happen by the GOP?

[Broomstick]

There's a difference between being prepared and being a nutjob.

It is rational to have sufficient supplies on hand to be self-reliant 3-7 days (or, depending on circumstances, a longer period) in the event of catastrophe be that earthquake, hurricane, tornado, or what have you. It's rational to have a "survival kit" in your car, the contents of which will vary based on location. (I need blizzard gear. My friends in Arizona need desert gear. And so on.)

What is batshit insane is attempting to acquire sufficient gear for any conceivable problem whether relevant to your circumstance or not, building private bunkers (my own fantasy drawings aside - I'm clear they're fantasy and not something I'm intending to build), preparing for zombies or space aliens or warmongering faeries in a serious manner, and putting your daily life on hold in anticipation of what might (but is unlikely to) happen tomorrow or next year.

Reports are that Ms. Lanza purchased all those guns for purposes of "self defense" in one of the safest communities in the nation. While I don't think that's grounds for committal, that does strike me as a bit... odd. Sure, she was a woman living on her own but you know, I've been a woman living on my own in far more hazardous areas and have never felt a need to own a gun nor have ever faced a home invader.

That's one of the ways in which the "gun culture" is broken - the notion that guns are the only self defense solution, that they are necessary when frequently they aren't, and that they bring more safety. They aren't the only solution for protecting yourself. It's rather like the 2nd Amendment discussions being solely about guns - the 2nd Amendment is about weapons, not specifically firearms. Too many people have allowed their thinking to fall into deep ruts. This gets in the way of innovating new solutions to old problems.

[Broomstick]

But a quick question. How many people here actually think that anything will come of this tragedy? Anyone think that efforts to stop these in the future or even greater access to health care will be allowed to happen by the GOP?

Are you kidding? Boehner/GOP are still proposing $1 trillion in cuts to "entitlement" programs including things like Medicaid, which are want would provide health care, including mental health care, to the poor and working poor.

[Aaron MkII]

So the answer is "no" then.

Love the language they use, "entitlement" program. Yes, you should be entitled to access programs you paid into. But they've turned it into some kind of Orwellian doublespeak.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Hours of operation is only a relevant statistic for accidents. We're talking about intentionally risking the lives of others by:

1. Making a conscious decision to drive drunk;

2. Making a conscious decision to shoot someone.

As it turns out, with about the same number of cars and guns in circulation, people use both at almost exactly the same rates to kill. The simple fact of the matter is that cars really are just as dangerous as guns. For every time someone is gunned down, another person (and a little bit of extra change), is killed by the decision of a person to get drunk when they know they're going to drive.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

If we're going to ban guns, requiring breathalyzer interlocks be installed on every single car in the country would be the only logical position; you can't advocate one and not the other.

[Ziggy Stardust]

Hours of operation is only a relevant statistic for accidents. We're talking about intentionally risking the lives of others by:

1. Making a conscious decision to drive drunk;

2. Making a conscious decision to shoot someone.

As it turns out, with about the same number of cars and guns in circulation, people use both at almost exactly the same rates to kill. The simple fact of the matter is that cars really are just as dangerous as guns. For every time someone is gunned down, another person (and a little bit of extra change), is killed by the decision of a person to get drunk when they know they're going to drive.

Still a false comparison. When people make a decision to drive drunk, they aren't consciously making a decision to hurt someone. Nobody chugs seven beers and gets in a car specifically to run down an old lady on the sidewalk. Obviously, driving drunk IS dangerous and people should know this, but it is extremely misleading to assume that the danger is on anybody's mind when they do this. Hell, most drunk drivers haven't even drank that much and think they are fine, or they only have to go X blocks and it will be fine. But when you make a decision to shoot someone, you ARE CONSCIOUSLY making the decision to hurt/kill them.

There is a HUGE difference between these two things. How many drunk drivers are there that don't get into accidents? How many people shoot someone without hurting or killing them? You really can't equate ignorance/stupidity and malice the way you are trying to do. Yes, cars are dangerous and there needs to be more of a societal focus in making the roads safer by cutting down on drunk driving ... but this is a HUGE red herring when talking about people picking up a gun and shooting at someone.

[White Haven]

Maybe the Mayans were right, because I find myself agreeing with Marina for once. Ziggy, you might well have had a point when the idea of combining cars and alcohol was a new thing. We're about a century too late for that now, however; anyone who drinks and drives now knows full fucking well what they're doing. The body-count racked up by drunk driving over the decades should have well and fully discredited any attempts to argue otherwise. The fact that they can delude themselves into thinking they're not taking the safety off of a deadly weapon and brandishing it about in public...well, self-delusion isn't a defense.

[Ziggy Stardust]

anyone who drinks and drives now knows full fucking well what they're doing. The body-count racked up by drunk driving over the decades should have well and fully discredited any attempts to argue otherwise.

They SHOULD know what they are doing. But, seriously, have you ever talked to anybody that drives drunk, or has driven drunk, or is considering it? Or people that have only had 1-2 beers, because a "buzz" is different than being "drunk"? I am not trying to defend drunk drivers, because it is incredibly idiotic and irresponsible and dangerous. But this is essentially like claiming that accident-prone construction workers are as amoral as serial killers because annual deaths caused by the two are roughly the same (disclaimer: I haven't actually checked those numbers, I am obviously just using this as a metaphor). There is a huge difference between stupidity and malice, and the process that goes into these two events. Just looking at the overall rate without trying to take context into account is exactly how poor public policies are adopted.

The fact that they can delude themselves into thinking they're not taking the safety off of a deadly weapon and brandishing it about in public...well, self-delusion isn't a defense.

... what? What are you talking about? I'm not even entirely sure what point you are trying to make here, unless it is that most of the people that shoot other people are deluded into thinking they aren't causing harm?

[Dr. Trainwreck]

Is there anyone here who is for complete confiscation of all guns, so the Duchess can have someone to brawl with?

Still, the best solution is a more social(ized) state. Europeans talk differently and they smell funny, but they... you know... don't shoot up public places at such frequency. Things like recognizing that somebody needs help, helping someone exorcise those little voices that tell them to kill, and generally offering people a way out of mental instability would go a long way to stop these things. Fuck 'gun culture', these shootings are a clear indicator of an entirely failed health system, and perhaps an entirely failed way of thinking in general.

[Zwinmar]

I don't drive after having even one beer and it takes about a six pack for me to feel anything. Having said that, I don't trust mos. people with a gun the reason being that they do not have the training for it, but then I was an 0311 in a line company.
That isn't to say that I expect others to automatically trust me with one. Keep this in mind: in the era of the "wild" west there is only one town that I know of, newton Kansas, that really was how its portrade in movies every where else you had to check your guns with the sherrif.

Do I believe in gun control, only to an extent. Proper control is with the individual not the gun. If some one wishes to own anything but a shotgun make them get a liscense just like the drivers liscense, of course I would say that an honorable discharge should cut through most if not all of the red tape.

[Aaron MkII]

I gotta disagree with that last bit. People say to me, " Aaron, your a Vet, you must already know this stuff!”

There are no lever actions, break opens, falling blocks or bolt actions (snipers only) in the military. The safety course covered stuff I would never have handled. Now I might be in favour of waving the check if you got out honourably. Seeing as you get a background check every few years for your clearance.

[Isolder74]

Link

Conn. gunman had hundreds of rounds of ammunition

Associated Press

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) - The gunman in the Connecticut shooting rampage was carrying an arsenal of hundreds of rounds of especially deadly ammunition – enough to kill just about every student in the school if given enough time, authorities said Sunday, raising the chilling possibility that the bloodbath could have been even worse.

Hours later, President Barack Obama told mourners at a vigil that the nation is failing to keep its children safe. He pledged to seek change in memory of the 26 staffers and schoolchildren who were killed in the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.

"What choice do we have?" Obama said. "Are we really prepared to say that we're powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard?"

The gunman, Adam Lanza, shot himself in the head just as he heard police drawing near to the classroom where he was slaughtering helpless children, but he had more ammunition at the ready in the form of multiple, high-capacity clips each capable of holding 30 bullets.

The disclosure on Sunday sent shudders throughout this picturesque New England community as grieving families sought to comfort each other during church services devoted to impossible questions like that of a 6-year-old girl who asked her mother: "The little children, are they with the angels?"

With so much grieving left to do, many of Newtown's 27,000 people wondered whether life could ever return to normal. And as the workweek was set to begin, parents weighed whether to send their own children back to school.

Gov. Dannel Malloy said the shooter decided to kill himself when he heard police closing in about 10 minutes into the attack.

"We surmise that it was during the second classroom episode that he heard responders coming and apparently at that decided to take his own life," Malloy said on ABC's "This Week."

Police said they found hundreds of unused bullets at the school, which enrolled about 450 students in kindergarten through fourth grade.

"There was a lot of ammo, a lot of clips," said state police Lt. Paul Vance. "Certainly a lot of lives were potentially saved."

The chief medical examiner has said the ammunition was a type designed to expend its energy in the victim's tissues and stay inside the body to inflict the maximum amount of damage.

The sorrowful interfaith service was stark and spare, with a stage that held only a small table covered with a black cloth, candles and the presidential podium.

The newly re-elected president said in the coming weeks, he would use "whatever power this office holds" to engage with law enforcement, mental health professionals, parents and educators in an effort to prevent more tragedies like Newtown.

He promised to lead a national effort but left unclear what it would be and how much it would address the explosive issue of gun control.

Obama closed his remarks by slowly reading the first names of each of the 26 victims.

"God has called them all home," he said. "For those of us who remain, let us find the strength to carry on and make our country worthy of their memory."

Obama conceded that none of his words would ease the sorrow. But he declared to the community of Newtown: "You are not alone."

Privately, Obama told the governor that Friday was the most difficult day of his presidency.

Newtown officials couldn't say whether Sandy Hook Elementary School would ever reopen. The school district was considering sending surviving students to a former school building in nearby Monroe. But for many parents, it was much too soon to contemplate resuming school-day routines.

"We're just now getting ready to talk to our son about who was killed," said Robert Licata, the father of a boy who was at the school during the shooting but escaped harm. "He's not even there yet."

Jim Agostine, superintendent of schools in nearby Monroe, said plans were being made for students from Sandy Hook to attend classes in his town this week.

The road ahead for Newtown was clouded with grief.

"I feel like we have to get back to normal, but I don't know if there is normal anymore," said Kim Camputo, mother of two children, ages 5 and 10, who attend a different school. "I'll definitely be dropping them off and picking them up myself for a while."

Also Sunday, a Connecticut official said the gunman's mother was found dead in her pajamas in bed, shot four times in the head with a .22-caliber rifle. The killer then went to the school with guns he took from his mother, broke a window to get inside and began blasting his way through the building.

Federal agents have concluded that Lanza visited an area shooting range, but they do not know whether he actually practiced shooting there.

Ginger Colbrun, a spokeswoman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, would not identify the range or say how recently he was there.

Agents also determined that Lanza's mother visited shooting ranges several times, but it's still not clear whether she brought her son to the range or whether he ever fired a weapon there, Colbrun said.

Investigators have offered no motive for the shooting, and police have found no letters or diaries that could shed light on it. They believe Lanza attended Sandy Hook many years ago, but they couldn't explain why he went there Friday.

A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said investigators are reviewing the contents of Lanza's computer, as well as phone and credit card records in an effort to piece together his activities leading up to the shooting. The official was not authorized to discuss the details of the case.

Newtown police Lt. George Sinko said he "would find it very difficult" for students to return to the same school where they came so close to death.

But, he added, "We want to keep these kids together. They need to support each other."

Jennifer Waters, who at 6 is the same age as many of the dead but attends another school, came to Mass at Saint Rose of Lima Roman Catholic church with lots of questions.

"The little children – are they with the angels?" she asked her mother.

Joan Waters assured her daughter that they were, then hushed the child as services continued with boxes of tissues placed in each pew and window sill.

An overflow crowd of more than 800 people packed the church where eight children will be buried this week. Lanza and his mother also attended the church. Spokesman Brian Wallace said the diocese has yet to be asked to provide funerals for either.

In his homily, the Rev. Jerald Doyle tried to answer the question of how parishioners could find joy in a holiday season with so much sorrow.

"You won't remember what I say, and it will become unimportant," he said. "But you will really hear deep down that word that will finally and ultimately bring peace and joy. That is the word by which we live. That is the word by which we hope. That is the word by which we love."

At a later Mass at St. Rose of Lima, the priest stopped midway through the service and told worshippers to leave, because someone had phoned in a threat. Police searched the church and the rectory but found nothing dangerous.

The rifle used in Friday's attack was a Bushmaster .223-caliber, a civilian version of the military's M-16 and a model commonly seen at marksmanship competitions. It's similar to the weapon used in the 2002 sniper killings in the Washington, D.C., area and in a recent shopping mall shooting in Oregon.

Versions of the AR-15 were outlawed in the United States under the 1994 assault weapons ban. That law expired in 2004, and Congress, in a nod to the political clout of the gun-rights lobby, did not renew it.

Authorities said Lanza had no criminal history, and it was not clear whether he had a job.

At least one law enforcement official has said Lanza had been diagnosed with Asperger's, a mild form of autism often characterized by social awkwardness.

People with the disorder are often highly intelligent. While they can become frustrated more easily, there is no evidence of a link between Asperger's and violent behavior, experts say.

___

Associated Press writers John Christoffersen and Michael Melia in Newtown, David Collins in Hartford and Brian Skoloff in Phoenix contributed to this report.

From the looks of this article it could have been much much worse.

[Jerry the Vampire]

I still Advocate gun control (UK guy here) but, I also would advocate some kind of breathalyser lock. Although, I would prefer that everyone would take public transport.

[Aaron MkII]

So how many rounds did he have in magazines? That's the most relevant, because once he has to start loading by hand everything will come to a screeching halt.