Grieving for the families

The tragedy in Connecticut is almost too awful to believe.  So many more details are coming out now, such as that the shooter had a huge amount of ammunition with him; evidently he was going to keep on shooting till he heard the police sirens coming closer.  But really, twenty innocent little children is twenty too many. 

It has also been revealed that he had Aspergers Syndrome.  This brings it home for me.  I have a friend who has a seventeen year old son who has Aspergers.  It has been very difficult for her.  A few weeks ago he was acting out in a violent way and she had to wrestle him to the floor and sit on him while another of her children called the police.  She and her husband have been very worried about him because of the kids he hangs out with, and also because another of her children told her that this boy has a gun.  The family decided to move out of this city and out of this environment, so on Christmas Eve day they are moving to another state where they have more family and he will have better influences.  I can't imagine how she feels to know that the Connecticut shooter had the same illness that her son has. 

And I find it ironic that his first victim -- his mother -- loved guns and with her children did a lot of target shooting and that she was killed by her own gun.

I get tired of hearing "guns don't kill people, people kill people".  I don't think anyone in the Sandy Hook community believes that, and I certainly don't believe it.  There is no reason on earth why anyone not in the military and not in law enforcement has to own a high powered assault weapon.  I'm not going to criticize anyone who goes hunting to put food on the table, but it was not done in my family when I was growing up, and I couldn't do it myself.