Widgetized Section
Go to Admin » Appearance » Widgets » and move Gabfire Widget: Social into that MastheadOverlay zone
The White House: Today’s Not the Day to Talk Gun Policy After Connecticut Elementary School Shooting
After a horrific shooting at a Connecticut elementary school has killed at least 26 adults and children, the White House said today is a day to focus on the victims, not gun policy in the United States.
When he was asked about gun control and gun policy, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said, “I think it’s important on a day like today to view this as I know the president, as a father does and I as a father and others who are parents certainly do, which is to feel enormous sympathy for families that are affected and to do everything we can to support state and local law enforcement and support those who are enduring what appears to be a very tragic event. There is, I’m sure, will be, rather, a day for discussion of the usual Washington policy debates but I don’t think today is that day.”
Carney stressed that today is a day to feel enormous sympathy for the families affected, and to look at this from the perspective of a parent.
There will be a day to talk about many of the policy areas that always come into play when one of these all too often occurring shootings occurs, but for today it is important to focus on the victims and the tragedy itself. Until more information is known about the shooter, it is irresponsible to lay blame anywhere other than with the person who did this shooting.
The one thing that is perfectly clear is that our country needs to have a serious discussion about these incidents. That discussion should cover numerous policy areas including, but not limited to guns.
It is my feeling that we need to have a broader discussion about our culture. The guns were the instruments used to carry out the attack, but deeper question is why are people in our society behaving this way? Is there anything that we can do as a nation and a culture to cut down on these types of mass tragedies?
The easy answer is to blame the gun, or the shooter. The question why do these things keep happening is much more difficult to answer. Hopefully, everyone will follow the lead of the White House and not politicize this horrible loss of life today. There will be time for serious reflections and conversations in the days to come, but for now keep in mind that 18 elementary school children in Newtown, CT were put on the bus by their parents today, and they will never come home again.
Our American heart is broken, as we collectively weep over such a senseless act of ultimate evil.
Related Posts :
At least 26 people, including 18 children, were killed today when a gunman opened fire inside a Connec ...
An emotional President Obama fought back tears as talked about the 18 children who were killed today in ...
Two tragic shootings in as many days. Yesterday, there was a shooting at a mall in Oregon. The latest ...
Photo courtesy of: Shannon Hicks/The Newtown Bee The shooting in Newtown Connecticut at Sandy Hook Eleme ...
The media is at it again. Not only does it appear that they incorrectly identified the shooter's Faceboo ...
32 Responses to The White House: Today’s Not the Day to Talk Gun Policy After Connecticut Elementary School Shooting
Public Service Advertisements
Phil Perspective
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 1:52 pm
What was it that MLK, Jr. said?
marjorie reinbold
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 1:56 pm
The hell it’s not the day to begin to get the NRA lobbyists out of Washington! The blood is now on their hands more than ever before! The children of our future have been taken away from us because of this organizations lack of responsibility and ignorance towards the 2nd Amendment which was written when they shot black powder muskets not glocks and uzi’s ! DO SOMETHING NOW !!!!!
littlemike
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 8:11 pm
And the First Amendment was written when they had quill pens and parchment, and a picture was either drawn or painted. Therefore, freedom of speech does not apply to telegraph, telephones, photography, movies, radio, TV, typewriters, copiers, CDs and DVDs, let alone gosh forbid computers! So let’s strictly control access to and use of email, blogs, online forums, Youtube, Facebook, etc….just like China and North Korea. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
Laura Zlogar
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 1:58 pm
This is exactly the day to talk about guns in America. When will this country take on Wayne LaPierre and the NRA and establish rational policies on guns?
Ann
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 2:13 pm
When would be the “proper” time to discuss the steady occurrence of deadly shootings and mass murder in our country? After Aurora, the White House said the same thing: let the families grieve and the community tend to their dead. There was no discussion in the election year. So when can we sit down and try to figure this out? Our nation needs to put in place SOME kind of policy, doesn’t it? I mean, this violence is obscene!
Johnee
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 2:25 pm
I agree with Jason. For a long time now, people have had access to this kind of fire power. THAT as well as everything else needs to be apart of the discussion when the time comes.
What the hell is happening to us?
Johnee
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 2:26 pm
In other words,why is this happening to us all of a sudden…in this magnitude?
RMuse
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 2:33 pm
It appears that weeping over these tragedies is part of our culture now. One thing is certain, it is the culture. The parents’ grief is unimaginable, but every teacher in America feels 18 of their precious charges were lost. A truly sad day.
Johnee
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 2:40 pm
Agreed. Well said.
Jason Easley
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 2:39 pm
I hope some people aren’t suggesting exploiting the deaths of 18 children to make a political point. I really, really, really hope that this is not the case. Because right now, it doesn’t matter to these parents that a gun was used.
The political debate will continue to rage on, but I believe what the White House is calling for is simply sympathy for the victims and their families.
Talk about guns tomorrow, talk about the issue forever, but for this day at least I think we should respect the dead and the pain of their loved ones.
P.S.- If the president did talk about policy today, he would be eviscerated by both the left and the right for politicizing the tragedy.
Johnee
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 2:42 pm
Here. Here.
RMuse
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 2:58 pm
Truth Jason, If the President broached the subject that would be the end of it. It’s reasonable that for many people, part of coping is anger the issue is never addressed. However, it is difficult to see how anger at this tragedy can help deal with the acute sadness we’re feeling today. I’m too heart-broken to be angry. To each his/her own.
Christopher
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 4:10 pm
Darn right the President would be politicizing this tragedy if he spoke of these things today, but he would also be RIGHT to do so! We have next to no attention span on this issue so we must take every opportunity to say enough is enough. Let counselors, community leaders, and the families’ neighbors and religious leaders help them grieve. The rest of us should be demanding immediate action from our political leaders.
John Hall
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 2:45 pm
Today is not the day to talk about gun policy…just like it wasn’t the day after Aurora, or after Jevon Belcher killing his girlfriend, or after Columbine, or after any other murder or mass murder in this gun-happy country. The day is yesterday, today, or tomorrow. The day is NEVER. Vilifying anyone wanting more gun control, on the other hand, is ENDLESS.
Shiva (Moderator)
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 2:59 pm
today is the day to talk about policy. But I think if you asked the parents tomorrow will be the day. It’s time to put a stop to this. You can’t take people’s guns away, at least normal peoples. But you can make it so that if you want a gun you’re going to have to be God to get it. This is not what the Constitution meant what it said people had the right to bear arms. It meant that anyone could be called up for war at any time. That time ended a long time ago. Americans are not expected to go to war or join a militia. The NRA is going to have to be dealt with, the gun houses along the Mexican border and how many guns a person can buy in a day is going to have to be dealt with and people are going to have to understand they don’t need 1000 bullet clips.
No other country in this world runs around with their Johnson in their hands bragging about their right to bear arms. If that is all it is important to Americans that it’s true, Our education has failed and so has our religion. Religion failed a long time ago when it started talking about you’re going to hell. Education failed when it failed to educate hillbillies and abnormal people who think that a gun is the most important thing in the world. I’m sick of these people. Let them move to the Middle East where having a gun is a thing of joy and killing each other is a matter of fact.
Jason Easley
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 3:08 pm
Ok Shiva,
But is the problem, the gun or the culture? I think we can have the cultural discussion, which could lead to a change in the way we view access to guns by people who shouldn’t have them.
Shiva (Moderator)
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 3:28 pm
no it’s not the gun, just like it’s not the money. It’s the need and the greed. Which makes me say it’s the culture. I have said that education and religion have failed to the degree that people think that owning a gun is more important than life to some people. That is the culture that must change people who say no matter what we do the wrong people will always get guns and I think that is true the only way to stop that is the totally stop gun production and the import of guns in the United States. And I think we all know that’s not going to happen. As I noted we are the only country in the world that runs around thinking that the right to have a gun is more important than other rights or even other lives. the society must be educated to the point where we recognize people can have guns. They can go hunting they can protect their humble little Adobe, but the all out need for guns needs to disappear
Johnee
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 3:31 pm
Right. Why is this happening now? In this magnitude? Why didn’t it happen like this before?
Gotta go. I’ve delayed being with my kids long enough.
Johnee
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 3:21 pm
Well the Constitution did mean that the people ( not the state ) have the right to bear arms. It is in the Bill of Rights which is for people’s, once again not the state’s, rights.
However, you are correct in that it did not mean that ordinary citizens could obtain as much fire power of any kind whenever they wanted. It says “well regulated”, which is exactly what it means.
So in essence I agree with you about the excess.
Shiva (Moderator)
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 3:30 pm
our Supreme Court in which I have zero to less than zero respect, has decreed that a literal reading of the Constitution and the Second Amendment is not the one that they will go by. They know that the gun culture in the United States as well as the gun and weapon manufacturing will take precedence in all cases
littlemike
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 8:35 pm
Just so you know, Johnee, “well regulated” does not mean having lots of laws and rules and restrictions.
constitution.org/cons/wel...
The phrase “well-regulated” was in common use long before 1789, and remained so for a century thereafter. It referred to the property of something being in proper working order. Something that was well-regulated was calibrated correctly, functioning as expected. Establishing government oversight of the people’s arms was not only not the intent in using the phrase in the 2nd amendment, it was precisely to render the government powerless to do so that the founders wrote it.
www.guncite.com/gc2ndmea....
It refers to a state of preparedness and training. It is something that all citizens should at least aspire to and strive for, if not completely achieve, and we need it now more than ever.
Shiva (Moderator)
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 8:43 pm
A well regulated militia means just that.
But that does not pertain to the regulation of guns. Only to the miltia which is what the guns were supposed to be in peoples possession for
Jason Easley
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 3:04 pm
No John,
It isn’t the day to talk about it on the day of any tragedy. That’s the point. Not everything is political. I understand that some people feel differently, but I would point out that most people stop talking about the issue after an incident like this, and I would suggest that is part of the cultural problem.
Not everyone sees everything through a political prism, and taking a let’s make this political as soon as it happens approach could turn off the very people that you need in order to bring about a real change in policy, but I think it is the culture that is emboldening the policy. Until the culture is changed the policy and the violence will continue.
If the murderer had used a sword instead of a gun, the cultural questions would be the same. Until people are willing to look deeper than partisan politics on guns nothing is going to change, and the violence will continue.
1voice1vote
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 3:55 pm
Culture of violence – escalated and promoted by Fox lies
MY_CONSTITUTIONAL_RIGHTS
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 5:32 pm
Today’s events made me sick to my stomach, just as all of the past mass shootings that have taken so many innocent US citizens lives, and as a result crushed those close to these victims. Today’s events, don’t differ that much from the other evil acts carried out by obviously very troubled human beings. That is except in one very important area….these were our children. Innocence at it’s most pure. That’s what has me still upset, nauseous, anxious, racing thoughts, you name it and I’m most likely feeling similarly. I mourn for the families, I pray for their comforting by the Lord Almighty. I still can’t keep from thinking that some were probably in the process of making their wish list to Santa, teachers getting ready to send these to the local newspaper. Then, in a second, it’s over for some of these totally innocent people, others scarred forever by the moments to follow. I just shake my headand literally shed a tear. All I can do is continue to pray, and hope that maybe the next person won’t go through with such terrible thoughts and acts. This is how I truly feel about these terrible occurrences, and when they happen it hurts me deep down. I know I can’t even begin to feel the relatives pain.
With my remaining room to comment, I will have to add an additional thought, or I won’t be doing myself, and many other responsible gun owners justice. I wish I didn’t even have to make such a statement in wake of this event, but when I hear the President, whom I so desperately thought should have been relieved of his position in the past election, talk about taking action regardless of the politics involved, I must at least speak out for mine and many others opinions and rights. You Mr. President are wrong, yes you may indeed succeed in your agenda to take away some if not most of the US citizens right to bare arms, but that in no way makes right, and in fact is unconstitutional. It will be a bad day in my opinion if these rights are toyed with. I pray…
Shiva (Moderator)
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 5:42 pm
what I find really pathetic is the fact that people like you suck up the NRA and other groups saying that Obama is going to take people’s guns away. Obama has done more for gun owners than the NRA has in all the time it’s been around. Is just absolutely hilarious that people like you run around saying that Obama is going to take your guns away. You gonna have to grow up sooner or later. Now would be a good time
Not one single president has ever tried to take people’s guns away. At least in the modern era. It’s time for you to start considering where you are getting your information from. Drop your subscription to all the e-mails that come to your box saying that they need money because Obama was taking your guns
Shiva (Moderator)
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 6:08 pm
Here is a petition on Whitehouse.gov
petitions.whitehouse.gov/...
Dr. Guleria
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 7:45 pm
Since we have random and extreme gun violence so routinely, there is NEVER a “good time” to discuss ANY gun control. Tell me how any weapon other than a gun can kill this many this quickly? Guns kill indiscriminately from an impersonal distance. Other forms of murder require one to get up close enough to feel the victim’s pain. Psycho’s and criminals will always exist but why do we make it so easy for them to go on ever frequent rampages. This is NRA sanctioned terrorism!
djchefron
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 7:46 pm
I hate to say it but it will happen again and again.The guns that were used was legally bought.This country was founded on violence,built on violence and it will perish by violence.When my kids came home from school I gave them a hug and a kiss because you never know when some lunatic goes off.My heart goes out to all who have ever lost a love one,a friend and even our so call enemies children.I would like to share this song that I found today.peace
It is in the shelter of each other that the people live
www.youtube.com/watch?v=G...
M.R.M
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 7:52 pm
not only gun control, but video games also. Thay twist young minds about shooting, everyone and everything in sight, needs to be looked at!
Moongal6
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 9:50 pm
No, today is not a time to talk about gun policy, it is a time to talk about mental illness.
Guns are just part of the symptom, the illness is mental.
No one who has a normally functioning brain commits this type of crime.
I also believe this is not a case of “pure evil”. I believe evil behavior is born because of mental illness.
There are so many people with schizophrenia and many dangerous psychosis, uncontrolled rage, that are untreated or ignored. Many with families that ignore their behaviors, saying they are just a little odd.
Mental illness is a serious condition just like cancer or heart disease and we just cannot afford to ignore it any longer. The stigma of mental illness must be removed.
A Walkaway
Dec. 14th, 2012 at 11:15 pm
I don’t want to be punished because of the actions of a nutcase in another state.
I don’t want to cry over any more murdered kitties, or maybe this time my wife?
Or myself?
Don’t disarm us and leave us defenseless in the face of our enemies!
The problem, as I’ve said over and over and over and over and over again whenever I start hearing the “Ban the gun” rant (which is already starting here) is that it won’t work, it will hurt the people who are the least likely to be the problem, and never deal with the core issues themselves – which are this culture.
You make it more difficult, and guess who will be the first people disarmed? Think it will be the gun nuts? Nope, it will be minorities like us and people who don’t kowtow to the churches. In fact, that’s what they WANT… so we can’t resist when they start dictating our religion to us.
Didn’t we just have a discussion about trying to control and take away the freedom of other people? You don’t want to have freedom of choice taken away, or equal access, or any of the other things that the Republicans have tried to do… well, don’t be like them.
I was glad for what President Obama said, and I agree with you Jason.
We CAN reduce violence in this country and we need to stop trying to put band-aids on everything. We need to work on identifying the people with the mental illness that would lead to things like this, and help them. We need to curb the hostile rhetoric coming from certain groups… THEY are responsible for much of the violence we see. We need to reduce bullying in the schools – that’s a huge part of the cause in many instances (Columbine, for instance). We need to work to give people hope.
We need to work on the culture itself, and that won’t be easy but it CAN BE DONE.
We can change the core of this country – and I think the change will result in a country we ALL could truly be proud of.