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No, it won't. Connecticut has one of the stiffest gun control policies of all of our states. The guns that he used were purchased legally. There's not much you can do about that. They will not overturn the second amendment.

I think our legislatures realize that banning guns will only make guns like drugs - people who really want them will get them and use them illegally. Criminals will still get guns. They will be sold on the black market. They will still be around.

What we need to do is get more help for parents of troubled children. I don't know what caused this man to do this, nor do I know if he had mental illness or severe autism as some news outlets have reported. (I don't want to get in to an argument about what was wrong with the shooter, so that's why I say, I don't know what was wrong with him. I have a family member with a severe case of autism and don't want to get into a discussion about that).

I do know that he must have shown signs of anger or hostility before this. Rather than worry about guns, I would like to see our government allocate more funds to assist parents with troubled kids or require insurance companies to cover support and assistance for people who may have disturbing thoughts/expressed their want to hurt them self/someone else.

@mediagirl: I agree

I sure hope so. We need to wake up and do something not sit around idly with news every month or so of a new mass shooting.

I hope so. I grew up in a house with guns, as my dad is an avid hunter and would often target shoot, and he does have a concealed weapons permit. But guns were never left lying around. They were always locked up in the steel gun cabinet in the basement, and the ammunition was locked up in another room.

Now, my hubby is a hunter and has a couple deer rifles and a crossbow. He isn't the greatest at locking them up now, but once we have kids, they WILL be properly stored with trigger locks.

So, you could say that I am not anti-gun, but I am very against assault style weapons, high-capacity magazines, and I really hate hand guns. In my opinion, a hand gun is only for shooting a PERSON.

I know that guns in general are not going to go away, but I think there needs to be serious consequences for not properly storing your firearms. The fact that the mother of the shooter legally owned these weapons and her mentally unstable son was able to easily get his hands on them is very concerning. I still wouldn't know how to get into my dad's gun safe, and I'm a 28 year old, mentally stable person.

There also needs to be background checks. Felons and people with a history of mental illness should not be able to purchase weapons. And finally, there should be a ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines.

I live in a very pro-gun/pro-hunting area, and my state (Michigan) just passed a bill through the House to allow CCW holders with just 8 hours of additional training and 94 more rounds fired at a range to concealed carry in schools, day care centers, sports arenas, bars, places of worship, hospitals, dorms and casinos. I have read so much from people who support this, and think if the teachers had guns, this wouldn't have happened. I couldn't disagree more. Civilian teachers should be getting the kids to safety (as those at Sandy Hook did their best to do), not shooting it out with the assailant. Even with trained police and military personnel, there are friendly-fire accidents and innocent bystanders hit. Imagine a bunch of civilians trying to figure out where they should be shooting!

Anyways, that was really long and rambling, but my hope is that we do see some change out of this. I'm sorry, but keeping our children and other innocent people safe is more important than someone's "God-given right" to have an arsenal in their basement. How about a little compassion for our fellow man? This whole "it's all about me and I don't care about anyone else" rational is a lot of what's wrong in our society.

End rant...

I agree with @mediagirl. I think it will prompt a discussion about gun control, and maybe legislation to pass an assault weapons ban, but beyond that, there's not much more to do. The guns used in this case were legally purchased and unfortunately available to him.

I think the bigger, more serious and more dire discussion, should be about access to and effectiveness of mental health treatment, especially for children. Obtaining treatment for children should be less difficult, less intimidating, and less stigmatizing (for the child AND the parent). Parents should not be forced to criminalize their child in order to get "treatment."

@mediagirl: I don't think its about outlawing all guns, but stiffer rules about the sales and storage of firearms, and what guns we will allow.

Totally agree with you about how we need more help for people with mental illness. The government and insurance companies need to treat mental illnesses as they do physical illnesses.

For example, after my mom died, my anxiety got really bad and I started seeing a therapist, and it was really helping. Then our insurance changed, and now, I have to meet my deductible before my insurance will cover mental health care. At $5,000, there's no way my husband and I come close to meeting it, and I can't afford $120 a session out of pocket. It should be treated as an office visit with a co-pay, as it was on several other insurance plans I've had. I consider myself lucky that with the techniques my therapist taught me, along with regular talking with my loved ones, I'm doing much better, but there are many people who need a lot more care.

@meredithNYC: Yeah I definitely do feel safer in England than here when it comes to gun crimes

@mediagirl: I agree with what you said 100%!

@caffeinated: Exactly, the gun he had was so powerful he was able to shoot his way into the school

@meredithNYC: @Mrsbells: I'm from Canada and DH is in the process of possibly being transferred. There are a couple of options in the USA that we were looking into but after the tragedy and really the culture of mass shootings that has taken place recently I have told DH to forget it - no way, no how. We are only looking at Canadian/European options now.

DH understands and agrees but thinks I'm reacting a bit extreme - but I'm an elementary school teacher and this has really hit me hard. I was hesitant to make the move before (losing universal healthcare, maternity benefits, etc.etc) but this was kind of the straw that broke the camel's back.

I've lived in the States for several years (north carolina) and truly do enjoy the country and the people - many of my best friends are American. My heart is breaking for the families of the CT shooting and I just wish there was something I could do.

@JamieLee: I couldn't agree with you more. Canada currently requires anyone purchasing a gun to have 2 people vouch for you when you make the purchase. When watching This Week, it showed that only 0.49% of guns sold denied purchase due to background check failures. I wonder what that number would be if gun shows ran background checks on the guns they sold there. Also, there is NO evidence backing this theory that if everyone packed heat, there would be less crime/shootings/etc. I would not want to send my children to a school where all of the teachers carried handguns.

@littlebug: That's awful...you must be so frustrated!

Changing gun policy doesn't have to mean outlawing guns. There can be some sensible changes such as putting restrictions on assault rifles, banning large magazine clips (which would go far to restrict carnage in these situations if someone had to stop to reload or fumble for another gun).

I do think this situation moved the needle and I hope we have a thoughtful, sensible, realistic dialog about how to move forward... Addressing mental health, gun laws and the media. Any one in isolation won't really get to the heart of the problem.

I think guns alone aren't the problem. We need some serious mental illness policy reform and I'm afraid that unless we start there, the other changes we make won't make much of a difference. I thought this was a great read about the need for a serious nationwide discussion about mental health: http://tinyurl.com/chrrzeg

I'm personally just hoping that Obama at least tries to ban assault rifles! I'm all for people having 2nd amendment rights, but I think the TYPE of gun you are allowed to buy should be restricted.

And from my perspective, I would never ever ever ever buy a gun for any use because 1) I don't hunt and 2) I scare easily, so I would almost certainly end up shooting DH or another friend or family member thinking they were an intruder.

I hope so, but as @mediagirl first said, that wasn't the problem in this latest incident so there are other factors that need reform at the same in this country to prevent these types of events. So sad.

I also don't understand why the average Joe needs to own assault rifles.

I hope so; and I also think people who leave guns and/or ammo in areas that are accessible by others should be held legally accountable for the ramifications of those actions. You leave a gun and ammo out and available and your kid shoots and kills someone with them - you absolutely should be held partially responsible.

I also think mental health access should be better funded and more readily available; regardless of income/insurance status.

I think that for a day or so after a shooting, the focus should be on the families and what they have lost. Then I think it's only appropriate to talk about lessons learned and what might be changed and so on.

I saw some proposals that guns might be regulated like cars, where you get a license, have to demonstrate competency, etc. Someone also suggested that there be gun insurance, to cover liability for all parties... similar to how car insurance is required for vehicles. That seemed pretty reasonable to me, although I'm far from an expert on gun safety as a matter of public health!

Once the storm calms, I think we need to stop hiding in our "pro gun" or " anti-gun" corners, and work together on some basic common sense changes about how we obtain, monitor, and regulate the flow of guns in this country.

On top of this all, I believe we have an obligation now to start discussing the state of mental health care, or the lack there of.

I also think its worth looking into entertainment industry and the glorification of dysfunctional behavior and violence amongst our most impressionable young minds..