The tragic shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., have increased the calls for gun control around the nation and in Congress, but perhaps none have been as poignant as that from 10-year-old Natalie Barden, sister of victim Daniel Barden.

Natalie's letter, written to President Barack Obama and read by Anderson Cooper on air, voiced her clear and thoughtful belief that guns did not belong in the hands of most civilians:

"My name is Natalie Barden and I wanted to tell the president that only police officers and the military should get guns. If people want to do it as a sport than they could go to a shooting range and the guns would not be able to leave there."

Natalie, a member of the school newspaper, originally had meant to hand the president the letter while he was in Newtown comforting the grieving families, but became too intimidated to give it to him. A friend of the Barden family, Lillian Bittman, spoke with Cooper, who was also in Newtown, and asked him to read it on air. He obliged.

In a recent interview, Jackie Barden, the victim's mother, described her son as an old soul who showed empathy beyond his years. His father recalled how he'd be halfway to the car (after shopping, say) before turning around and noticing that Daniel was still holding the door open for strangers.

Daniel was laid to rest on Wednesday.

May their Souls rest in peace.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/anderson-cooper-reads-sister-victim-letter-intended-obama-151325260.html

Lol, so una don tire? Una never see anytin, think say una nai advnce pass, more go still go down, since una no get bh,





anyway, am first to comment

If it was in my dear country dat a young girl wrote such heartfelt letter to our President, I doubt if it would even get to the media let alone getting to Uncle Jona.

dey no dey tell blind man rain dey fall.it will continue unlike u hear wat d kid is saying

we no appreciate God for this naija at all......imagine if everyone in Nigeria has access to guns......Proudly 9ja!

Well we pray Obama listens cos that was more than tragic.

He with GUN is majority

Mexico has one of the toughest gun control laws in the world, how has that helped them?!

What we do NOT need is gun control, what we do need is for people to be taught the value of human life.

Gun control or not guns will get to the people who want them.

brownlord: Lol, so una don tire? Una never see anytin, think say una nai advnce pass, more go still go down, since una no get bh,





anyway, am first to comment

oh. you're one of those eh?

others suffer too so it's no big deal...

i swear. smh.

claremont: Mexico has one of the toughest gun control laws in the world, how has that helped them?!

What we do NOT need is gun control, what we do need is for people to be taught the value of human life.

mexico also has one of the worst bribing problems in the western hemisphere.
and mind you 90 percent of the mexican police force are active gang members....although
in some cases its true for america...there is still a difference.

but i agree. we need not glorify violence and start teaching our kids more about empathy. you cant even see a s3x scene on tv but you can watch "the terminator" "dead presidents", "scarface" and "rambo".

[size=98pt]-_-[/size]

claremont: Mexico has one of the toughest gun control laws in the world, how has that helped them?!

What we do NOT need is gun control, what we do need is for people to be taught the value of human life.

why take mexico as an example, why not japan? why not look at countries where it has worked and ask how they made it work?

claremont: Mexico has one of the toughest gun control laws in the world, how has that helped them?!

Mexico has a lot of security problems; the shootings are mostly drug-war related and the possession of those killer weapons is illegal. You cannot compare that to the US where it is legal to carry assault rifles with loose restrictions and psychos who now believe that the law gives them a license to kill. Security in the US is good enough for people not to have to pack heat.

claremont: What we do NOT need is gun control, what we do need is for people to be taught the value of human life.

How do you teach a suicidal psycho the value of human life.

Kay-Dee:



How do you teach a suicidal psycho the value of human life.

Thank you! I was just going to ask that.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her: "How could God let something like this happen?" (regarding Hurricane Katrina). Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said: "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?" In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shall not kill, thou shall not steal, and love your neighbour as yourself. And we said OK. Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said okay. Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves. Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'

Kay-Dee:

How do you teach a suicidal psycho the value of human life.

A suicidal psycho can still commit a mass murder even in the absence of a gun. There have been cases of people who used toxic gases to commit mass murder. The fact of the matter is that someone who is bent on killing people will do so regardless of the presence or absence of a gun. A gun cannot kill by itself.

claremont:
A suicidal psycho can still commit a mass murder even in the absence of a gun. There have been cases of people who used toxic gases to commit mass murder. The fact of the matter is that someone who is bent on killing people will do so regardless of the presence or absence of a gun. A gun cannot kill by itself.

now i want u 2 answer these questns:how long can u run away if someone is aiming a gun to kill u,psycho or no psycho &what if its a knife he carries?and how many people hav access to other weapons such as toxic gas?how many people will 2moro pretend 2 be pscho, once angry &begin 2 open fire on innocent children?will u post the above if your children were among those murdered in dt skool?be reasonable men!

claremont:
A suicidal psycho can still commit a mass murder even in the absence of a gun. There have been cases of people who used toxic gases to commit mass murder. The fact of the matter is that someone who is bent on killing people will do so regardless of the presence or absence of a gun. A gun cannot kill by itself.

There are crazy people everywhere who may snap at anytime and commit mass murders but it's been guns guns guns and I havent heard a lot about individuals (who are not terrorists or war criminals) using toxic gases to commit mass murders in crowded public places .
What makes it even more different from gun violence is that the murder weapon (assault rifles) are bestowed upon the perpetrators by the law with very loose restrictions. I dont think there's any law that gives you the right to build chemical weapons in your backyard or carry toxic gases around in the name of self-protection.

All these mass shootings going on happened because of inadequate restrictions and to an extent would have been avoided if the law didn't give them the right to posses such deadly weapons or have easy access to them.

Are you saying the 'presence' of those guns had no bearing on what happened ?

In summary, you cannot teach a suicidal psycho the value of life (or goodluck trying to); they kill regardless of what means; putting guns in their hands and defending their right to have these guns makes it easier for them to kill.

Kay-Dee:


Are you saying the 'presence' of those guns had no bearing on what happened ?

Guy, let us examine the evidence from a scientific point of view. A simple research using Google reveals that the worst mass murders in America's history did not involve the use of firearms. The only weapon a psycho needs is the will to kill as many people as possible, the means to achieve this aim can easily be set up. The September 11 terrorists did not use guns, the Oklahoma city bomber did not use guns.

The guy involved in the Connecticut murders used a gun because a gun was available, in the absence of a gun, he would have simply used another murder weapon. So what if he used a knife and only killed 5 people?! It is still a mass murder. It is wrong to focus on gun control in a society that glorifies violence and doesn't pay enough attention to those with mental health. The difference between Japan, the UK as compared to the US is not the presence of effective gun control laws, but it is purely cultural. The US has a culture that promotes and glorifies violence.

claremont: Guy, let us examine the evidence from a scientific point of view. A simple research using Google reveals that the worst mass murders in America's history did not involve the use of firearms. The only weapon a psycho needs is the will to kill as many people as possible, the means to achieve this aim can easily be set up. The September 11 terrorists did not use guns, the Oklahoma city bomber did not use guns.

I think you've gone too far off-topic; comparing terrorists to law-abiding mental patients.

Do you know how many terror attacks are prevented because intelligence reports have led to raids on their hideouts ?

You cannot raid the house of a law-abiding citizen and even if you find a gun in his possession, there is little or nothing law enforcement can do about it; the same cannot be said of a bomb wielding terrorist.

claremont: The guy involved in the Connecticut murders used a gun because a gun was available, in the absence of a gun, he would have simply used another murder weapon. So what if he used a knife and only killed 5 people?! It is still a mass murder. It is wrong to focus on gun control in a society that glorifies violence and doesn't pay enough attention to those with mental health. The difference between Japan, the UK as compared to the US is not the presence of effective gun control laws, but it is purely cultural. The US has a culture that promotes and glorifies violence.

5 compared to 27 means a lot and how do you compare a knife to an automatic gun ? With a knife, he may have succeeded in wounding just 1 person before he is taken down but with a gun that shoots 6 bullets per second, . . . . . .

So you agree that the environment is a violent one and you also said we do not need gun control.
So the US culture glorifies violence and for that reason people should be allowed easy access to guns; that's like pouring gasoline on fire.

claremont: The guy involved in the Connecticut murders used a gun because a gun was available, in the absence of a gun, he would have simply used another murder weapon. So what if he used a knife and only killed 5 people?! It is still a mass murder. It is wrong to focus on gun control in a society that glorifies violence and doesn't pay enough attention to those with mental health. The difference between Japan, the UK as compared to the US is not the presence of effective gun control laws, but it is purely cultural. The US has a culture that promotes and glorifies violence.

Not paying attention to mental patients, good point. That's one part of gun control that is lacking in some cases because of the people (the NRA and some republicans) that want no form of control on gun ownership. Last year the Florida governor banned doctors from asking mental patients if thy have guns in their houses. How do you explain that ? That is what I mean when I say we need more control.

Kay-Dee:

So the US culture glorifies violence and for that reason people should be allowed easy access to guns, that's like pouring gasoline on fire.

It is a perfectly sound and logical theory. A part of the solution to curb misuse of guns by crazed people is for more law abiding people to have guns. If the teachers and/or principal at the Connecticut school had access to a gun on-site, they would have prevented or greatly minimized the murders. The overall holistic solution though is a value reorientation of the American society and a greater focus on those with mental health issues.

claremont:
It is a perfectly sound and logical theory. A part of the solution to curb misuse of guns by crazed people is for more law abiding people to have guns. If the teachers and/or principal at the Connecticut school had access to a gun on-site, they would have prevented or greatly minimized the murders. The overall holistic solution though is a value reorientation of the American society and a greater focus on those with mental health issues.

That theory is bizarre and ludicrous, makes no sense at all to me.

If i was sitting in that dark Aurora theater and a bunch of us all had guns, suddenly a shot goes off, no one knows what's going on. I pull out my gun, the guy behind me sees me, pulls out his gun and takes my head off. The guy beside him takes him out and the chain continues. The original killer is in front of the theater having a good time, shooting rounds and rounds; that scenario and the end result makes a lot of sense to you right?.

But if a shot rings out and a cop rushes in, no normal person will shoot at him even if he draws and points his gun at someone.

What would you rather have ?, multiple random shots by amateurs or controlled house-keeping by a professional cop ?.

I go out to the mall and people have guns on them, people at the bar all have 'legal' guns in their cars, I don't know who is who and I don't feel comfortable or safe but I see a strapped cop and I feel a lot more relaxed.

They don't need to act James Bond on the streets, the policemen are effective at crime fighting.

claremont: Mexico has one of the toughest gun control laws in the world, how has that helped them?!

What we do NOT need is gun control, what we do need is for people to be taught the value of human life.

Mexico also has one of the most corrupt and useless governments in the world. So enforcement of such gun laws are halfazz and speculative at best.

Blyss:

Mexico also has one of the most corrupt and useless governments in the world. So enforcement of such gun laws are halfazz and speculative at best.

^^^^