Gunman's mother owned weapons used in Connecticut school massacre

[OhioChick]

The weapons used in Friday’s shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., were legally purchased and registered to Nancy Lanza, the mother of the gunman, Adam Lanza, two law enforcement officials told NBC News.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/14/15913678-gunmans-mother-owned-weapons-used-in-connecticut-school-massacre?lite

[Lex]

1. Which goes to show that even guns owned by "law abiding citizens" are dangerous

because they very well may fall into the wrong hands.

[DJ13]

2. Mom, the sweet elementary school teacher, owned a semi-auto rifle?

Something aint adding up there.

[xiamiam]

4. my thoughts as well. I cant even conceive of owning a gun much less 3

and a semi automatic weapon?..an elementary school teacher with a few sons..something not quite right

[Surya Gayatri]

5. Agree...I suspect that the mother had to register the guns in her name

because her momma's-boy son (who ragged her to get the guns) was known to have mental issues and couldn't get them registered in his name.

Wanna bet?

[ProgressiveProfessor]

7. I too am curious about that

The guns known so far are those I would expect of a shooting enthusiast and they are not inexpensive. I am interested to know what all she had (in addition to what is known), how they were stored, and why she bought them.

As a parent I was surprised to learn just how many of our secrets our daughters knew besides the location of the safe combo

[RomneyLies]

9. The semi-automatic rifle was not used in the shootings.

It was in his car.

He used pistols in the shootings.

[kestrel91316]

3. Nancy Lanza, I hate to have to say, was obviously NOT a responsible gun owner.

Sadly, she paid the ultimate price for being irresponsible with her toys.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

6. You have been blaming the first victim in multiple threads today without any facts

Responsible adults wait until the facts are in and even then don't dog pile the dead

[kestrel91316]

8. And I have generally been saying that IF she was the legal owner of these guns

and IF she failed to keep them safely locked up and IF her failure to secure them allowed her son to commit mass murder with them, then she bears some significant responsibility.

In that case, she is no different than a robbery accomplice who, while they may not pull the trigger, is just as guilty as the person who did if murder is the result.

If she handled her guns responsibly and safely then of course she's not accountable. But most gun owners are negligent to varying degrees, thinking that THEY are somehow magically immune to tragedy. They can be astonishingly careless.

Responsible adults don't give criminal accomplices to murder a pass.

[Cetacea]

10. Maybe she abused him and was afraid that he'd kill her some day

Oh wait, he was in some sort of psychotic la la land or however else people who haven't experienced mental illness perceive their suffering.

[slackmaster]

11. People who own firearms should keep them securely locked up.