4/19    Kind of nice to see the level of detail in the second amendment
        discussion. Thanks to all who contributed. Makes me feel
        hopeful for democracy and the better angels of our nature.
        \_ In US the there can never be a gun control because that is
           the way the society has developed. You and me and many
           others understands the invalidity of the second amendment
           but to make it through the head of these lunatics will take
           ages or may be many such tragedies. What irks me most where
           is the PROPER BACK GROUND CHECK. If they had a process of
           checking the back ground thoroughly then any person with
           little sense would have known that this guy does not deserve
           to have even a spoon in his hand, forget a gun. There is no
           shortage of resources to dig out every bit of information of
           a gun holder and YES if a person wants to have a gun they
           cannot argue for the right to privacy. Nobody should be able
           to go to a store and buy a gun, the people who are
           interested to possess a gun should enroll themselves and a
           thorough check should be done and even then I am sure
           incidents will happen but may reduce a lot.  The general
           apathy to everything which is not your own among the people
           of this country has to change. This guy was crying out loud
           that he needed help and yet not enough was done to really
           help him. His parents were ignorant so they could not fathom
           the extend of his cruel mind but what about the rest of the
           society?  This general lack of compassion among the people
           of this country often makes us (I mean my family) wonder
           whether we should continue to live in this country or go
           back to our own land. This rush, always to do something or
           get something done all the time where nobody has time to
           look around and reach out for others is really missing.  You
           know we have a guy from certain country in our research
           lab. Believe me nobody talks to him, nobody asks him for
           lunch out, he comes and goes at his own time mostly avoiding
           the vibrant time in the lab. Last Christmas I remember him
           telling me that he is feeling very lonely because the only
           thing he would be doing during the holidays is work. I felt
           bad for him then but I did not really call him to my place
           even though I had several get togethers. This tendency of us
           to be always with the Best and seen around with the Best has
           made us forget that we should not leave anybody behind.  I
           am sorry for this long note but someway I was unburdening my self.
          \_ In US the there can never be a abolition because that is the
             way society has developed...
             But, really, OP, you were really asking for it by congratulating
             the motd crowd on civility and sense.
             \_ It is kind of tough to respond to you, especially with
                this kind of a format. But as I could understand from
                your response, you are of the opinion that we are in
                need of sophisticated weapons to defend
                ourselves. When you carry that argument too far, ther
                only way we can be safe is if we barricade our homes,
                lay mines outside, arm ourselves with rocket launchers
                and machine guns, because we can be invaded anytime.
                And I agree, that notion would not be too absurd, but
                that is exactly why we humans organized as a society
                and founded cities and eventually countries, so that
                they could get on with life and hand off their
                security to a professional military and police force
                funded by part of what they earn (as tax). If you feel
                that the government you elected cannot fulfil the duty
                assigned to them of protecting your life and property,
                it is then probably time for you to think about
                changing the government.
                If you do not empower that regulating force to control
                the possession of items which are beyond the reason of
                self-defence, then I guess it is kind of tough to
                entrust anyone with any job. I am not going to take
                the argument much further, seeing that you have a view
                that is completely orthogonal to mine and one that is
                kind of tough for me to comprehend.
                I see securing people as a job that we let someone
                else do. I pay people to write software for me, I pay
                people to protect me. Yes, I could do it all myself,
                but then I would not be able to do things that I am
                good at. I say this in the context of your argument
                that students should and would be well trained in the
                responsible use of these weapons. Contrary to what you
                might believe, military school might not be the best
                place to be.
                I refuse to fire a gun, and in your world, I would not
                survive too many days, maybe mothers are a breed that
                is undesirable in that scheme of things.