I blame Adam Lanza's mother.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The point is to determine how the deaths of 20 children & others may have been prevented.

Placing blame without the facts accomplishes this, how?

[Anonymous]

Why the f*ck did this woman need ALL of these guns in her house and where the f*ck is the FATHER is all of this?

[Anonymous]

The vtech shooting was another example of parents harboring mentally Ill children. I mean the red flag should've been an asian studying english rather than math or computers at virginia tech.

Make it a crime to hide mentally ill and allow the authorities to commit them more easily.

[Anonymous]

And, in theory, as a school teacher she had access to pretty good medical insurance. If she knew the kid was mentally unstable, wtf wasn't he getting help?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The vtech shooting was another example of parents harboring mentally Ill children. I mean the red flag should've been an asian studying english rather than math or computers at virginia tech.

Make it a crime to hide mentally ill and allow the authorities to commit them more easily.

Um, racist?

[Anonymous]

Has it been determined that she knew he was mentally ill? Has it been determined that he was, in fact, diagnosed with a mental illness?

Some of these comments make it clear that you have never truly dealt with a mentally ill family member. They don't have the diagnosis scrolling across their forehead, there aren't necessarily cut and dried signs. The help some of you are so sure she could/should have accessed isn't always right there.

[Anonymous]

12:03 and 12:09 are stupid. No one is committed anymore....there's nowhere to put people other than jails. 80% of those incarcerated are suffering from mental illness...and most of them should not be locked up. If parents had access to quality mental healthcare for their kids AND had a mechanism to compel treatment for young adult children then MAYBE this could have been prevented. Yes, mom probably had good healthcare...that doesn't mean she could force her adult son to get treatment. And the standards for judges to compel treatment are very high...essentially a tragedy needs to occur before anything happens.

[Anonymous]

MSNBC is reporting that they talked to a friend of the mother and that she was indeed concerned about Adam's mental health.

And that she was not a teacher at the school but might have been a sub or a volunteer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MSNBC is reporting that they talked to a friend of the mother and that she was indeed concerned about Adam's mental health.

And that she was not a teacher at the school but might have been a sub or a volunteer.

Concerned.. but since he was an adult he would make his own decisions.

She possibly wasn't a teacher, so didn't have the benefits some are assuming she had.

FACTS -- WE DON'T HAVE THEM!

[Anonymous]

The FACT is that the mother bought all the guns used in the shooting.

[Anonymous]

Yes, this guy wasn't going to be committed.
Yes, she might not have had the best medical resources available to her or her son.
Yes, this guy could possibly have found a way to purchase his own guns (though, maybe not--unclear what kind of income he had, what with living at home, etc.)
BUT
If mother had "concerns" about his mental health there is one thing she could have done.
REMOVE the guns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shut the fuck up. If your son or daughter committed a crime should we blame you? Tragedy can strike anyone. No one is above it including you. And assigning blame before knowing all the facts reflects poorly on you.

OP here:
yes, if I had a son with a "personality disorder" (per his brother) I would not have a semi-automatic weapon in the house. Locked or unlocked. In the shed or the attic or under the floor boards or ANYWHERE. Period.

I hate guns at baseline. But to personalize it further--I suffered from horrible post partum depression. I would not have trusted MYSELF with a gun at that time. There were some very dark days. I did not need a gun at my disposal. I DID NOT NEED THAT IMMEDIATE OPTION TO ACT RASHLY AND IRREVERSIBLY.

I think my experience with depression makes me 100% more critical of the mother. It just was a MAJOR, MAJOR lapse in judgement for her. Owning multiple guns including a semi-automatic rifle in a household with a person (minor) with mental health issues? I shake my head. She has major, major culpability in this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why the f*ck did this woman need ALL of these guns in her house and where the f*ck is the FATHER is all of this?

Divorced and remarried.

The kids apparently took the divorce very hard:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/adam-lanza-is-recalled-as-a-rambunctious-kid-with-family-problems/2012/12/14/795ad0fe-4641-11e2-8e70-e1993528222d_story.html?hpid=z3

[Anonymous]

Can we dispense the condemnation of the mother absent the facts? The guns may have been stored under lock and key. How or why she came to own them remains unknown. We may never know the full set of facts. Please, the poor woman is dead. I can only imagine that she had a difficult life, with her son and his issues. I feel for the son, too. To do what he did, to go where a person goes to do what he did, it must be the most frightening place in the universe. I am stunned by the lack of compassion for all involved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:12:03 and 12:09 are stupid. No one is committed anymore....there's nowhere to put people other than jails. 80% of those incarcerated are suffering from mental illness...and most of them should not be locked up. If parents had access to quality mental healthcare for their kids AND had a mechanism to compel treatment for young adult children then MAYBE this could have been prevented. Yes, mom probably had good healthcare...that doesn't mean she could force her adult son to get treatment. And the standards for judges to compel treatment are very high...essentially a tragedy needs to occur before anything happens.

You've never been to the Washington Psyciatric Institute, have you? Of course not. Why would you go unless you were going to see someone who has been committed.