A newspaper reports daily on the values of each nation's currency against the US dollar. It lists values for gold and silver. We need something to show a nation's value relationship between human life and the 'right' to allow guns to circulate in a society.

Let's see a daily update on how many people died and how many were wounded by bullets, comparing the US with the same tallies for other nations.

I actually haven't seen his name or a picture at all and I've been watching news and looking at news websites about it, so I think they are doing a pretty good job. I have seen the victims and the heroes.

Chisue, that is a GREAT idea. The selfishness of gun-lovers in this country is astounding. And yes, I know many of you here will be offended at that sentence.

Why would you need a machine gun or assault rifle for personal use? The NRA and their supporters lump "gun rights" all in the same sentence. According to them, a BB gun is still a gun and nobody is taking their guns away. Faulty reasoning.

Disclaimer: I own a .410 single shot and a .22 automatic rifle. I have unwanted wildlife in and around my acreage. As long as they stay on the other side of the fence, they're safe. Cross over to my side and take your chances.

News isn't news anymore, it's like all the TV and print media have become tabloids, a la the National Enquirer.

Why do gun owners so often resort to talk laced with macho expressions? Owning a gun seems to give people courage to speak and act in ways they wouldn't otherwise.

The state we're currently living in, Michigan is very pro gun which does upset me. I don't believe in guns, never have and I will continue to vote no on anything concerning guns and gun rights.

I've pretty much quit watching the news because all they talk about it who got shot that day and how old the person was. The other day there was an article about how a judge in Ann Arbor ruled there could be no guns on any of the Ann Arbor school premises and some people are suing! Another judge in a county 30 miles north of us, ruled carrying an unconcealed weapon in a local elementary school as permissible! Excuse me, I DON'T CARE WHAT THE NRA SAYS! GUNS DO NOT BELONG IN THE SCHOOLS! And there is nothing any one can say to make me believe otherwise.

My husband is a Swedish citizen and says when he lived there, people never ever had or used guns and crimes with guns involved was almost unheard of.

Yes, it's important that the media stop showing the criminals in these cases. It's also important that we not permit people with mental problems such as these to own guns. I'm not anti-gun - we have in our house my husband's hunting rifles (from his youth). But as imhappy said, no one needs an assault rifle. Australia solved this problem after a mass shooting by instituting intelligent gun control. We could do that, too. We also need better mental health care. I weep for the friends and families of all the victims.

It appears the shooter had a history of mental problems. It also is coming out the mother was very protective of him from interviews with past neighbors.

He graduated from a special needs school at the age of 20. He tried to join the army and was rejected for being unfit for service. Apparently he had no job, no social life etc.

So the question is who provided him with the money to buy the 13 guns he acquired? These things aren't cheap. Mommy dearest or missing dad?

Sorry, it's not the 'mentally disturbed', it's the guns. Every nation has sick people. Only here can everyone easily get a gun, walk around with it, concealed or in the open.

The gun was invented to kill. Anyone with a gun can kill surely and swiftly -- before he or she even completes a thought. (Even a child.)

Law enforcement and the armed forces have legitimate reasons to have *controlled access* to weapons. No hunter needs an assault weapon. If you want to target shoot, lock up your guns at a gun club and compete there. Better yet, get another hobby lest *your* gun be stolen and used to commit a crime. (Guns should be registered, and you should be held accountable for your weapons.)

Yes, I'd like to see those gunshot stats in a column right next to the column of how the dollar is doing against the pound, the yen, the euro, etc. We could watch the US tally grow day by day all year against the other industrialized nations' tiny numbers.

Enough with the 'prayers'. Contact your elected officials and demand passage of meaningful gun control bills in the US. (I believe there are 200+ bills in Congress that are not being called for debate.)

Tens of thousands of Americans die each year from gunshots. chisue is right, most of these people are not victims of shooters with mental ilness. If countries that are lawless or have war or civil unrest in progress are excluded, it's fair to assume that this number exceeds the total of gunshot deaths in the rest of the world combined.

People in other countries don't see daily news reports of shooting deaths and weekly ones involving schools or other public places like Americans do. How stupid are we, really?

I'm tired of hearing politicians repeatedly say "I'm praying for the innocent victims and their families." Enough with that - do something constructive. They say the same mantra after every mass shooting. When is this country going to start dealing with the issues that allow these crimes to continue? Yes, offer up a prayer. But this country needs to start actually doing something or else it will continue to happen. The first time some well known person is involved in some mass shooting is when something might shift in this country. Hopefully it doesn't take something like that.

Apparently, Snidely, we are incredibly stupid. (I know it was a rhetorical question, but it needed saying.) People in other developed nations must just shake their heads in bewilderment when these things keep happening here. How can we, as a nation, face these devastated parents? "Gee, I'm sorry, I guess we should have done something after the last time." After the last 10 or 20 times...

We had a great one here. An ex-con (for murdering his grandmother with a hammer), who lived with his sister, killed her, then set the house on fire and killed a police officer and two firefighters as they arrived on the scene. Others were wounded seriously. One of his young, naive neighbors, who thought he was just a nice, misunderstood guy, bought the THREE guns for him, for a fee. What the what? as Liz Lemon would say. No gun control will completely prevent idiots from buying guns for others, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't have gun control. Anything has to be better than what we do now. Which is nothing.

Write or email your federal representatives in Congress and the Senate. DEMAND action. This is important enough to me to make me a One Issue Voter. I won't vote for anyone who isn't for *meaningful* gun control, including registration.

IMO, the Great American Public remains a bunch of naive rubes who can be *sold* anything -- as the NRA has proven. Aren't these gullible folks exactly the people you want on the highway or in a public place -- wearing guns around like some kind of benign clothing accessory?

"If you take away my gun, only the criminals will have guns." And when was the last time you heard about a criminal shooting up a school? a theater? a mall? And yet they are sure if you take away their automatic weapons something will happen to them personally. If any of these people who are carrying were present at any of these events, what would happen? Has there not been any instance so far where there was an armed "victim" present? Seems unbelievable to me there has not. If criminals want to shoot each other, I won't make any effort to stop them.

I am wondering why that guy could enter a college building with that much hardware on him. There must not have been any security devices of any kind. He created a very sad day and demonstrated his inhumanity.

I fear what is happening is copy cat actions. After the first mass killing, there has been several more using similar modes.

Seems like "they" have found a way to be famous for more than 15 minutes. But why kill yourself after. Why not stick around and enjoy that fame?