And yet, there are those who believe that guns are appropriate in all circumstances.

This is horrible. We go through so many check points when we fly, yet this man could check a bag with a gun in it?

Very upsetting to watch on TV. Yet....I can't seem to turn it off.

Point of info here ---

It is legal to check a fire arm. Since 1968, if you notify the air line carrier that you have a firearm to check in your baggage, you can do so. You have to declare it, and the carrier then gives you a special tag. That tag is placed INSIDE the bag. (The tag used to be placed on the outside of the bag, but so many bags w/these tags were stolen.)

You can also check ammunition. There's a limited amount, I believe.

The pilot is notified that it is on the cargo list, and he/she can choose whether or not the ammo can be transported.

It is NOT legal to house the firearm and ammunition in the same bag.

It's extremely upsetting.

I wonder if there will be changes made in the rules for traveling with firearms? Or if baggage areas will need to be made secure as they are in other countries? At what point do they need to begin the secure area? The parking lot?

JIm, yes another mass killing where guns are prohibited.

These are desperate times. Yes to not being able to travel by air with guns or ammunition.

Pudge, is there someone checking to see that the gun is not loaded? I doubt it.

"will this ever end?"

The realistic answer is No. The NRA, its members, and other misguided non-thinkers are effective in their political actions to insure there will always be more guns in private hands in the US than in the rest of the world combined (perhaps excluding places where there are wars and other conflicts).

You could move to Mexico. They have very strict gun laws. It is sad that the moral fiber of this country is being ripped apart, but most people want to blame an object as being the reason for it. It is terrible someone would do this awful thing. Yet, most people are not as mad at the person as they are the gun.

This has really been a bad season for all these crimes. I hope it does stop but I don't think it will till the end of this world.

He actually flew from Alaska to Florida, not from Canada.

Just this morning I read on BBC America that Japan had NINE gun deaths in a year, while the US had more than 33,000. When there is a mass killing in Japan, the weapon is a blade, not a gun. (How many can anyone kill without a gun?)

Yes, we have a larger and less homogeneous population, but this disdain for guns in Japan's civilian population dates to the late 1600's. The police are armed, but leave their weapons at the station when their shifts end. Police are expected to obtain black belt status in jujitsu.

The story described police taking custody of a drunk or disorderly person by felling him with martial arts -- then *rolling him up in a sort of futon* before taking him to the lockup.

A citizen may have 'long' guns, but if he wants a hand gun he must undergo a long licensing procedure, including scoring 95% on accuracy. He must allow his home to be checked to see that he stores a gun and its ammunition in separate, locked places. His family, friends and employer are questioned on his character. Once he is licensed, he can only buy replacement ammunition equal to the number of spent shells he turns in. A license expires in three years. Then a person has to go through the whole procedure again.

Where there are almost no hand guns, who needs one?

I heard on the news that when he told the authorities that the U.S. government was forcing him to watch ISIS videos, they delivered him to mental health hospital. What happened after that I have no idea, but I assume the hospital determined that he wasn't a threat to himself or others.....

My two children fly constantly for work and things like this always scare me to death. We have so many mentally ill people out there - remember we closed all the mental hospitals about 30 years ago as it was more "humane" - and then add in all the guns and it's a disaster waiting to happen.

My dog breed in CT had sold a Cavalier puppy to the family of that adorable little girl, Gracie, who was killed at Sandy Hook - it was a puppy from a litter my dear little Cavalier had when she was with the breeder. The grandson of a man whose family I have known my entire life in Arkansas was also killed in that same shooting. And the list goes on and on and on and people just go and buy more and more guns. I live in a state that reveres gun ownership. I grew up with an arsenal in my childhood home - my father was a Life Member of the NRA , re-loaded his own shells and loved to hunt and target shoot. I don't want a gun in my house. I'll happily leave my protection to my local police dept.

I don't know where it's safe anymore I fear for the world my four grandchildren are inheriting.

Guns are the problem. Don't the gun-toting people see the correlation between countries with no/few guns not having a problem with all these gun deaths, compared to the U.S. with its liberal gun laws? I don't see why everyone wants/needs a gun, other than its a "right."

Just my opinion....

Switzerland requires every family to have an assault rifle in every home to protect against invading countries. it also has a low crime rate. It is not the guns, but the people. Russia also has strong anti gun laws, and very little freedom. When my dad grew up during WWII everyone had guns and nearly all the kids played war, pretending to shoot the bad guy. Extremely low gun violence during that time.

MENTAL ILLNESS is the problem.

eledi -- When someone checks a gun they are required to show the clerk the firearm and that it's not loaded. They're to lock attach the tag and lock the case in the presence of the staff.

Anglophilia, in Mexico you can ask for a license to buy a gun, but if you say it is for protection it is rejected, saying that is what the local police is for. You can only legally buy a gun in one store in all of Mexico. If you do not want a gun in your house and feel like the police will get there in time to stop the outlaws, who have guns, that is fine. But others do no feel safe.

Chicago had over 700 gun deaths last year, tops in the US. They also have very strict gun laws. Almost all of the mass killings have occurred in places where guns are outlawed. Texas has many guns, especially in the rural areas. They are used for target practice, protecting livestock, hunting, and protection. Nearly every house in rural Texas has a gun of some sort. Yet the gun violence in the rural areas is much less than in the urban areas.

Oh people, how can you possibly not see the correlation? There is no way on the face of the Earth to keep guns out of the "wrong" hands. The nra did a fabulous job in convincing a large number of American's that they need to buy guns. It sickens me.

Garybeaumont - your claim that Switzerland requires every home to have a weapon is false.

wanda, we have mass shootings every month or so. If guns were less easily obtained, these wouldn't be possible. How would someone intent on killing some number of innocents do so without a gun?

Other countries have the same rate of mental illness in their populations as we have but don't have the same rate of gunshot murders. One of us is missing something obvious and it isn't me.

garybeaumont, some parts of Mexico are experiencing lawlessness and skyrocketing rates of gunshot murders in the past several years, much of it drug gang related. I read that one cause of these problems (one but not the only one) is the easy availability of guns IN THE US that can be smuggled into Mexico.

As I understand it, the airport shooter was a mental case. Why he was permitted to have a gun is beyond me.

But the guns in Mexico are still illegal. Outlawing guns does not take them away from the lawless, just the law abiding. Mexico has strict laws on guns, but the guns are still there. We are also a very free control. One reason is the government can't take over with marshal law because of those very guns owned by the people. Less we forget, in the Congo several years ago over 500,000 people were killed, mainly by machetes.

The estimates of gun ownership is between 30 an 60% in Switzerland, with military rifles being stored in homes. During WWII Germany did not invade Switzerland due to the large numbers of the households with guns.

Jemdandy, there are thousands and thousands of unstable people and they are not identified. Many who harbor frightening thoughts and intentions are very good at faking "normal". As long as guns are so easily available, these people will always have access to them. I truly thought laws would tighten up considerably after Sandyhook and am still in disbelief that it made no impact on our lovely lawmakers. How incredibly selfish.

So do we also outlaw trucks (one of the latest attacks), knives, cars. Maybe if someone had a gun at the airport that was a normal, law abiding citizen he or she could have stopped it. Or maybe the man would not have done it because of fear of being shot. Crazy people will find a way to kill, if individually by a gun or in gangs. If there is no legal guns, gangs have nothing to fear.

What a surprise to find a garybeaumont here. Someone always pops up to give false information whenever there's a thread about guns. He may actually believe what he posts, but he's a perfect (paid?) spokesperson for gun makers -- whose business is making money by selling guns. Their interest in the constitution and public safety are solely self-serving.

All able Swiss are expected to do national service as young people and be ready when called upon. At present, arms are not kept at home, but locked up in arsenals. The reasons Germany didn't invade Switzerland are many, unrelated to the Swiss national guard.

It is impossible to know which person is sane at the time he can very easily obtain a a gun license. It's impossible to know if he will remain sane for the duration of the license. It is impossible to know which person will use the gun at hand -- his or someone else's -- in a moment of anger or depression. Guns are designed to kill or maim easily, in an instant. Trucks, cars, knives, etc. are not designed to kill others.

Within a concentrated inner city area of Chicago gun deaths are overwhelmingly gang-related. This is where the astounding gun fatality totals occur. Drug cartels are killing one another for 'business' reasons. Close it down, it will resurface elsewhere -- as long as people demand drugs and as long as drugs are the only way young men in the ghetto know how to make a living.

However, the 33,000 gun deaths in the US are not all crime-related. Many are accidental or suicides or fit-of-anger related. The *death totals* also do not reflect how many people are shot, but do not die. We don't know those numbers because the NRA bought off enough members of Congress to prohibit collection of these statistics. (You can still just go ask your local hospital's emergency department for their gun-related intake. You might also ask at nursing homes where people will live for years at government expense due to gun-related injuries.)

There is always a paid NRA spokesman lurking in the wings ready to give false gun statistics.

I will admit that I was told that by a coworker that they were required to have a gun, But since you said at present they are not kept at home, at one time they were. I did look up wikipedia and they said the military guns were stored at home. And that the gun laws were changing due to the European Union requirements. They do have the most liberal laws with gun ownership, again according to wikipedia. They have not had the mass killings like France and other places have had.

About false information, Obama did a good job of giving out false informationt when he stated the places with the easier gun laws had the higher gun crime rates. And no, I do not sell firearms, and only have one target air rifle for my son. He is in 4H shooting sports. And I do not belong to NRA, And no, I am not paid by any gun interest. I just believe people have a right to protect themselves since the police cannot be at all places at all times.

Also, the gun related deaths by gangs are almost all obtained illegally. Most gang leaders do not have a right to carry license. Outlawing guns will not take away the guns already owned by outlaws, only take them away from legal gun owners.

And cars and drugs are used to commit suicides. Do you really think that one day our police officers will go out without a gun and enforce the laws like in Great Britain.

Chicago gangs buy their guns from straw buyers who purchase them easily just across the border in Indiana -- from dealers, and at gun shows, which are unregulated.

ONE of the civilizing factors about the EU is its refusal to tolerate guns in society. It's A Good Thing.

When a whole nation has strict gun laws -- like Japan -- there is no need for a citizen to have a gun to defend against some phantom 'bad guy's' gun. More guns in society does equal more gun deaths. The stats are right there, where US gun deaths rank with nations involved in brutal civil wars and repressions.

My great-grandfather was a doctor in a mining town in Colorado during the Wild West. He rejoiced when law and order arrived. He could let his wife and daughter go into town without worrying that some yahoo would start shooting.

How do you expect the police to know *which* gun-totin' person is a danger? The gun itself invites death, whether in the licensee's hand or in the hand of the person who relieves him of it -- or in the hand of a child or depressed person who finds it.

Do you really want to debate mass killings? Have you forgotten America's mass killings of innocents? Those stand out, but it's the day-to-day gun deaths among your supposed 'good guys' that make the totals so high.

I wonder where all the anti gun law activist live. Are you in gated communities with armed guards. Do you have bars on your windows. Can you afford high dollar security services. I live in a middle class home with no bars or gates. Anyone can drive up and stop to knock on the door. Are you really saying that these crazy gang members, once they know no one has guns, will not just kick in the door and rob, kill, rape. The only defense my wife or kids would have is a cell phone to call the police. They will not need a gun, they win in numbers. How is a woman going to protect herself against some crazed people that are out there.

I have had several friends that were policemen. When asked if I should have a gun they said yes. When I asked what kind they said a pump shot gun. If someone broke in that was not high or completely crazy, when they heard the pump action they would leave in a hurry, Even if you missed they would be deaf for a while. I think it is a pipe dream to think that all the bad people will leave you alone because you may call police who will be there in a little while. Had a coworker call police at work because some crazy person was knocking on the glass door and window. They said they would be there. About 45 minutes later the man walked off enough that my coworker could leave out the back door to get to his car. This was on one of the main streets off town in the good part of town.

And for those that think I am a paid NRA activist. Just take time to read my post. My interest is in growing fruit. Ask a question about that and I can probably give an informed answer. Ask about guns and I really do not know much.

Where I grew up people use to never lock their cars or homes. Due to drugs and people need a fix they now at least lock their doors at night and when they go to town. I still find it strange that people in cities lock the door behind them when they come home. I was raised differently but someday I may have to get a gun.

Americas 2 biggest mass murders, 9/11 and Oklahoma city bombing were carried out with a fertilizer truck and box knives. No guns were used.

Yes, we live in a violent society. I would cringe to live in an area that the bad guys knew everyone but them were unarmed,