dEC. 15, 2012

Twitter explodes with calls to ban firearms

In the wake of the horrific Connecticut kindergarten massacre today, gun-control advocates are taking to Twitter and the media to blame firearms for the murders of 28 people, including 20 children.

“Too soon to speak out about a gun-crazy nation? No, too late,” tweeted “Bowling for Columbine” Director Michael Moore. “At least THIRTY-ONE school shootings since Columbine.”

He also wrote, “The way to honor these dead children is to demand strict gun control, free mental health care, and an end to violence as public policy.”

CBS News reported that the shooter was found with two handguns: a Glock and a Sig Sauer nine millimeter. Police reportedly located a .223 caliber rifle in his car.

Why gun-free zones are the most dangerous places in America.

CNN’s Piers Morgan tweeted:  “Another day, another horrific shooting. America’s gun culture has to change. When will America deal with its gun madness?”

Morgan added, “Any moment now, a gun nut will tweet me saying, ‘If all the kids in that school had been armed, the shooters would have been stopped…”

One person reminded Morgan that White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said, while there is a day to talk about gun-control policy, “today is not that day.”

But Morgan countered, “White House spokesman Jay Carney’s right – today’s not the day to debate gun control. YESTERDAY was the day to debate it.” He also said the tragedy led to what is “now President Obama’s biggest test – will he have the courage to stand up to the American gun lobby?”

In a statement today, President Obama told the nation, “We’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this regardless of the politics.”

But New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg demanded Obama take “immediate action.”

“The country needs him to send a bill to Congress to fix this problem,” Bloomberg said in a statement this afternoon. “Calling for ‘meaningful action’ is not enough. We need immediate action. We have heard all the rhetoric before. What we have not seen is leadership – not from the White House and not from Congress. That must end today. This is a national tragedy and it demands a national response.”

Anti-gun groups planned rallies outside the White House on Friday evening., according to U.S. News & World Report.

The attack has ignited debate on the White House website, where at least six petitions demand gun-control measures.

“Immediately address the issue of gun control through the introduction of legislation in Congress,” states one petition with more than 25,000 signatures at the time of this report.

Current TV host John Fugelsang called for tightened restrictions on gun ownership.

He tweeted: “America likes guns the way the rest of the world likes soccer. Guns don’t kill people. People in states without gun-purchase background checks & waiting periods kill people.”

“Across the Universe” actress Evan Rachel Wood tweeted: “What is it going to take? #guncontrol”

Singer-songwriter Michelle Branch tweeted: “Gun control people!!! My heart is breaking. As a parent this is my worst nightmare.”

“Parks & Recreation” star Rashida Jones concurred:  “Gun control is our only road to freedom. Freedom from the fear of senselessly losing children. I’m so saddened. WE NEED LAWS NOW.”

Actress Mia Farrow took to Twitter to declare: “gun control is no longer debatable – it’s not a ‘conversation’ – It’s a moral mandate.”

Comedian Patton Oswalt added: “Yeah, I’ll wade right the f–k into this: MORE gun control, MORE mental health services. It’s no longer a debate. Never was. #newtown”

Actor Alec Baldwin tweeted: “One storm after another…. #GunControlNow.”

David Frum, former speech writer for George W. Bush, cracked: “Shooting at CT elementary school. Obviously, we need to lower the age limit for concealed carry so toddlers can defend themselves.”

In a column posted on the Daily Beast, Frum refused to apologize for his tweet, adding: “A permissive gun regime is not the only reason that the United States suffers so many atrocities like the one in Connecticut. An inadequate mental health system is surely at least as important a part of the answer, as are half a dozen other factors arising from some of the deepest wellsprings of American culture.

“Nor can anybody promise that more rational gun laws would prevent each and every mass murder in this country. Gun killings do occur even in countries that restrict guns with maximum severity.

“But we can say that if the United States worked harder to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people, there would be many, many fewer atrocities like the one in Connecticut.”

New York Times media columnist David Carr said, “If any other plague was leaving piles of dead bodies all over the country, including children, our country would figure it out.”

Actor and director Adam Shankman reminded America about the bloodbath in Aurora, Colo. in his tweet: “This year: CO movie theater, OR mall, and now CT school. How many innocents must die before we enforce more gun control! Prayer for #newton”

The killing spree at the Connecticut elementary school came just months after July’s “Dark Knight Rises” massacre in an Aurora theater.

Following the school shooting today, a father of a victim killed in the Aurora shooting is also demanding tighter gun-control laws.

As WND reported in July, that theater was called a “gun-free” zone and reportedly had a strict policy against firearms on its premises – even for patrons with concealed handgun permits.

In reaction to the wave of calls for gun control, former presidential candidate Herman Cain tweeted: “I am disgusted by those who want to get into the politics of today’s violence. Shame on Michael Moore & MSNBC.”

In his appearance on “The O’Reilly Factor,” Geraldo Rivera declared, “I want an armed cop at every school. … We have to protect these children as if they were gold, as if they were the fissionable material in atom bombs.”

He added, “This is the worst thing ever. … It is so unconscionable, it is beyond description. ‘Evil’ doesn’t do it.”

Host Bill O’Reilly replied, “There is an evil in the universe. You can’t stop it. We just have to deal with it. … There’s nothing we can do.”