Grotesque ? ? Hardly

What can be done to protect families, students and everyday people from such insanity? Do any experts know workable solutions? Gun-lovers always contend that the only cure is to let others carry hidden pistols, so they can shoot back at murderers. But that would make America even more grotesque.

I'm sure that your chosen experts DON"T know any workable solutions.

We've been told for decades that criminals should be rehabilitated. That's a feel-good notion that's been failing throughout those same decades. Violent and life long offenders are routinely given a good-talking-to and let out on the streets to strike again. Sometimes it's a simple matter of crowded conditions. I suggest the present Fed administration spend some of that construction money on prisons.

"Such insanity" can be traced back to single parent homes and welfare. Those children lack proper parenting and are taught that they deserve anything they want for free, by the welfare system. Then some come from households of lazy parents that 'gave' their children what they wanted without making them work for it. Later, when they don't get it, they rebel in a violent manner.

Gun lovers do not claim that defensive weapons is the only cure at all. We would all be overjoyed if the world in which we live was actually as safe as some think it is. But being real Americans that take responsibility for ourselves, we acknowledge what the real world is like. We insist on being armed for our families protection. That responsibility is very real to us. It' not something that we run away from and put on the shoulders of another.

Self-defense is far from grotesque. It's individualism, the most important trait that allowed this country to prosper. Grotesque is running and whimpering, while mutants slaughter people.

Other advanced nations don't suffer this gun madness. While America had 11,624 gun murders in 2004, Sweden had only 37, Australia had 56, England had 73, etc.

That's right, cherry pick your statistics. The total number means nothing. Those countries have much smaller populations. Look at the violent crimes as a percentage of population and you'll find, for instance England, has more violent crime than here and it's grown every year since their strict gun control was enacted. Hell, in that country self-defense is a crime. Oh yeah, and the definition of "murder" is probably different than mine.

. . . . a mentally disturbed young man with a .45 caliber pistol entered an Illinois church and killed the pastor during his sermon. His gun jammed and he stabbed others, also slashing his own throat.

All the most draconian laws in the world wouldn't have stopped this tragedy. If I was there with my .45 there would be a good chance that fewer people would've been hurt. The pastor where I occasionally go has asked me to please carry when attending. If the above should happen, he wants the chance to surrvive.