Be it resolved that this nation begins the debate about its culture of gun violence

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Today we mourn the loss of innocents at the hands of another madman with a gun. May God welcome them into Heaven, and provide comfort to their grieving families.

Tomorrow, be it resolved that this nation begins the debate about its culture of gun violence.

The bullies of the "conservative media entertainment complex" who bully the "lamestream media" into silence with arguments that "now is not the time to discuss our culture of gun violence" should not control the debate.

The lobbyists for the merchants of death who lead the gun lobby that bully and bribe politicians into silence should not control the debate.

The twisted individuals who have a psycho-sexual fetish for guns should not control the debate.

The simpletons who make reductio ad absurdum arguments like "If someone is killed with a butter knife, we will have to regulate table cutlery" should not control the debate.

As of 1:30 p.m. ET: Twenty-six people, including 18 20* elementary school children, are dead after a gunman opened fire at the K-4th grade Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut on Friday morning. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL MASSACRE: 26 KILLED, INCLUDING 18 KIDS, IN CONNECTICUT:

The gunman, who is dead, was a 24 20-year-old from Connecticut, an official said. He was wearing all black and was carrying two 9mm handguns.

Another person who walked into the school at the same time as the gunman was being held by police and questioned, an official said.

[The Hartford Courant, citing unnamed sources, said many of the victims were in a kindergarten 1st grade classroom. NBC News reports that the gunman appeared to focus on one classroom.]

The death toll is the highest from a school shooting in U.S. history since a gunman killed 32 people at Virginia Tech in 2007.

Three people were taken to nearby Danbury Hospital, a spokeswoman told NBC Connecticut. She would not elaborate on the ages of the victims or their conditions.

NBC Connecticut reported that the entire school district was in lockdown.

At Sandy Hook, police, ATF and FBI agents were going room to room searching the school.

The motive for the shooting was unknown, and the gunman’s name was not released.

[NBC News is now reporting that the parents mother of the shooter are is dead, his father mother found dead in his her home. NBC News reports that the mother of the shooter was a teacher at the school. UPDATE: This was misreported, his mother did not work at the school, and the shooter had no connection to the school,]

Two 9mm handguns were recovered from the scene, an official told WNBC's Jonathan Dienst. The Associated Press reported one of the guns was a.223-caliber rifle. [UPDATE: It was reported on Saturday that the rifle was used to kill the children.]

Newtown is about 45 miles southwest of Hartford and 60 miles northeast of New York City.

The K-4 school has about 600 students.

* Two children later died at the hospital.