As a school employee in VA, a parent-mother, grandmother & american citizen my heart cries out for the victims at Sandy Hook Elementary in CT,those innocent children, their families, community, and our nation.....♥ :'(

This is so sad, but what's even more sad is that nothing is going to come from this. Nothing. We won't get the gun control legislation we need. And it will continue. Sad.

From Center for American Progess

Between 2009 and 2011, states cumulatively cut more than $1.8 billion from their budgets for mental health services, according to a report released in 2011 by the National Alliance on Mental Illness. At least two-thirds of states significantly slashed spending for services for children and adults living with mental illness.

To be sure, a person with mental illness is not de facto a violent person. Nor are they likely to cause human carnage by embarking on a shooting rampage. But spree killers share a number of traits, and one of them is being troubled. In the aftermath of one of the most infamous incidents of spree killing—the Columbine High School rampage in 1999—the Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center examined 37 school attacks involving 41 student assailants from 1974 and 2000. They found a disturbing mix of mental illness and inaction:

• 93 percent of assailants exhibited behavior that caused a school official, parent, or law enforcement officer to be concerned before the attack.
• 81 percent of assailants let at least one person know that they were thinking of or planning an attack.
• 78 percent of the assailants “exhibited a history of suicide attempts or suicidal thoughts.”
• 66 percent of attackers were known to be real threats by at least one person; in nearly every case, the person who knew this was a peer, friend, or sibling.
• 34 percent of the assailants had a mental health evaluation prior to the attack.
• 17 percent of the assailants “had been diagnosed with mental health or behavior disorder prior to the attack.”

Failing to appropriately treat and care for mentally ill Americans, especially young adults, puts us all at risk. Federal efforts to stem the state-level cuts and ensure sufficient Medicaid funds for behavioral health treatment must be considered a basic public-safety investment. Yet the National Alliance for Mental Illness finds that, “The magnitude of these cuts in a number of states is staggering. California cut $587.4 million during this period, New York $132 million and Illinois $113.7 million.” To make matters worse the current House Republican budget for 2013 proposes to further reduce federal funding for mental health treatment.

i`m watch the death and i`m crying i want the guns to stop and this as to stop if this keep happening christmas is going to be gone the worse thing happen i`m crying a lot and this is just so sad this will stop ombma and the police are doing as they can do sandy hook is gone and this is shocking christmas news so i`m puting all my trust on ombma `police and gods trust on this and i`m so sad so please make this okay please make this okay please

While the school shooting in Conneticut is extremely tragic, I believe that officials (government) are looking at this all wrong. Guns don't kill people by themselves, people kill people with their guns. There are many citizens in this country who own guns but don't go around killing people, especially such young children. I think what needs to be looked at is the mentality of the people who own the guns. What I've heard on your show tonight from people who knew this kid said that he seemed normal but did keep to himself. How is the government going to analize the mentality of people who want to buy or own guns. Your report tonight said the guns were registered to the mother. For a 20 year old, do you lock up your guns because you think at his age he won't do something bad? I really don't think that any of us will really know or know how to predict this kind of behavior. What will new gun laws really do? Can we really expect the government to take away gun purchasing all together? If someone has the thought that they need to kill someone or do a mass massacre, they will find a way to get the gun. So let me ask again? How do you really stop this? I'd really like a good answer on this.

I watched part of the of the Dateline one hour special and was appalled that you interviewed young children and showed photos of their grief stricken and scared faces. I understand the need for new coverage, but this was irresponsible journalism. Stick to the authorities and adults. Just hours after this horrific event you had cameras and microphones in their faces. Where is common human decency. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Is a headline worth it? I realize the you may have obtained parental consent, but these families are all in shock and not making rational decisions. You should have exercised professional discretion.

Doesn't anybody get it? This type of sensationalism is one of the reasons these things happen!

No disrespect intended, but as a result of this horrific day other school shootings were except for the Amish school shootings.....please don't forget to mention. And also the events that occured in China at school today where children were stabbed. God be with them all, prayers for everyone, not only the victims and their families, but also the perpetrators.

I'd like to know the name of the haunting violin piece that was played during the photo montage of the suffering families at the end of the Dateline show about the tragedy.

NBC you are disgusting! There is an enormous mental health issue in this country. Violence has been adopted as the 'statement of the day' for today's mentally ill. The real issue at hand is a nation immune and de-sensitized by violence. This violence is glamorized by hollywood. Where is the outrage at that? Absent... of course. Absent because that would infringe on another liberal bastion like our national news media. Gun violence is disgusting- ALL violence is disgusting. Your use of this tragedy as a backdrop to your gun control agenda is appalling. Little to no mention of the same type of tragedy in China done with a knife. You can take all guns from all people, but that will not stop violence -only change the tools used to perpetrate it. Stop with the overt political gratuity!

oops.

Another Coward and no answers to why. I understand everyone wants to know why it is done and why does this keep happening but the cowards that do this are dead before questions can be answered. So please ask the questions to everyone that watches TV why it keeps happening. Why do you just kill yourself after you do it? Can you not face the reality of the truth? We as citizens need to take a stand now. This is terrorism and should not be tolerated on are soil and this time it was kids.

They are the wolves in sheep clothing that walk among us. As the saying goes" hell hath no fury like a sociopath scorned". The vast majority of the time sociopath's are simply toxic and impossible to have a relationship with. But, then you have to ponder the ones incarcerated in prisons around this country....convicted of crimes such as rape, spousal murder, etc etc. Do you think these types are simply mentaly ill too, and didn't know what they were doing or right from wrong?
As we see with some of these mass killers, sociopaths can also be very lethal when crossed and it is innocent bystanders that pay the price for their wrath and fury.

But looking at history it has only been a few decades since homos were removed from the list of nutjobs. Maybe it was just a decision made to help the homos avoid persecution for their absurd behavior. my son is autistic and I will readily say that he has a MENTAL disorder. I am certain someone else would dispute that because it could be construed as harsh sounding in todays feelgood society.