[View the story "'Mass shootings are happening weeks apart'" on Storify ]'Mass shootings are happening weeks apart' Social media users debate gun control laws after mass shooting in a US school. Storified by The Stream · Fri, Dec 14 2012 11:04:01
#GunControl http://pic.twitter.com/PxrRkCbNLaura Vandervoort
#Newtown Today is exactly the day to talk SERIOUSLY about gun control and what kind of society we want to be. #ifnotnow_whenSensational Gus
This is why I never check the news, horrifying day for #newtown. What else has to happen before we care about gun control?Cassie Marie
#StopTheGunViolence #guncontrol #2ndamendment http://pic.twitter.com/y00J0qnUJake Midgley
Trying not to go on a rant about gun control in the US, but I shudder at that thought it this easily could've been one of my kids. #newtownSarah Ortiz
When the dust settles in #Newtown @BarackObama needs to show some sack and open the debate on gun control. It's time. Enough is enough.Ballark
I am absolutely horrified. Too many mass shootings this year. Can we please talk about gun control? #PrayForNewtownLaura Pedersen
#PrayForNewtown is ridiculous. Prayers won't change anything. It's time for policy change, time for gun control. Let's stop this happening.Jess Camp
Others disagreed with the sentiment, saying that mass shootings are the fault of the individuals who carry them out rather than the laws regulating gun ownership.
It's not about gun control.It's about people being in control of themselves. #Newtown Prayers for all involved.HeyJude!
We don't need gun-control, we need idiot-control. #PrayForNewtownKeilani Stoker
@kirstenpowers10 forget gun control. We need more competent security guards in schools, who are allowed to carry firearms. #PrayForNewtownJohn Lombardo
Many Twitter users discouraged the entire debate on gun control on the day of the shooting:
Guys, guys guys -- now is not the time to talk about gun control. Out of respect for the victims. #prayfornewtown #guncontrolnowmarcos sahm
STOP TALKING ABOUT GUN CONTROL AND START HONORING THOSE WHO WERE LOST. #PrayForNewtownRichelle
A point that was refuted by others:
Politicians say that in the wake of a shooting it's not the time to talk about gun control. Mass shootings are happening weeks apart...Whitney
Never has there been a time more appropriate to talk about gun control in the US. The pundits will say "now is not the time". #Newtown @NRALuke Quilty
Polling group Pew Research Center
tweeted this chart showing that shootings do not usually shift the American public's views on gun rights, according to their past surveys.
Our past surveys have shown that shootings don't shift views on #GunRights #GunControl http://pewrsr.ch/NEfciy http://pic.twitter.com/RH4In42aPew Research Center
The National Rifle Association (NRA), a prominent pro-gun lobby in the US, saw a heated debate on the following Facebook post:
We're giving away a new item every day! Enter today for a chance to win an auto emergency tool! Enter on our facebook page by clicking on the red and orange “NRA Giveaway” app below our cover photo, or here: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Ftinyurl.com%2F8ufn35h&h=_AQGB3LGA&s=1" class="">http://tinyurl.com/8ufn35h</a> Please note that not all mobile devices support facebook apps.National Rifle Association
I am unwilling to accept that the price of freedom is the blood of our children. The NRA can either lead on REASONABLE gun control or become irrelevant. 18 dead children. Enough.Jeff Stanlis
Blood on your hands. Blood all over your handsLMani S. Viney
Blood on the hands of the shooters only.Benjamin Palmer
Richard McCormack on Facebook added this to the thread:
OK. I am pro-gun. I want to be able to own a gun if I want to. I don't want the government to tell me I can't, anymore than them telling me I can't go swimming, or own a car. But now, thanks to Conn., I am thinking some sort of responsible gun control, or ownership requirements, may need to be on the table.Timeline Photos
