Muscatine

WHO WON?   Probably no one. If I had to pick, it would be the  woman who is done with both  of these morons.  If the guy with the gun went to  prison, he must have been the instigator?  Otherwise, if I have a gun and someone  attacks me with a hammer, what are my opitons?  Run? A "fair fight" using the gun as a hammer?  Shoot?  How much time do I have to decide?  There are a lot of unknowns in that question.

I think "Orville" makes some good points. 

Guns, smoking, obese people........Too many people trying to run things!

Here is a thought I have said before....If you take away all the guns from the non law enforcement or military or any other non person you might think up, will the "bad" people, who shouldn't own a gun still have one?

THINK ABOUT IT!!!

  I don't know why I'm replying?  I know noone will read this.  I feel the need to say this. 

  My posts were NOT, I repeat, NOT anti-gun!  They were anti- hammers, screwdrivers,  anything that could be used to kill!  My posts were wondering how all of us protect our loved ones from the crazy people of the world?  The legal system isn't on our side! 

  Try reporting a person that  is delusional, thinks it's imperative that their "boss, co-worker, school age friend, or a family member", is evil & must be taken out?  What's the answer?  "Unless you can prove a threat..."  nothing can be done. 

  Legally, nothing can be done.  This man was crazy.  There had to be a few clues?  Did his family attempt to get help for him & "not have the appropriate information" to keep this from happening?  Are we all doomed to the answer that, "no one could have seen this coming"? 

  Dead us dead,  Hammer, gun, poison...etc.  Dead is dead!  4 innocent children & their mother are gone.  It's not just a news story.  What happened & how do we stop it from happening again?  Again, I could care less about the how...pro & anti gun people back off!  WHY did this happen?  How do we protect our own?  It's just that simple.        

tlou,

There are legal methods you can have someone that is a threat to themselves or others taken in for mental evaluation.  There is a difference between a mental intervention and an arrest for "what they may do".  Our legal system exsists the way it does because if someone makes claims against another such as you indicated without merit where would we be then?  We would go around arresting people just because they are fighting and someone called the cops and made a false claim to later be proven wrong.  Unfortunately there are many more people in our world that would use that as a way to get back at people instead of using it as a real means to find help for people that have an actual mental problem.  The checks and balances that are set up in a mental evaluation confinement are there for our protection, yours and mine.  It would be nice if the ones that are a real threat had a red line across their face but since there is no real way to tell who is an actual threat until they have done something we have to rely on the methods we have.

The last two questions you ask do not have a fix all answer.  "WHY did this happen?  How do we protect our own?"  We will probably never completely know why this happened just as there is no absolute way to protect our own.