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The sad truth is that there is nothing that can be done by congress to stop this sadness from occurring.  I might be wrong, but I think it is ALREADY illegal to sell guns over the internet.  For examples:
>  You can't buy guns on Amazon.com.
>  gun manufacturers like Sig Sauer and Beretta will not sell guns via mail order.
>  Sports stores such as Academy and Bass Pro Shops will allow you to check inventory and in-store availability online, but you can't buy. 
>  Other sites such as budsgunshop.com will allow you to buy online, but they won't ship directly to you.  They ship to your local dealer, such that you have to go pick it up and (I presume) register it before you can take posession of it.

The point being is that there are already some controls and safeguards in place for internet sales.  Again, I don't know if that's because of laws or because of company policy.  But regardless, it's there, and these horrors still happen.

A person who wants a gun will get one regardless of what laws are on the books.  Even if you outlaw the MANUFACTURE of (say) assault weapons, bad guys will either import them or make them for themselves.  Think about what happened during prohibition.

I'm not saying we should just throw in the towel and do nothing.  I'm a proud gun owner and am in favor of SOME gun control.  It doesn't have to be all or nothing.  I think more can be done, but I think it needs to be (as Zurf said) more in the way of determining a person's fitness for ownership.  But even then, if a person is mentally unbalanced, if they want a gun, they can get one.  Heroin is illegal, but it doesn't stop people from getting it if they want it badly enough.

As a final point, keep in mind that Chicago has the toughest gun laws in the country.  It also has a very high (if not the highest) per capita crime rate in the country.  The bad guys know that the good guys are less likely to be armed.  That's not speculation, that's their testimony from jailhouses and courtrooms.

People who are intent on breaking the law will break it.  Criminals don't follow laws.  That's why they are criminals.  There are already laws against taking guns onto school property.  You can see how well those are working.

Late edit --- The most effective solution to a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.  Consider this: how different might the outcome had been if some members of the faculty or staff were trained to carry and use weapons on the job?   Just think about it.

That's for you to decide.  It's certainly a milestone worthy of acknowledgement.  If you want to deem yourself a big mouth, then be proud.

Not sure by your post if you're for or against soda machines for students.  Meaning:  You don't understand why they are allowed, or you don't understand what the big deal is.  (It's a rhetorical question.)

Regardless, I was in high school from the fall of 1980 thru the spring of 1982.  It was during that time that the school district banned soda machines and replaced them with "healthier" fruit juice machines.  I even remember the brand:  "Juice Bowl".  It wasn't even real fruit juice;  it was more like Kool-Aid.  The sediment in those cardboard (!) cans was scary.

I'll just say this:  Compare the sugar/calorie content of (real) fruit juices to sodas and you may be surprised at what you find.  Yeah, I know, vitamins and minerals, blah, blah, blah.  But I mean . . . really?

Been away for a few days.  No promises, but I will give it a shot.

What a strange thread.

Sorry I can't contribute anything meaningful to it, I just don't have a clue what it's about.  Seriously.

I'm sure she will, but I would bet it would help your cause more than you know if you enlist the help of your PhD candidate.  If you think the dynamic is right, let her kick your 13 year old's ass for a while.  Your 13 year old will probably relate to her more than she does you.

When I was 13 years old, my father was the stupidest man I had ever met.  By the time I was 21, he was pretty smart, and now that I'm almost 50, I realize he was a genius.

If it works for you, fine.  To each his own.  At least you are following through with your stated consequences.

I'll shut up on this topic.  I learned a long time ago that parenting is a very personal thing.  I would never presume to tell another person how to parent.  (As much as I would like to sometimes.)

An update (some 15 years later):  My son's cousins (whose parents often did NOT follow through) are VERY troubled young adults.  My son is quite stable, responsible and balanced.  My wife's brother has told her in the past that we are "lucky".  My answer is "No (frankly) we did our jobs as parents, whereas you didn't."

I've never actually told him that (because it would be too crass) but that's how I feel.

Is this it?  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsogaUcw28M

Let me know and I might be able to pick them out for you.

Sounds like excellent parenting to me.

I'm by no means an expert at this.  I favor corporal punishment at home and in schools, but I don't think it is necessary to beat a kid into submission.  The key is to break the will, but not the spirit.

I have found (mainly by watching what I consider to be gross errors made by other parents), that what needs to be done is set boundaries and establish cause and effect.  For example:  "if you do/don't do [this], then [this] will be the result."  That can be both positive and negative, and you really need both.  Make the kid understand that there are consequences for their actions.

Most parents try to do this, but where they screw up is that the don't follow through on the consequences side.  When this happens, kids learn to manipulate and get what they want, regardless of the cause and effect that they were told about.

As much as it can hurt, parents MUST follow though with "threats".  As I was trying to say earlier, this is especially effective if the consequences prevent older siblings from having their fun, because the older siblings' "peer pressure" can do a lot of your dirty work for you.

Glad it turned out OK for you Zurf.  Again, nice work from my vantage point.

Late Edit:  When my son was about 6 years old his cousins (my wife's brother's kids) were visiting.  The cousins started acting up (fighting) and would not settle down after repeated attempts at intervention.  I heard their mom say:  "I'm going to count to three . . ."

I immediately looked at my son and said:  "Understand this:  I don't count.  When I tell you to do something, it gets done.  Understood?"

My son and I are best friends now.  He has often thanked me for the way I raised him.  My advice to him now is:  Be a better parent than I was.  Learn from my mistakes and make your kids better than you are.  I believe if we can do that, the world will get better over time, and not worse.