And just this past summer there was a young woman who was nearly abducted while jogging on the outskirts of UConn's campus by some psycho with guns and issues - he had what police called a "rape kit" in his truck. Then there was the Manchester Brewery workplace shooting a few years back - and Manchester is hardly the inner city. Crime happens everywhere and people who think that geography protects them from being the victims of criminals are dangerously naive. (Although I suspect for most in the state of Connecticut, that illusion was shattered after what happened to the Petit family.)

I never had much of an opinion one way or the other on the gun control issue, but all these mass shootings are making me angry enough to support full-fledged bans. It's not rational, I know, and it won't solve the underlying issues in our culture that lead to these kinds of tragedies, but I'm sick and tired of all the violence. Banning the right to bear arms, making our public areas fortresses, and curling up in fear is not the answer, but what can be done to strike a balance between freedom and safety in the effort to curtail these mass shootings? I have no answers.

in an area known here as "Happy Valley."

But we have one marine police officer. So if you rob me, enter via the dock.

He's pretty big.

The check is in the mail.

Local joke where it comes to wild fire, coverage is inversely proportional to need of 4x4