Psychological test are read in various ways, looking for thinngs that are important to those who evaluate them. I am a CJ student and have been told by more than one instructor that what is most examined from these psych. tests of potential police officers is the tendency for racism. The color of these vicitms' skin had absolutely nothing to do with their deaths, now did it? Perhaps this method needs to be reevaluated, but who is going to demand that they are? No one governs over police departments and their hiring processes--NO ONE! Scary. This is a sad, sad thing to have happened.

Janine M. Demeuse, Menasha, Wisconsin

Kelle all I have to say is that your opinion is just silly. Videogames are a safe way to let out aggression. HOw can you blame the television for someone killing people? It is on the news but how many people actually watch that anymore. Kids are watching cartoons. Everyone watches movies and likes happy stuff. Sure we are a country that seems to thrive on violence but that doesn't mean everyone here is violent. I watch t'v and play many, and i mean many violent videogames as do many of my friends and I can honestly say i have not killed anyone. I think we need to look at the school system which teaches our kids. School is not only supposed to teach us to be book smart but teach us confidence. Crandon school is not a safe place. There are gangs, many racist people, and most people here hate each other. the school system lets a lot of peer cruelty go on there. We need to look at what are children are learning and help them, because this situation did not come as a suprise to me.

Megan, Crandon, WI

The response or more accurately the lack of response to the 911 calls to police is unbeleivable. In addition why was a 19 year old kid given the position of deputy at 19? There is going to be some butt covering by the Sheriffs Department and Crandon police department for sure. Crandon is very lucky the trajedy was not worse due to the cops lack of response to over twenty 911 calls made by the family where the shooter was staying. My heartfelt sympathy goes out to all affected by this horrible trajedy.

Dave, Clintonville, WI

This is ib responsed to they still don't have gun control, cops are going to have guns when the rest of us don't, how would gun control have stopped this trajedy?

Dave, Clintonville, WI

We have free access to guns here in France but there is generally not the mentality here of killing your neighbors when you disagree. The idea of defending your rights with a gun as an individual (in the US) has been distorted out of all reasonable historical context in recent years. Society does/should come first ahead of the individual's rights to shoot somebody. It is not only lack of gun control but also the cowboy free range 'me and my gun' attitude that is the problem. But fewer guns would help for a start. People are living in the past. Kind Regards, Burton

burton, chamonix,

we want the right to own firearms because that is what this nation was founded on ...

sean, appleton, wi

I am sorry to say that it doesn't matter whether we have gun control in this country or not... People do not have the respect for human life. I am not saying it is video games or TV. Honestly, I think I would have to blame it on the video games and the TV because that is who is raising the children of today. Families don't spend time together anymore! Whether that is what caused this tragic story or not. I can't say. But to when are we going to start seeing the bigger picture!

Kelle, Fort Collins, CO

Things like this used to be a tragedy! Now they are front page news! What has this world become? When are we going to wake up and see the bigger picture?

Kelle, Fort Collins, CO

i run a trucking company in kentucky, the min age to drive a truck for most trucking companys is 23 years of age,lets thing about it back to when u were 20 i considered myself pretty responsible for a twenty yr old but to be truthful not enough to walk around carring a gun the state needs to step in in this situation the city and county goverment need to be held responsible for this and the state.for not stepping in.in kentucky the fire dept have these young guys on the dept only to drive fast to the scenes i have personnaly almost been run over twice by 19 20 yr olds on the neibhorhood vollentere fire dept ( someone has to be responsible for this i dont care what employment practices use a 20 yr old don't have the temperment for the situations he can get into this is a perfect example of this

keith, barbourville, ky

Hey Kaci, I wouldn't be pointing fingers. Mr. Kegley was only trying to help Tyler out so the whole situation could be resolved peacefully, so another one of our area's residents wouldnt have died. If you would have read the news more carefully, you would have got that concept! I would like to see how you would respnd if you were pushed and pushed until you finally broke, because that is exactly what happened to Tyler! I'm not justifying what he did, but you had no right to say that he was a disgrace. And where the HELL do you get off saying that Kegley needs a stability check if you dont even understand what was going on? Tyler had a gun, what the hell was he supposed to do? And FYI, I graduated with one of the victims and went to school with the rest of them. Its too bad that they dont have a law against ignorance, because you and Baxi would be in serious trouble!!And to you, Baxi, gun control wouldnt have done any good, as it was a police rifle used in the shooting.

Ross , Crandon, Wisconsin, United States

There's a "slight" chance that a psychological evaluation would have uncovered his instability. Those evaluations (at least in my area) depend on the score of a long written test combined with an interview. During the evaluation, there is no ridiculing (which is what he stated to his friend).
As a former police officer, I can say that you have no idea how many officers end their careers by taking what we call here a "Tension Pension". Of course, this young man was not involved in the field long enough for the job to be a cause. He obviously had some underlying issues. And let's not forget that he was a deputy at only 19 years old. Just out of high school. I don't know about the rest of you but, I would be scared to death to have 19 year old boys here carrying a gun and a badge.
The police department is ALLWAYS the first thing the media blames. Putting blame on the gun is just plain "silly". If he was determined to kill, lack of a gun wouldn't matter.
A "Kid" made a terrible decision

Don, Cincinnati, Oh

VIN, do not be so rude to Shisir!
If you have ever been to Dubai you would know how safe and secure it feels to live in this muslim country.Sheik Mohammed is a much better ruler than Bush and I would definitely choose to live in Dubai rather than USA ,having lived in both places.He has a right to free speech and you have no respect for his right to do this.

Dawn, newport, wales UK

People who are truly evil will never fail a mental stability test. It's not difficult to know what the "right" answers are on personality tests and in psychological testing, particularly if the subject is bright. Unless he had a previous record of violence, a background check would have been clear. Even if he had shown violence as a teenager, anything that would have been taken to a court level would have been sealed, and his adult record begun at age 18. There is no foolproof way to determine whether people are "stable" especially when they have been respectable throughout their lives. Local news said one of Peterson's friends said that when he was made a deputy, the power went to his head. Not unusual for a teenager...who is given a gun...and a badge. This is a case of a young man spurned and taunted and made to feel worthless, so he showed his power the one way he knew how. Tragic, no doubt; preventable, perhaps.

W, near Crandon, WI

We live in a country where we have the right to bear arms, but, we're putting an ideology before the welfare of the people. We have the right to bear arms, yes, but most people choose not to. It's a big responsibility to own a gun.

If the victims had guns what may have happened? Who knows? Suggesting that they would have been able to protect themselves is neither here nor there as it's completely hypothetical. We can't know what anyone would have done. And, in any case, this is an unusual situation where it was a deputy that lost control of himself. In general, do we really want young people pointing guns at police officers?

Theresa H., New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A.

Imagine if one of the victims had been armed. Perhaps they could have saved innocent lives.... The right to own firearms is designed to offer the innocent, self defense....

Peary, Jackson, USA/MS

Who cares if it was spur of the moment? 3rd degree murder convictions aren't given to people who "at the spur of the moment" kill SIX PEOPLE and injures another. NOT TO MENTION the stupidity of the police department for hiring and ranking someone as deputy without even knowing if they are mentally stable. AND Mr. Kegley should be given a stability check because generally people don't invite killers in for tea. Peterson was a DISGRACE to every law enforcement official across the nation. Wisconsin needs to figure out how the hell Peterson was hired without a mental stability check in the first place. Due to this ignorance and stupidity, SIX TEENAGERS, only 3 years older than ME are DEAD. Schultz would have been a WONDERFUL homicide detective. He had a great future, that was RIPPED away from him. I'm sure ALL OF THE VICTIMS were GOOD, but they should have known that you SHOULD NEVER insult someone who carries a gun. I'm sorry for the losses. This incident was COMPLETELY preventable.

Kaci , Reno, NV, US

The flawed notion that only the military and police can be trusted to own firearms has quickly been quashed in this case. It is also not the first of its kind. Police officers and members of the military do commit violence with firearms, most times in domestic circumstances.

Gun control could not have changed the outcome in this case.
American gun owners own about 80-100 million firearms. The percentage of guns used in crimes is small. The percentage of this type of gun being used to commit crime is even smaller. People will do bad things regardless of the tools available.

D. Petri
Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor

d. Petri, Gardnerville, NV

Funny Baxi, what rights do you have in your country? Maybe if you had a Bill of Rights you wouldn't be saying such stupid things. I am suprised your King let you even post your opinion online.

Vin, Raleigh, NC

Mr. Baxi, gun control would not have prevented this. A police officer has access to weapons in any case, even if the ordinary residents' rights are curtailed.

Allen J. Smith, Bossier City, Louisiana, U.S.A.

Gun control would have nothing to do with stopping this incident. Surely any police officer will always have access to a firearm, unless you are foolishly saying we should take guns away from the police. It was Peterson who killed these people, not the fault of the gun he had.

Sandy, Omaha, NE

obviously gun control would not have helped in this case.

but it would be a good idea, i don't understand why a majority of American's still want the right to own firearms.

Martin, Brussels, Belgium

and they still dont want gun control!!

Shishir Baxi, Dubai, UAE