Conn. School Shooting: Twitter Quickly Turns Into Gun Control Fight

Twitter erupted in rage, sadness and shock Friday afternoon as news spread of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting tragedy in Newtown, Conn.

Country music star Colt Ford called off a National Rifle Association-sponsored event.

Apologies for the inconvenience, but the Colt Ford Tweet & Greet with @nracountry will be rescheduled.Please check back for more info.

— Colt Ford (@coltford) December 14, 2012

Actor Jared Leto was horrified.

My heart + thoughts to the victims, their families, and all affected by the #Newtown school shooting. Absolutely horrifying and tragic.

— JARED LETO (@JaredLeto) December 14, 2012

Rapper QTip was distraught.

I can't even imagine what would make someone wanna do that?It's horrible........ #newton

— QTip (@QtipTheAbstract) December 14, 2012

Actor Morgan Freeman issued a plea to his followers.

Please don't RT anything with his name in it. #Newton

— Morgan (@MorgonFreeman) December 14, 2012

Jessica Alba couldn’t believe it.

One child is confirmed dead in #Newtown shooting theatln.tc/SoSXAd - this is just awful. My heart goes out 2 all affected... So sad

— Jessica Alba (@jessicaalba) December 14, 2012

Some Twitter users stood by gun rights:

27 people are dead, and Obama wants to take away gun rights. If there had been one person with a concealed weapon, maybe not so many dead.

— Rusty Grim (@TheRealRG3) December 14, 2012

US gun lobbies spin this! Maybe if all the children were armed 18 wouldn't be dead.bit.ly/VGBFK7#secondamendment #tragedy

— Peter Plimmer (@PeterPlimmer) December 14, 2012

@wsehockey2012 maybe if the security guard had a gun the douchebag that shot the kids would be the only one dead.

— Irishfbfan518 (@Irishfbfan518) December 14, 2012

Many tweets took an aggressive tone on discussing gun control.

Remember, now is not the time to talk about gun violence. Later is too soon too. After that is too late. Then it's too soon again.

— Astin (@AstinTO) December 14, 2012

It's not too soon. It's too late.

— Mike Hayes (@michaelhayes) December 14, 2012

Others took a more direct approach to the matter:

ONE jackass tries to light his shoe & every American has to take their shoes off at airports. Mass gun violence & there's nothing we can do

— Yousef Munayyer (@YousefMunayyer) December 14, 2012

Guns should be the very most expensive and monitored item available for purchase by human beings and mental health care should be $0.00

— Bez (@Bez) December 14, 2012

Financial author and show host Dave Ramsey couldn’t believe the discussion had already made it that far.

You people that use a horrible act of evil to promote your gun control agenda should be ashamed of yourselves.

— Dave Ramsey (@DaveRamsey) December 14, 2012

And this was the last tweet from Dawn Hochsprung, the principal of the school who was confirmed dead:

Setting up for the Sandy Hook nonfiction book preview for staff... Common Core, here we come! twitter.com/DHochsprung/st…

— Dawn Hochsprung (@DHochsprung) December 13, 2012

More Coverage of Newtown, Conn. Shooting:

At least 27 Dead in Connecticut School Shooting
White House: School Shooting ' Weighs' on Obama
AP Source: 20-year-old Suspect Had Ties to School
Newtown, Conn. Shooting: Timeline of Mass Killings Since Columbine