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Funny, somehow I missed that History textbook chapter about how school was cancelled for the entire length of WWII.

This is a dumb overreaction. Yeah, yeah, if we can save just one child, blah, blah, blah. The sniper has shot a dozen persons in an area with 9 million people. About the odds of being struck by lightning. If they haven't caught the sniper in a couple of weeks, how likely is it that they'll catch he/she/it in the next couple of days?

Bad precedent, and a bit of denial. Even if this is the work of a loner nut or two, sooner or later terrorists will pick up this sniper technique, since it is so effective in disrupting our lives, hurting the local economy, and tying up law enforcement. We are at war, get used to it. Cowering at home may be a very, very, very slightly safer option for the short-term, but you can't hide under the covers forever. And overreactions like shutting down the schools just make the sniper tactic more appealing to terrorists, and thus more likely.

I can respect the parental instinct to protect children. But the response must be weighed the reality and dynamics of the situation. Like it or not, we are experiencing a paradigm shift, to a war that will likely include the homefront. Prudence and caution make sense, but in adjusting how we get basic functions and duties done, not by quitting and withdrawing.

You just don't get it. Little children are at risk of being picked off by a sniper. Maybe the sniper is long gone, but the fear is real and palpable and kids are the last thing that should be used to prove a point. They aren't your soldiers.

The state won't shut down, and you overdramatize when you act like that is what is happening. Sorry we aren't double-dog daring the guy to come pick off a few little ones to prove how brave we are.

But I bet you a Richmonder gets this guy and takes him down.If I had the chance, I'd do it myself.

And overreactions like shutting down the schools just make the sniper tactic more appealing to terrorists, and thus more likely.

Well put. This sniper might not even be related to terrorists. However, you can bet that if they aren't involved this time, terrorist groups like Al Qaida are now going "Hmmmmm." If they can organize the simultaneous hijacking of four 767's and crash them into our skyscrapers and government buildings, you bet they can quickly develop and deploy some sniper teams now that they know how effective it can be. Sure, some of them will get caught, but they don't seem to be all that concerned about dying for the cause.

Some may reason that it does no harm shutting down the schools for just one day. But that is misguided thinking. The sniper will just wait an extra day if he is determined to make the school his next target. Hell, the sniper just got done waiting five days. So what are we going to do? Shut the schools down on Tuesday too? Then he'll just wait until Wednesday. And so on.

Well anyway, I hope the sniper is caught tomorrow and I look like a jackass.

If we didn't have a government full of anti-American, politicians I might agree with that, but the fact is, we have a government that has toss'ed over the old America by shipping in about 50 to 60 million strangers in on us in the last 37 years. A big chunk of that having arrived in the last ten years, and no end in sight. Now both parties are encouraging illegals to vote. What is there to stand up for I ask ya?

This isn't the America of yesteryear. Everyone looks out for number one, there is no cohesion. I think it would be a good idea for parents all over the USofA to take their kids out of school, buy nothing but food and gas, shut down the economy, and blackmail the government into doing something useful for a change, like not accepting visa's or immigrants from terrorist nations, and doing something about our borders and illegals.

But like I said, there is no cohesion anymore, it didn't take long after 9-11 to find that out. If it isn't happening to you, it isn't happening, seems to be the rule of the day. I don't blame the unarmed people in that area for shutting down.