Yesterday, 14 December 2012, twenty of our republic's children and seven of our adults lay down their lives while innocently pursuing their dreams. Days after a shooting spree in my former hometown of Portland, Oregon, we have yet another tragedy, made worse by the fact that it took lives so young and precious. Occurring only eleven days from our highest holiday, this event will likely darken the season's skies for their loved ones eternally.
No sense can be made of this or the other heinous crimes committed by deranged gunmen, but the overarching cause behind them is like a flare warning us that it will be repeated until guns are out of reach of those who would use them for such as these.
What possesses a group of so-called responsible adults to claim after these tragedies that guns are not responsible for them? What illogic manifests that says no to reform of our gun laws? What would happen if this crowd lost children of their own in this manner? One could safely wager that they would want to find the guilty, but less certain is that they would search the one place they might find them: The mirror.
I wish this crime on no one, not even them. Yet, I hold them at least in part responsible. It's one thing to claim that only the deranged commit these murders, but it's yet another altogether to leave the weapons used available to the killers.
I fear that failure to pursue gun law reform leaves us little hope of a future not paved with the gravestones of our children.
