Monday, December 17, 2012

Sandy Hook--is that all we have to say?

Several days ago a troubled young man shot his way into a grade school and massacred 20 children and 6 adults who tried to protect the children. They were all no match for the high powered rifle that shot 45 rounds in a minute. It's designed to do that--to kill with a ferocity and velocity that far surpasses any need one could have or need in a civilized society. This is not wartime. This is not a third world country under a coup. This is the United States where "in guns we trust" seems to be the new motto.

So now come the requisite "special reports" by the networks, and the required visit of consolation my the President (his fourth in his presidency), the calls for prayers, the vigils, the tears, the one liners on Facebook, the finger pointing, the...on and on and on. And in the end, at least up to this point, nothing changes. We move on, we forget, we tire of the pain and tears, we want to celebrate Christmas with a clear conscience. So life goes on. And this horrific tragedy that is now our American life gets relegated to two words--Sandy Hook. It reminds me of how we refer to hurricanes. Remember Hugo, Katrina, Irene, Sandy, Camille? You may not remember the devastation they wrought if you didn't live there, so all you remember after a while is the name. Just like Columbine. We can't change the weather. We haven't learned to tame hurricanes, we can only prepare better for them. Will we learn anything from the memories of 26 people? Will we change anything? Time will tell. I'm betting I'll be writing another post in the not-too-distant-future about another mass shooting.

It's the guns, people. The guns.