We know who they are now. We've seen their faces. We've heard about their adventures on baseball fields, their ability to light up a room and how much they loved their teachers. Every new detail breaks another piece of our hearts; every new revelation of heroism and loss brings us to tears yet again.
After Columbine, Virginia Tech and a theater in Aurora, Colorado, we didn't think anything could shock us; could puncture our immunity to senseless violence but, of course, this has. The massacre of twenty innocent six year-olds has jolted us into a reality that is unthinkable. And it seems to be propelling a lot of people to action.
Tonight I watched Piers Morgan on CNN interviewing an idiot who maintained that weapons similar to the one who wiped out an entire first grade class are the Ferrari of guns; that they're fun. Mr. Morgan tore him apart for saying it but he never backed down. I wonder if he would have had the guts to say it to the people of Newtown. I wonder if he could have looked those parents in the eyes and told them that the solution to the gun problem in this country is more guns.
If he's right, I don't want to live here anymore. I don't want to live in a country that believes arming everyone with concealed weapons is the way to make us safer. I don't want to live in a country where the next time I cut in front of someone in the grocery line, I have to worry that some enraged shopper is going to teach me a lesson. I don't want to live in a country that thinks the possession of assault weapons designed for military and police use is a God-given right to every civilian looking to have a little "fun".
I can only hope and pray that this horrific tragedy will inspire others who feel as I do to stand up and make their voices heard. Those children and their teachers deserve nothing less.
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