Monday, December 17, 2012

Suffer The Little Children

Writing a blog post about what happened in Newtown, Connecticut seems a trivial thing to do in light of the unspeakable event. But as a mother I can't "move on" until I've had my say. What a terrific irony it is, that we move on from these mass killings and accept them as the status quo, only to be shocked and saddened by the next one, then return to the business of our lives as if nothing happened. Imagine our country a century or two from now. Children in history classes will learn about the barbaric environment in which we lived in 2012. A nation where a mentally ill twenty-year-old can walk into an elementary school, toting legally purchased guns and rounds of ammunition, and shoot first-graders at point blank range. The textbooks of the future will reference the early twenty-first century's most powerful lobby, the National Rifle Association, hellbent on ensuring the rights of Termininators. Along with highlighting the once-invincible NRA and it's endless flow of money, it will mention the cowardice of politicians and the grossly misinterpreted second amendment of the Constitution. Hopefully the book will then describe the citizens' uprising that put an end to easy access to guns, a force similar to the civil rights movement, the women's movement and gay rights advocacy.  

We can talk about mental illness, the inadequacy of available services for those who need psychiatric intervention. We can debate this subject, with its entrenched opinions on either side. Facebook and Twitter have been plastered with pleas for prayers, along with posts about how "God was taken out of the schools," as if that were literally true or the reason for the slayings. The NRA has had no comment, unsurprisingly, in the wake of the massacre of twenty six and seven-year-olds, not to mention the six adults who were killed trying to protect Sandy Hook's children. This tragedy calls for a complete overhaul of how we view gun rights in this country. It triggers renewed cries for school safety. It encompasses the desensitization towards murderous rampages depicted in video games, and a culture that glorifies violence in movies and television. We have failed our nation's innocents. Because of our inaction, our apathy, our capacity to forget such atrocities within weeks or months, twenty small children were slaughtered.

If an enemy missile had hit the school America would be responding militarily. But because this act was perpetrated by yet another loner, outcast, "crazy" man, we accept it as part of the "price we pay" for our freedoms. That is unconscionable and should be roundly denounced. Simple transactions that allow one to purchase high-powered firearms is what caused the horror. Guns do kill people. Assault weapons, with the capacity to annihilate scores of victims in seconds, have no place in our so-called civilized society. We need to rise up and spearhead a serious campaign to mitigate this carnage with unflinching resolve. The President, Congress, governors and elected officials at every level should make gun control a priority. Sweeping the horrific, steady stream of shootings under the carpet is over. We must act now. As one commentator put it on a morning show today, "After this nothing can ever be the same." It is time for real change.