Think back to last week. When you first turned on your television, or saw a story on the internet, or heard something on the radio that there had been yet another mass shooting.
Were you surprised? Probably not. It seems that recently we have been hearing far too many of these stories. And each time it happens there are calls for gun control but nothing ever happens.
And now we have Sandy Hook. And we are hearing that this time will be different. That this time there will be change. But I am skeptical.
We have been here before. A gunman shoots a lot of innocent people. And for a few days or a week, it is all over the media.
But then time passes, and other stories get more attention, and then the issue of gun control fades back into the background.
So I suspect that other stories will begin to crowd out Sandy Hook. There will be a deal on the fiscal cliff (or we will go over the cliff). President Obama will nominate a new Secretary of State. And the Republican Party so eager to change the subject will find some other fake scandal regarding the Obama Administration to talk about.
And the American people will go back to their lives. They have jobs, and families and responsibility. And Christmas is coming up.
And they will stop thinking about the victims at Sandy Hook.
And then the NRA with its army of lobbyists will quietly and behind the scenes talk to members of Congress. And then nothing will happen.
And then it will happen again.
One day you will once again turn on your television, or see on the internet, or hear on your radio that there has been another mass shooting. And hopefully you won't be unlucky enough to have this occur in your community, where your family, friends and neighbors are the victims. But the victims will be someone's family, friends and neighbors.
And once again there will be calls for change. And the story will dominate the news for a week or two. But then the issue of gun control will fade into the background. And the public will no longer be paying attention. And the NRA's army of lobbyists will quietly lobby Congress. And nothing will happen.
And then it will happen again (but you get the picture).
We need to make sure that this time that there really is change. We need to keep the issue of gun control front and center. We need to make sure that the issue of gun control does not get buried when the victims are.
We need to continue to write letters to the editors, and to call, write and e-mail our Congressmen, and to ask questions of our elected officials in town halls and other public meetings. And we need to ask that steps be taken to strengthen our gun control laws.
Yes, I know that stronger gun control laws won't prevent all future instances of this happening. There are far too many guns already out there. But if making gun control laws can prevent some of these attacks, it will be worth it.
How many times does this need to happen before we do something about it? And how many people need to have their lives needlessly cut short before there is change?