I'm still a little teary right now. I was so busy today at work that the first I heard of the terror wrecked upon small town America today was during a break in during my NPR's stations news update just before I settled in to listen to Fresh Air.
I felt like I had been punched in the gut. I do not personally know any of the victims, I have almost zero connection to any of the people involved in this national tragedy. But yet because of the victims age, as a parent I feel a somewhat transcendent connection.
I got home today and I had to hug my six year old just a little longer today
My thoughts and prayers go out to the families affected by today's horrific events.
Below I am going to rant, its not going to be pretty so don't click through unless you want a scathing rant on gun control in this nation.
Why is it so difficult for us to grasp this epidemic in our nation? Why oh why do we continue to let this situation devolve into a quagmire of death and destruction?
AP reports that the weapons involved were registered to the mother of the shooter, but yet I have to ask. What the hell does anyone need more than one gun with a few shots to defend themselves?
Why would ANYONE need access to what is effectively an assault rifle, designed and meant for battlefield operation in a war?
Why do we not address the mental health issues across this nation and propose systems to help people who might be troubled?
It just seems like this polarizing topic we call gun control could easily be solved if both sides, gun advocates and gun control advocates, could just sit down, set aside the rhetoric and honestly try to solve this obvious problem we have.
Twenty kids are dead today...sit on that for a moment.
Twenty.
Twenty lives who will never know a first kiss.
The first moment of getting their license.
The joy and heartbreak of a first love/crush.
That moment of independence as they move out or leave for college.
The joy of finding true and lasting love.
Seeing a child born.
So many memories that we often take for granted, twenty of them have been snuffed from this earth because we have failed as a nation to recognize an issue that we have.
.....I just cannot continue. I felt compelled to write, but yet as I write I just want to weep more. I weep for where we are, and hope that maybe we have reached a point where we can recognize where we are.
It would do nothing but a shame to lives lost today, to not do some reflection and think about where we need to go.