
I was going to officially launch my site today, sending emails to family, friends and colleagues, asking them to scroll through my photo and quote pairings.
When I heard about the elementary school shooting in Connecticut, where the school death toll is 20 children and 6 adults, I didn't see how I could even post. I’m sick at heart and no cleverly captured animals or women’s basketball players matter in the face of such grief.
But I reconsidered. Perhaps this is the day to talk about gun control. If you've clicked on the site to see what I've been up to, squirreled away in my office, let’s ask the questions:
When will this stop? Why do we need military weapons in civilian use? When will our legislators grow a pair big enough to take on the NRA?
The shooter went into a kindergarten class. Should the teacher have been carrying a gun to protect her/his class as some pro-gun advocates have offered? I heard a statistic today that the number of people killed by guns every year in the US is like one jumbo jet going down each week.
All day I thought about my daughters, now in their 20's, and the mornings I dropped them off at the elementary school up the street. The principal stood outside at the flagpole, greeting each student as they jumped out of cars and SUV's, carrying their backpacks. I just can't imagine how a parent whose five year old was slaughtered can go on.
So I've described the horror. The shame is what I hope all those who say 'guns don't kill people, people kill people' feel when they look into the face of their own children tonight at the dinner table.