The Sandy Hook Tragedy

As I write this the details are still unfolding on the Newtown Connecticut Elementary School Shooting.

At this point all we really  know for sure is that a nut case used at least one gun to kill 27 people; 18 of them elementary school children.

We also know the gunman is dead. 

How do you respond to a tragedy like this? As a parent and grandparent you have very few options. Your first thought is for your own children and grandkids who are in their own schools today, and utter a quick prayer for their safety.

You thoughts then turn to the children and their parents. The children who are now gone and their parents are first in your prayers. Second are the children who witnessed this horrible event, and their parents. Knowing how close your child was will keep many a parent awake at night; replaying the scenes in their minds eye will keep many a child awake as well.

And already the calls for more gun control are beginning.

Yes; this nut case- who I hope is never named or identified; let him rot in anonymity- used a gun, and with that gun or guns was able to inflict an amount of damage well beyond any other weapon. Yes; he could have used a knife or a club, and the death toll would not have been as high.

But also bear in mind that one person in that school armed with a gun could have saved lives.

Guns are tools; only as good or evil as the hand that holds them. They can with the simple pull of a trigger take a life, or save one.

More details will come out, and we will find out things we would gladly have shielded ourselves from.

But hiding our eyes and ears will not change the world. Avoiding the fact that evil exists won't protect us.

Preparing to battle the evil will.