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Dropping my daughter off at school, I watched the first-graders filing into their classroom -- and once again I found myself thinking of Newtown. This tragedy is haunting me. The horror of what happened is unimaginable, yet I can't stop thinking about the parents and grandparents who got the news that morning that shattered their lives, or the teachers who died trying to protect children, knowing they would never again see their own.
As a culture we are obsessed with violence. It is sold to our teenagers as entertainment through "first person shooter" video games, creating a terrifying "training camp" for some teenagers with mental health problems. Yes, we need a greater priority on getting young people the professional mental health services they need. But how could that really be enough?
To those who own guns responsibly and safely for hunting, personal protection or sport -- thank you. Though I've never even held a gun, I'm not trying to take away your right to have one. Yet surely assault weapons and high-capacity magazines don't need to be in civilian hands.
Let's direct our anger not at each other, but at what happened, and pressure our elected officials to do what is right in each of these areas. Let's not have the parents in Newtown, Conn., look up from their grief in the coming months and find that nothing has changed.
JENNY GALLO
Mt. Lebanon
First Published January 7, 2013 12:00 am
