I'm just saying ... How much more blood?

A few weeks ago, a gentleman came into our offices and complained about the metal detectors, guards and updated security at the Owen County Judicial Center.
“We don’t need all that here. This is Owen County. Things like that don’t happen around here,” he said.
In light of Friday’s senseless tragedy that took the lives of 20 children at an elementary school, those comments played over and over in my head this past weekend.
I wonder if the people of Newtown, Conn. thought the same thing?
Some gun-rights supporters are saying teachers should be trained and armed, ready to spray down a would-be assassin.
Some religious leaders are saying school prayer and posting the Ten Commandments could curtail these acts of madness.
Some gun-control advocates are calling for tougher regulations on gun ownership and restrictions for who can own what kind of gun.
Some mental-health professionals are saying more money should be earmarked to help the outsiders and fringe members of our society get the help they need so they aren’t driven by their insanity to gun down innocents.
And of course, there are the calls against violent video games and blame is heaped on the media for all the in-depth coverage that some feel lift these killers to celebrity status.
But in the end, change, in whatever form it takes, must come.
If we can’t shield our babies from mass shootings in their own schools, does the “fiscal cliff,” the “1 percent,” or “gay marriage,” or any of the dozens of issues, which would be dominating the news right now, mean anything?
Let’s work together to find a few answers and not let these children die in vain.
 

John Whitlock

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