Every Monday I get to hang out with a first grade class for 90 minutes through a program in my school district that, really, every school district should have. Today was a particularly good day. Since this was the last time I would visit with them before Christmas, their teacher let me read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and the story of little Virginia O'Hanlon and her letter to the New York Sun to the kids.
I love my Monday visits. Being in the classroom grounds me, and both the kids and their teacher are a real touchstone and inspiration for me as I go about my work. Yet today . . .Today is the third anniversary of shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The third anniversary of when the lives of 20 first-graders, just like the ones I get to visit every Monday, came to an end at the hands of a madman, along with the lives of six educators.
If you're not still upset about Sandy Hook, you should be. It was the moment in which we had an opportunity to do something about gun violence in our country. It was a chance to stand for reason over fear. A chance to put into place sensible gun laws that protect all of us — gun owners, too. A chance to put paid to the idea that a person's right to live outweighs another person's desire to shoot you. A chance to do the right thing.
But we did nothing. And we allowed our leaders to ignore our calls for sensible legislation, even with the backing of of a public tired of violence. Tired of death. Sickened by the deaths of 20 innocent six-year-olds. Desperate for proof that they would lead rather than succumb to the fear mongering of a special interest group.
Three years later, we've had more mass shootings than we have days in a year. Our steps, and there have been many, are all backward.
I remember the vilification of Dan Hodges when he tweeted out the message above. Sadly, and to the shame of us all, he was right.
Don't forget Sandy Hook. Don't forget those 20 first-graders and six educators.
Don't forget them.
Ever.
