david allio

Emotions are running high today. The tragic and unreasonable deaths of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, are enough to put everyone’s nerves on edge. Only the Virginia Tech Massacre ranks worse at this point in the history of school violence.

Gabby Giffords | ©2012 David Allio for Corbis

At moments of shock and horror, people get emotional. In confusion, they demand answers for irrational actions. Emotion leads to reaction and overreaction

Because guns were involved, the drumbeat for greater gun control beats louder. Firearm supporters assume a defensive position by exaggerating comments from those seeking safety and security in gun control into an outright ban on firearms. Some news outlets, in an effort to be first with information, sometimes forget that it is more important to be accurate. And, swords and pitchforks come from all sides of social media.

As events in Connecticut were unfolding, I was reminded of how a gunman in Arizona had impacted the life of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords (D-AZ8) and killed others in a mass shooting. I was a witness to the results of inexplicable gun violence in September as she struggled to the podium to lead the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in the Pledge of Allegiance. A member of Congress was shot and what was the response?

When the news broke today, I watched my mother, a retired first grade teacher slumped to a chair. The impact of the death of 20 children in kindergarten and first grade was intensely personal. Her tear-filled, shaky voice cried out: "Who could do something like this to children? How can something like this happen here?" Hours later she was still shaking in disbelief, a disbelief evolving into anger, and anger needing a target.

We are Americans and we used to know how to be better than the rest of the world. The first step must be to admit that there is a problem. Today, politicians indicated that now was not the time to demand change. If not a tragic day such as today, when?

We are Americans and we used to be an emotional but compassionate people. If our brightest minds cannot find a reasonable solution – not an extreme position based on political and financial posturing – a reasonable solution to gun violence, then 20 children died today in vain. For now we pray for the children, their parents, and America.