“Too Many Times…”

“A woman waited to hear about her sister, a teacher, on Friday after a mass shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.” Photo by Jessica Hill for the AP.

What I said this summer still applies on this saddest of sad days.

We know what happens next: more tragedies like the one today. They’re inevitable with relatively unfettered access to deadly weapons and a rapidly deteriorating safety net for those who need treatment for mental illnesses.

Will we be able to stop terrible attacks like these all together? No. Could we stop the frequency of them with greater attention and resources given to mental health care? I should think so. Could we keep casualties from being so high if we decided to meaningfully regulate guns and ammunition? There’s no question.

Until we decide to do those things, though, days like today…will become commonplace. They will become part of our lives; the costs of our deadly habit and ignored social responsibility.

We have to decide to care enough about one another to create a safer world for all of us—including those struggling with mental illnesses.

May all be beings be free from suffering.