(Artwork by Ezra Jack Keats)
I heard the first news reports about the massacre of 20 first graders–babies, really–at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, after I just walked out of court in Marin County, California.
I had just secured a restraining order from a judge to prevent a mentally deranged individual, who bragged he had a gun, from coming onto the campus of the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) which I was running at the time. He had threatened several of my staff members, and starting ranting to the judge that the CIA was after him.
The judge asked me if I had anything further to add, and I rolled my eyes and said “No, your honor. I think my case has been made.” The Judge immediately granted the restraining order.
If only swift, stern legal action was taken against the deranged young man who slaughtered 20 innocent babies–26 people in total–that terrible December 14, 2012. Things have only gotten worse since then, with the election of a tool of the NRA as President, the greater proliferation of assault weapons which can assassinate hundreds in a mere few minutes, the passage of a piece of legislation in the GOP controlled House of Representative which would allow mentally unstable gun owners to conceal the carrying of weapons in every state in the nation–despite any local gun laws–and, the perpetuation of the grotesque lie advanced by Alex Jones and other Fascist fanatics, that those murdered at Sandy Hook were paid actors.
Tell that to a parent who lost a beautiful baby 5-years ago. I was with with my three granddaughters–ages 8, 6 and 2–on the 5th Anniversary of that horrible moment in all of our lives. I’ve hugged them and kissed them even more than I usually do, imagining the unimaginable, and grateful for every blessed moment I have with them. I only wish the same for every single parent and grandparent, aunt and uncle, who cherish life and the right of those already born to live it without violence or harm.