Newtown: Gun 'Barbarism' that Cannot be Removed by Legislation

Mexico – La Jornada

Translated By Miguel Gutierrez for WorldsMeets.us 

December 15, 2012

Few single episodes of violence have shaken both the society of the United States and international public opinion like the slaughter that occurred yesterday at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, where a man opened fire indiscriminately, killing 26 people - including 20 children aged five to ten before killing himself.

Without ignoring that this episode is part of a long series of shootings in schools, workplaces and public places in the country - such as the infamous massacre at Columbine High School in April 1999, which left 15 people dead; the murder of 33 students at Virginia Tech at the hands of one of its students in April 2007; and the recent slaughter at a Colorado cinema that saw 12 people fatally shot - and without overlooking that fact that any homicide is reprehensible - the chilling effect of the school attack in Sandy Hook is multiplied because most of the victims were from the most vulnerable and sensitive segment of any society: its children. Needless to say, none of the toddlers who were murdered represented threats to the "free State," in the language in the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which is used to justify the unrestricted possession of weapons in the country - much less to the aggressor himself.

Yesterday, offering the official position of the White House, a visibly distraught President Barack Obama said: "And we’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this." Read more.