Mann recalled those words today, writing on Twitter:
"Every time this happens now, I think of John McKinney, standing alone in the firehouse hallway at Sandy Hook, hearing the wail go up as the governor broke the news. And then the same thing happening, in some other town, over and over again."
Again and again. Twenty children died at Sandy Hook, along with six adults. We did nothing about it.
18 and CountingThe Florida shooting was the 30th mass shooting, and the 18th to take place in a school, so far in 2018 -- a year that is only seven weeks old. That means there's a school shooting in this country every 2.5 days.
Four people have been killed, and 20 injured so far in schools this year. Here are shootings this year that have caused injury or death:
14: Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. (17 people killed)
5: Oxon Hill High School in Prince George's County, Maryland (1 student injured)
1: Salvador Castro Middle School in Los Angeles, California. (2 students shot)
23: Marshall County High School in in Benton, Kentucky (2 students killed, 18 injured)
22: NET Charter High School in New Orleans, Louisiana (1 student injured)
22: Italy High School in Italy, Texas (1 student injured)
10: Coronado Elementary School in Sierra Vista, Arizona (1 student killed)
With today's news, this year's death toll from school shootings now stands at 21. Thoughts and prayers won't bring them back, or save the next ones to die.
Why Shootings HappenWe know why mass shootings happen. "The only variable that can explain the high rate of mass shootings in America," as the New York Times explains, "is its astronomical number of guns."
My mother died last Friday. Death leaves an ache in the heart. But she was 94 years old. She lived a full life. The death of children, even ones we've never met, leaves a different ache. It's the ache of unfulfilled hopes, of lives that will never be lived. It's the faint echo of a parent's grief, a grief that's beyond understanding to anyone who hasn't experienced it.
When we reached adulthood, each of us made an unspoken promise to the children of this country. We said we would protect them, support them, help them lead beautiful lives. Today, once again, that promise has been broken.
America's rifle. America's promise. And America's childhood, a kingdom we've surrendered for no good reason at all.
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