Newtown, Connecticut USA - 12.14.2012

20 Children and 6 adults were murdered today. I don't pray. I don't believe in god, and trust me this is not a reason why I don't, this is an event that makes one wish for a god who could have prevented it. Take a minute. Reflect. This sucks. Before the blow hards claim this event for their political agenda, lets think about it...

There has not been an appreciable increase in this type of event. A sad but true fact, this sort of thing has been happening at a fairly regular rate for decades. There aren't any more or less of these today than there were 50 years ago. So the people that will stoke the fires of fear, you should avoid them. They are using our grief for their own gain, and we should be pissed off that they would try.

The gun lobby will inevitably spout some variation of "people kill, guns don't." While there is an amount truth to this, it is undeniably true that the casual availability of weapons can take a person's bad time in life and make it a communities worst nightmare.

Alternatively, aggressive gun control isn't the answer either. There are a lot of guns in this country. It is a negligible ratio of guns owned to guns used in massacre. Gun control is not in its own right, an answer.

Video games are a scapegoat. If you want to discuss violence, lets discuss youth football. Kids are injured and killed from playing football every year. Players are encouraged to be aggressive and violent. Kids are participating in a real live physically violent activity often with the intent to harm one another. Video games are nothing compared to this. We have to admit, while sports like football are dangerous, they do not make mass murderers, and neither will video games.

The discussion could go on for a long time. People have lots of different motivations and objectives and an event like this will provide them, consciously or unconsciously, with a reason or rational to promote their agenda. Disproving and arguing against each and every assertion that will be made is impossible. Suffice to say, the actions of sick people do not make a good basis for law or public policy.

The tragic results of the actions of crazy people are and have always been the bane of civilization. Those that would use these events for their own political gain should be shunned. History is full of examples where tragic events are used to begin a regiment of public oppression. Be wary of people who would use this to imprison us all for the sake of the children or the "common good." My heart goes out to the families of the victims. If there is anything I can do to ease their pain or comfort them, I am more than willing, but make no mistake, this type of event is unpreventable.

One last un-comforting thought. Life is risk. Every minute of every day contains a kernel of risk that we may be injured or be killed. This does not make it easier but it is true. Our life is temporary, and that is why the people whom we love should know that we love them. I love my kids, my wife, and my wider family.