Sigh.

I expected this.

Now, we're not gonna get too heavily into this, just because anyone with a Facebook or Twitter has probably heard every opinion there is on this--some of them are astounding, in terms of both logic, disrespect, and insensitivity. I myself have debated plenty since Friday, including being attacked for statements I never even made. Which ironically basically sums up 2012 for me.

Anyway, it's safe to say we as a nation are saddened and probably a little scared. We should be shocked, but I don't think we are. Horrified, sure, but not shocked. I don't think a country that's seen so much gun violence in my lifetime alone can truly say that one more incident of it was really surprising. In fact, I stated after July's Aurora shooting that we'd see another one within six months, and unfortunately, here we are.

But like I said, this is nothing new. It is, in fact, so old that my grandmother's third-grade teacher was shot right outside her classroom. My grandmother and her classmates were fortunate--the shooter was only after their teacher, thanks to jealousy and a love triangle. My grandmother would tell the story on occasion, and it always left an impression. The shooter had the teacher step into the hall with him, and I believe my grandma and the other students could hear her say, "No," or cry, and then they heard the gunshot. They fled the school using the classroom's windows, even pushing each other out. My grandmother ran down the street. A woman stopped her and asked what happened, but she just said, "Let me go! Let me go!" and kept on running. When she got home, she said to my great-grandmother, "Go get Billy"--her brother--"They're shooting the teachers!"

Very few people are in favor of an outright ban on guns. I'm not. But I am in favor of tightening some laws and making it harder for this to happen again. I've heard all the counter arguments. I've countered the counter arguments. Yes, evil can still find a way to win, but that's no reason to sit back and not fight it. When we see a problem, the very least we can do is say, "This needs fixed." We may not agree on how to fix it, and the answers may not be simple or obvious and certainly won't please everyone or satisfy all needs, but we should at least try.