Innocence Lost

I was at work on Friday when the news about the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School came in. I was working in the pediatric unit of a Cancer hospital, so my mood was somber to begin with. Kids on the floor were fighting for their lives, but as it turned out, the kids in the school didn't have that chance. It was stripped of them by a troubled young man who saw no other way to deal with his problems other than murdering innocent human beings. Words cannot describe how pained I was as I watched grieving parents discover their babies were dead. I could not imagine being in their shoes. Tears began to roll as I thought of my daughter, eight, and trying to comprehend how these parents must be feeling. So many things need to happen because of this. Gun control needs to be dealt with. Owning guns is one thing. Owning semi-automatic rifles, etc. that most military troops might use? Senseless and wrong. Nobody needs those type of weapons, constitutional right or not. If no laws are passed, then let the Federal Government pay for security guards at EVERY school in America, and equip them with semi-automatic weapons. I'm not overly religious, far from it, and I don't believe that this would have been prevented had prayer been allowed in school. Enough people in school have faith and it is carried with them within those walls whether they are allowed to openly say prayers or not. I do feel that critics of network coverage is right about giving too much attention to the shooter and helping to perpetuate these occurrences more frequently. But I guess if someone is that disturbed, they will probably try to find a way to do it anyway, regardless of the infamy that may be afforded them.
Either way, it's heartbreaking and sad. I can only watch a little bit of coverage, even though I may be interested in the details. I guess the only detail I need to know is 26 people are dead, most of them innocent children, and I am hugging mine a little tighter today.