Sandy Hook and Our Spinless U.S. Congress

On the Anniversary of the Sandy Hook tragedy we are reminded not only of the lives lost there nine years ago, but of the hundreds, no thousands, of lives lost to gun violence since then; and we are reminded that the United States Congress has refused to adequately, meaningfully, responsibly address the issue of gun violence and the almost unregulated access to guns in this country.

Some possible actions to reduce the access to guns and hold gun owners responsible for their choice to own guns could be passed in the legislature immediately. High cost liability insurance for one - making insurance companies set a price for insuring the gun owner against loss of life, limb or property; tracking devices; buy-back cash for guns; banning assault weapons completely. I'm sure there are other solutions that have been put out there.

I am reminded that there was a game called "Lawn Darts" and that some child died when struck by a sharp dart. Lawn darts were soon banned. Completely banned: According to Wikipedia:

In April 1987, seven-year-old Michelle Snow was killed by a lawn dart thrown by one of her brothers' playmates in the backyard of their home in Riverside, California, when the dart had penetrated her skull and caused massive brain trauma.^[9] The darts had been purchased as part of a set of several different lawn games and were stored in the garage, never having been played before the incident occurred.^[9] Snow's father David began to advocate for a ban on lawn darts, claiming that there was no way to keep children from accessing lawn darts short of a full ban,^[9][10] and, partly as a result of Snow's lobbying, on December 19, 1988 the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission introduced an outright ban on lawn darts in the U.S.^[11] In the previous eight years, 6,100 Americans had visited hospital emergency rooms as the result of lawn-dart accidents. Of that total, 81% were 15 or younger, and half were 10 or younger. 

But of course there was no Lawn Dart Lobby; no campaign money in the millions of dollars coming from the Lawn Dart Industry. There was no money to incentivize legislators to override a ban. Instituting the ban cost nothing.

They say that they hold life sacred, especially unborn life; but they stand by and look the other way as children, teachers, students, movie goers, shoppers, bar patrons are gunned down. It is unconscionable.