I could only look at the first of the photos of the children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. It was just too much. Only prayer for strength can begin to heal the hearts of family members who lost their beautiful children in that maniacal slaughter. Every effort will continue to help comfort and protect the parents, children, families, and friends of those who were killed by this evil young man.

But the usual frantic effort immediately launched by anti-firearms zealots to solve the alarming repetition of incidents of mass murder will be in vain. The problem lies not with mechanical devices but with evil, violent people who use them to kill and maim others.

All of the previous efforts to deprive the 99 percent of law-abiding American citizens of firearms for self defense against the evil one percent have been miserable failures which have aggravated the danger instead of abating it.

Many of the most recent acts of mass murder have been perpetrated by insane individuals. This is a problem of identifying and treating mentally defective persons, not attempting to remove weapons from the hands of normal, law-abiding citizens, which are necessary for self defense.

“Insanity” played no part in Adam Lanza’s, cold blooded murder of 20 children and six adults. Experts tell us that violence has no part in Asperger’s syndrome, which is the condition he suffered from. He learned that, despite years of caring for him, his mother was planning to commit him to a mental institution because she could no longer handle his behavior.

It is now alleged that Adam had an “online devil worshiping page”, according to a former classmate, which stated that “I am the devil”. He was apparently fearful of being committed to a hospital,and furious over the thought that his mother might care more for the children at the school than he himself. This was a conscious evil act despite his obvious mental problems. Adam should have been given clinical help years before this atrocious crime was perpetrated, and the firearms secured.

As for firearms and crime, anyone truly interested in understanding the problems should consult the scholarly works of John R. Lott, Jr. (More Guns, Less Crime, U. of Chicago Press, and Gary Kleck (Point Blank: Guns and violence in America”). They are both world renowned scholars, true experts on these subjects.

These works are absolutely necessary for anyone truly interested in taking effective measures to curb this sort of violence. As John Lott concludes: “The horror with which people react to guns is inversely related to how accessible they are. It would appear that, at the very least, gun-control advocates face something of a dilemma. If guns are the problem, why was it that when guns were really accessible, even inside schools by students, we didn't have the problems that plague us now including the mass school shootings?”

“Rules that are passed to solve a problem can make the problem worse, which in turn generates calls for yet more regulations. The biggest problem with gun-control laws is that those who are intent on harming others, and especially those who plan to commit suicide, are least likely to obey them. The issue is often disparagingly phrased as whether hunters are willing to be “inconvenienced,” but this misses the real question: Will well-intended laws disarm potential victims and thus make it easier for criminals?”

The media are largely uninformed on the true issues here. CNN, with panicked ideologues like CNN's Piers Morgan ranting, things will no doubt grow much more dangerous as alarmed, Constitution-believing citizens will refuse to give up their means of self defense to government. I believe such a scenario could usher in something approaching civil war. Responsible people will defend their families, friends, and possessions with deadly force when necessary, as has always been a primary American constitutional right.

God bless those suffering from the horrendous slaughter in Connecticut, a state with some of the most stringent gun regulations in the nation.

God help America to maintain all necessary and traditional means for self defense when an uninformed, emotional majority seeks to give up fundamental constitutional rights.

"Those who will give up some of their freedom for security soon will have neither freedom nor security."
Benjamin Franklin