As a retired kindergarten teacher in Connecticut this latest gun tragedy in Newtown has hit me very hard. I didn't know any of the children, but they must have been like the children I remember from my own years in the classroom. They are innocents, full of life, and their problems are usually small ones at this age. Neither they nor their parents could have predicted this heinous gun crime. I stress the word gun because without the proliferation of easy to get weapons, this crime could not have happened.

As the N.R.A. might say, "guns don't kill people, people kill people." The second half of this treacherous remark should be that people with guns kill people.

No other civilized society has our record of gun tragedies. We despair with the victims for a day or so, and then forget it, if it wasn't a personal loss - until the next time. Maybe we should make this the last time.

Hunters and target shooters have rights, but the rest of us also have rights. The most important is to live in safe communities. Call your representative to vote for sensible gun laws.

"We the people" have to speak up. Now!