Haven’t we had enough of this?

This time, it was children, a literal slaughter of the innocents, and the first comment from the National Rifle Association was there would be no comment until the facts were in. But these facts were immediately established: 20 children, just 6 and 7 years old, and six women, trying to protect them, were murdered at school in the worst massacre of children in our history. The weapons of choice for the gunman were a Glock pistol and a Bushmaster carbine rifle, similar to the guns used in recent mass killings in Colorado and Oregon. Both guns can rapidly fire many rounds and accommodate large magazines. The little ones were shot multiple times.These facts have also been “in” for some time: Guns kill 87 people every day in the United States, many of them children. But it happens most frequently on our city streets where drugs and gangs can be conveniently blamed. In the United States, nearly 3,000 children are killed by guns every year, according to the Children’s Defense Fund. The gun death rate for American children under 15 is nearly 12 times higher than the rate among kids in 25 other industrialized nations combined. Yes, combined, according to the Center for Disease Control.Of course, we can anticipate the comments and excuses that will soon be forthcoming from the nation’s most powerful propaganda agency because we’ve heard them before. The killer was obviously mentally ill. His guns were legally obtained, but not by him, because in Connecticut, a purchaser has to be 21 — so much for states with strict gun laws. These guns were registered to his mother, whom, incidentally, he also murdered.In the coming weeks and months, we’ll be reminded guns don’t kill people and if the adults at the school were armed, they could have fought back and saved some young lives. The media will be vilified for using the tragedy to launch an attack on the sacred Second Amendment.Haven’t we had enough of this? We are a nation awash in guns, hardly any of them maintained by or for a well regulated militia. But thanks to the power and skill of the National Rifle Association and the cowardice of the Congress and until now, the failure of the president to lead on this issue, we have failed to regulate these weapons of mass destruction in a sensible way. But on Sunday he made a vow, appropriately in Newtown, to lead, to use the power of the presidency to make our children safer.During the Clinton Administration, Congress banned assault weapons but the ban expired in 2004 and wasn’t renewed. We also need to ban high capacity magazines whose utility is more commonly on display in mass murders than in target practice. And we must make it far more difficult for people with histories of mental illness or criminal records to get guns. Background checks are now ineffective and anyone can buy a gun at a gun show without a background check, thanks to the NRA.The NRA has convinced nearly half of the population that any additional regulation will destroy their constitutional right to bear arms, including their right to shoot at targets or hunt. These rights, of course, are not under threat but limiting the widespread sale of guns will be a hardship for manufacturers and the registration and background checks will be an inconvenience for hunters and other gun-toting sportsmen. I hope the NRA tries to artfully point this out after Sandy Hook.Other democracies have managed to regulate the ownership of firearms and still maintain their people’s freedom. Last summer, The Atlantic reported how they do it in Japan:“First you have to attend an all day class and pass a written test, which are held only once per month. You also must take and pass a shooting range class. Then, head over to a hospital for a mental test and drug test (Japan is unusual in that potential gun owners must affirmatively prove their mental fitness), which you’ll file with the police. Finally, pass a rigorous background check for any criminal record or association with criminal or extremist groups and you will be the proud owner of your shotgun or air rifle. Just don’t forget to provide police with documentation on the specific location of the gun in your home, as well as the ammo, both of which must be locked and stored separately.”Imagine what the NRA would make of telling the police where you store your gun and ammo at home. But keeping guns out of the hands of the wrong people can be rather beneficial to a society. The United States has more than 12,000 gun deaths every year. Japan has about 11. Simsbury resident Dick Ahles is a retired journalist. Email him at dahles@hotmail.com.