Vigil for an end to gun violence at the National Cathedral

       With tomorrow the being the first anniversary of the Newtown school shooting the Newtown Foundation is sponsoring a vigil at the National Cathedral in DC.  Tickets for the event are probably gone by now but you can watch the vigil being livestreamed at this link.  The release of the 911 calls from the school last week were a reminder of the horrors of that day.  Gun violence in the United States continues unabetted in the year since this shooting and gun ownership has surged in recent months here in Maryland before the new gun legislation took effect.  The recent shooting in the Weis store in Laurel where a shoplifter took the gun of a security guard and fired the weapon is another example of the mixed results of having a weapon as a deterrent. I have shopped at that Weis store many times.  That area of Laurel has seen an increase in crime as seen by the recent shooting a short distance away in Russett Green not far from the Sam's Club at which I also shop.

      I realize how much distance there is between gun rights advocates and gun control advocates.  The cultural differences are large and there seems to be little opportunity for finding common ground.  If the killing of young children in a mass shooting can't bring about some rational gun control then we as a nation are locked into a future of frequent mass shootings.  Sad.