Talk is cheap. Talk about guns in the US is even cheaper. When the political rhetoric surrounding the issue of gun ownership and gun use dies down, when editorial writers have finished their beautifully phrased rhetorical flourishes exploring the philosophical and historical issues of our relationship to guns, the situation requires us to take action to save lives. The need to save lives is paramount. There are no other criteria. No more dead children. No more corpses. No more piles of shoes. No more tears. No more candles. No more rhetoric.

Gun owners must be licensed. Weapons of mass slaughter must no longer be available. Those who still want to own them should be allowed to fire them at ranges where bullets will be made available. If you own a gun, you must prove you know how to use it and have a license. Guns must not be toys or psychological props for inadequate men.

Actions speak louder than words. We need action. Otherwise we all become complicit in the deaths of the victims of the next mass murderer. The bullets are out there waiting. Whatever happens let us at least be able to say we were doing something to prevent it. We can't do nothing. The ghosts of the innocent will not allow us to do nothing. We must speak for them and we must act for them.