Primary schools, cinema halls, campuses and churches – no place, it seems, is immune to America’s epidemic of mass shootings. Yet none so far have prompted Washington to adopt even the most minor of new gun controls. If Friday’s unimaginably distressing classroom slaughter of 20 young children and six teachers does not jolt Washington to act, nothing will. Like Columbine before it, and so many other school shootings, the name Sandy Hook will be forever associated with a horror no society should tolerate. It should also be the starting point of an era of genuine gun control in the US.
小学、影院大厅、大学校园以及教堂，看起来美国似乎没有地方能免遭大规模枪击事件这一恶疾的危害。然而迄今所有这些枪击事件，都没能促使美国政府采取哪怕是最温和的枪支管制新政策。如果上周五20名年幼的儿童和6位教师在教室被屠杀这一难以想象的惨剧，都无法触动美国政府采取措施，那就没什么事能做到了。与之前发生的科伦拜(Columbine)事件及其他校园枪击案类似，桑迪•胡克(Sandy Hook)小学将永远与任何社会都无法容忍的恐怖联系在一起。它也应当成为美国真正的枪支管制时代的开端。