Amid grim news of school massacre, Newtown, Conn., becomes Everytown, America

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/amid-grim-news-of-school-massacre-newtown-conn-becomes-everytown-america/2012/12/14/05820d9e-4639-11e2-8061-253bccfc7532_story.html?tid=pm_national_pop

Friday turned out to be the darkest day of the year. It was a day to hug your kids, or call a parent or a friend, or do something that for a moment might dispel some of that darkness.

The news got worse with every bulletin. Shots fired in an elementary school in Connecticut. Three dead. No, many dead. Children shot. Children killed. Kindergartners.

Newtown, Conn., became Everytown, America, on this grim Friday. By mid-afternoon, the scale of the horror became clear: Twenty children had been slain, plus six of their protectors. The crime took another sick turn with news that the killer was the son of one of the teachers, who died separately in her home. This appeared Friday night to be a matricide that evolved into mass murder.

All this happened during the holiday season, as people around the country prepared for a big shopping weekend, or got ready for relatives coming to town or kids coming home from college. This is family time, a season of joy. Light the candles, decorate the tree.

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1. All The While Gun Manufacturers Are Laughing Their Way To The Bank

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/14/gun-sales-2012_n_2303513.html?utm_hp_ref=business

Gun Sales In 2012 Set Record, FBI Data Indicates

The gun business in the United States is thriving and the tragic events on Friday in Newtown, Conn. may likely do little to quell Americans' spending on munitions.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation recorded more than 16.8 million background checks for gun purchases in 2012, the highest number since the FBI began publishing the data in 1998. A record number of requests for background checks for gun buyers went through on Black Friday in November, the FBI reported at the time, in part because of fears that President Barack Obama and other lawmakers would tighten gun control laws.

The FBI does not track actual firearms purchases, and the number of weapons sold could be even higher than the number of background-check calls because customers can purchase multiple guns, USA Today reports.

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