I didn’t want to put up one of the heartrending images that I’m sure we have all been seeing on the news. So instead I’m placing this picture of a beautiful quote from Hafiz, a 14th century Persian poet. If only we could all read this and feel the same way towards each other.

I’m supposed to be working on personal statements for grad school applications, but that seems so small compared to everything else that has happened today. My mind keeps going back to the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. 27 people died. 20 kids, 6 adults shot and killed. Before that, the shooter killed his mother and afterwards, the shooter turned the gun on himself.

I can’t possibly understand why or how anyone would do this, nor do I want to. There is something particularly tragic when a child loses his or her life this way. To attack innocent children is beyond despicable. What’s worse is we can all feel that pain of losing a child or at least try to imagine the intensity of that pain even if we are not parents because we all have brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, cousins, friends. I wouldn’t wish this pain on my worst enemy.

It’s not fair for kids anywhere have to go through violence like this. It’s not fair that these kids will now constantly worry about their safety, instead of what gifts they will get for the holidays or finishing their homework on time. President Obama said many things in his statement that I agreed with including, “As a country, we have been through this too many times. Whether it is an elementary school in Newtown or a shopping mall in Oregon or a temple in Wisconsin or a movie theater in Aurora or a street corner in Chicago, these neighborhoods are our neighborhoods, and these children are our children. And we’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.”

The time to talk about gun control in the U.S. is now. How can anyone watch the news today and think that we need more guns in this country? We already have 300 million firearms. And it keeps getting worse. Michigan passed a law TODAY that allow gun owners to carry weapons in places like schools, bars, churches, day care centers and stadiums. I don’t even know how to formulate my disgust into proper cohesive sentences.

There are children dying every single day in Syria, Pakistan, and almost every other developing country, all for reasons that are usually out of their people’s control. They have to fight poverty, civil wars and corruption in their countries. So passing laws in the United States, supposedly the best country in the world, for gun control? That’s a no brainer. This should not be something that divides us. Making sure to have a convenient way to buy a gun for hunting season should not be put before the lives and safety of children. I know that every American agrees with that because today our hearts were broken.

“We have been through this too many times.”