To the right is a list of all the schools that have suffered shootings since 1998. If I’ve counted correctly, there are more than 230 schools, and 311,000 students involved.

Every time there was an outcry, whether it was local or national. People shrank from the horror of it, railed at the system for its failure to protect our children. We thought and prayed and locked the doors of the schools.

But not all of them.

And still they came. And we thought and prayed and made the children practice lockdown drills. Drills not much more effective in the face of an AR15 than duck and cover under our desks to keep us from being burned alive in a nuclear blast.

And still they came.

And they will keep coming as long as money and power and greed and the need to be re-elected is more important than common sense control of firearm purchases and accessible, affordable mental health services.

As long as our government is being bought and sold by powerful organizations like the NRA, the evangelical church, big pharma, big energy, and people with big pockets and narrow minds. . .

They will still come.

I know some of you won’t agree. And that’s what great about America. I can speak my heart and you don’t have to like it or even read it.

I have loved writing for you and I will keep writing and hope you’ll keep reading, BUT today I have to

STAND UP FOR OUR CHILDREN

I’ll leave you with this. If you want, you can switch out Texas for America. It works either way.