Why Must the Children Die?

Time was when the tragedy of a child shot down in cold blood would generate such revulsion, such an outpouring of emotion, that entire communities ached along with grieving parents. And once the grieving subsided, entire communities demanded that something be done.

Now, our children fall with a frequency that is numbing. Nationally, more than a dozen under age 19 die every day in gun-related homicides, accidents or suicides. A few examples, from this week alone:

Sunday, on Chicago’s South Side, Shavon Dean, 14, was fatally wounded by a bullet that police believe was fired by 11-year-old Robert Sandifer Jr. Robert, already a hardened gang member with eight arrests including armed robbery, was found murdered Thursday, shot twice in the back of the head. Authorities blame members of his gang.

Monday, closer to home, 16-month-old Maureen Ramirez was shot to death in her stroller along a gang-infested street in South El Monte. The toddler’s skull was pierced by a burst of semiautomatic weapons fire.

Wednesday, another toddler, 1 1/2, was fatally struck down in Los Angeles. The weapon, a handgun accidentally fired by the child’s older brother, 5.

Friday, a 14-year-old boy was in critical condition after he was shot in the head allegedly by a 12-year-old friend who was playing with the weapon in a Van Nuys home. The younger boy reportedly told police he had found the gun in a park.

For each of the past five years, gun dealers in Los Angeles and Orange counties together have sold, on average, more than 100,000 firearms. Countless others are purchased illegally on the street.

The gun lobby says that makes for a safer society. So that begs a question: Why are so many children dying?