There's no doubt that the killings in Newtown, Connecticut hit people extra hard because so many of the victims were innocent children; 12 girls and 8 boys, all first-graders, ages 6 and 7, were murdered that day.

I couldn't help but think of my sweet 6-year-old nephew, carefree in his own 1st grade classroom as the tragedy unfolded.  The pain was deep because the families we saw on TV in the coming days could have been us; their grief could have been ours.

 Mass killings like the one in Newtown dominate the news for days.  But here's the news the many people probably don't realize:  Sweet, innocent children die from gun violence every week in this country. 

In fact, in the 6 weeks following the murder of 8 boys in Newtown, another SIXTEEN boys lost their lives to guns.  That's right:  in the course of just six weeks, twice as many boys were killed by guns than the number who were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary. 

I am not referring to a prediction, or a statistical average, but actual deaths.  The online journal Slate has been collecting data from news reports on all gun deaths (at least, all of those reported in the news) since the mass shooting on December 14th.  Their data is updated daily and is available free to anyone interested.  Visit their website for the data and an interactive summary that allows you to see the deaths by date, gender, and age group; a simple click on each "person" provides name, location, and a link to the detailed news story:  

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/crime/2012/12/gun_death_tally_every_american_gun_death_since_newtown_sandy_hook_shooting.html

These sixteen boys were children, all under age 13.  In fact, more than half of them were YOUNGER than the boys who lost their lives in Newtown:  two were 5, two were 4, one was 3, three were 2, and one was only a year old.

Maybe you are thinking (hoping, even?) that you can ignore THESE deaths, because they are not the type that "could happen to anyone."  Maybe you're thinking, "This must have happened in bad neighborhoods, right?"  Think again.

It's true that 4-year-old Aydan was a victim of a drive-by shooting in a rough part of Kansas City.  His dad was buckling him into his car seat as they prepared to leave a relative's house when Aydan was killed.  But out of the 16 boys who died from guns between December 15th and January 26th, Aydan was the ONLY one killed by a stranger. 

Three boys, one-year-old Jonah and five-year-olds Jacob and Max, were all killed by family-members in murder-suicide attempts.  Jacob's dad had been depressed; Max's dad was a cop; both succeeded in killing themselves as well as their sons.  Jonah's 20-year-old mother lived through her attempt.  Nine-year-old Zephania was killed, along with his parents and two of his sisters (ages 5 and 2) by his fifteen-year-old brother using a military-style assault weapon.

Those four deaths could likely all be attributed to some sort of mental health problem in the family.  That is not the case, however, with the remaining 11 cases.  In just six weeks, eleven boys under the age of 13 were killed in gun accidents.  These are perhaps the most tragic to consider.

• 3-year-old Ryder shot himself at his uncle's house the day after the Newtown murders
• 2-year-old Brennan killed himself with his grandfather's gun
• A 2-year-old named Sincere grabbed a gun off a table and killed himself on Christmas day
• 10-year-old Alfreddie was killed celebrating with family, also on Christmas day; in the early reports, relatives were too upset to say who pulled the trigger
• 8-year-old Easton was shot and killed by a family member while visiting his father
• William, age 12, was hanging out with his 12-year-old cousin in early January; the cousin was excited to show William the new shotgun he got for Christmas, but didn't realize it was loaded; he pulled the trigger and William died.
• 12-year-old Steven loved to hunt and was proud of his hunter's safety certification, but he accidentally shot himself in his house
• 2-year-old Travin was shot and killed by an 18-year-old family member who was "playing" with a handgun
• Jamarcus, age 4, was riding in the backseat while his father was driving.  He somehow got hold of his father's gun and shot himself dead.
• And James, age 12, was accidentally shot while out hunting with his father, uncle, and teen brother.  

So many guns; so much pain.

Can we really stand to relive the horror of Newtown every month?