On Saturday I attended a candle vigil in Santa Margarita. About 20 people came, holding a lit candle, joining with neighbors in remembering the slain children.

But it was not only about those slain children. It was, yet again, about the collective rage that needs to brew throughout the land, into the millions, to eventually deliver the unambiguous, forceful message to our lawmakers: you need to enact laws which prevent such horrors from re-occurring.

You need to enact laws that ensure proper mental health to whomever needs it. You need to hold responsible the parents and guardians of underage youngsters who commit such horrors — either for fun, from ignorance, or mental derangement. You need to enact laws that will prevent easy access to semi-automatic guns, including — but not limited to — a mental health professional clearance to buy that gun, no matter what objections the National Rifle Association will present.

Until and unless you do this, and much more, these horrors will continue to occur, shock us for a few days, drive a media flareup, and after that outcry, everything will again return to normal — until the next horror occurs. And it will be our responsibility for not having pressured you enough to enact those laws, and your responsibility for not having lived up to the task of protecting our lives.