The massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on this date six years ago sent out a clear message: The need for gun control. Guns should not be in the hands of mentally ill people, in this case, the guns were registered to the mother of the shooter, who had a permit.

There have been numerous massacres, in schools and bars and public spaces, since then, most committed with an AR-15, a Bushmaster, or a similar assault weapon intended for military use.

Other countries are far more thoughtful and specific in limiting access to guns. The purchaser must go through extensive training and background checks and must agree to keep the gun in a locked and secure cabinet. It is possible to get a gun, but very cumbersome to do so.

In 2012, there was an expectation that Congress and the states would act promptly to enact gun control legislation after Sandy Hook. Due to pressure by the NRA, Congress did not act at all.

What did happen instead was that the Sandy Hook massacre became a favorite target of Alex Jones, a rightwing pundit, who insisted that it never happened. Someone sent me a video alleging that the entire massacre was a hoax intended to promote unnecessary gun control legislation. The children who were killed, said the conspiracy theorists, were “child actors.”

The families of the children who were murdered are suing Alex Jones, and it is my sincere hope that they win.

Trump and DeVos have urged arming teachers, but no teacher or security guard will ever be as well armed as a perpetrator with assault weapons. Guns don’t belong in schools.

The only lasting tribute to the children and educators who were murdered that day is to continue to fight for gun control so that the scourge of violence is reduced, if not eliminated.

By the way, the new, rebuilt Sandy Hook elementary school had to be evacuated today due to threats of violence.

A personal note: the principal of Sandy Hook elementary school, Dawn Hochsprung, one of the first to be murdered, was a reader of this blog.