Second of two parts .

The program Tuesday night at Lourdes University, “Coming Together to Reduce Violence in Schools,” included a panel discussion with Romules Durant, superintendent of Toledo Public Schools; psychiatrist Nancy Carroll; student representative Jeremy Pratt, who is a senior at Waite High School; and retired Lt. Scott Lowry of the Findlay Police Department, as well as Sandy Hook parents Nicole Hockley and Mark Barden.

They all agreed: We can make schools safer and prevent gun violence at schools if parents really engage with their kids and, Mr. Pratt emphasized, parents monitor their children’s friends and social media.

Mr. Durant has a mantra I like: “Kids don’t care how much an adult knows until they know how much he cares.”

So maybe, as the Sandy Hook Promise advocates, we start with steps like more intentional parenting and school safety officers, that almost all of us can agree on. And then step up to ideas like “smart guns” that are harder for kids to accidentally shoot one another with. And eventually reach the level of political responsibility and leadership, where we speak not of gun “control” but gun regulation.

Some numbers Ms. Hockley gave us:

● There are 289 people shot every day in the United States.

● Eighty-six people die of gun wounds every day.

● Eight children or youth die of gun wounds every day.

● A human being is killed by a firearm every 17 minutes in America.

It’s the guns, stupid.

We can’t control them, but we can, and eventually must, regulate them. Limit them.

We put limits on how fast people may drive, on when and where and to whom alcohol may be sold, and on what food and drugs may be sold on the open market. We regulate political speech and spending. If we limit the kinds of guns that may be sold and to whom, the Second Amendment will endure.

Mind you, the thousands of illegal guns now in circulation will still be out there and so will the untreated mentally ill, fed by violent movies, video games, and music. Gun violence is complex and many-layered. But with gun regulation, action would be taken — a step toward life, societal self-respect, and protecting the most vulnerable among us.

No civilized and self-respecting society watches children get gunned down in their schools and does nothing.

And, substantially, that is what we have done since Sandy Hook. Nothing.

Except in Connecticut — a small state where the killings reverberated in virtually every corner and precinct.

I was interested in two things Ms. Hockley said about the politics of guns: Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy pushed strong gun regulation after Sandy Hook. The Connecticut General Assembly passed it. The National Rifle Association then targeted Mr. Malloy when he ran for re-election and he took them on. Mr. Malloy won.

She also said many hunters and gun owners tell her: The NRA does not speak for me.

Knowing there is no ultimate, or one-dimensional, “fix” any more than there is one for drunken driving or fair labor practices, we still must act. A healthy democracy never chooses paralysis in the face of a great social evil.

Our kids are dying. Reasonable, responsible, modest regulation of guns is simply humane. It will take political courage. But that can usually be found in times of crisis in America. I see Sen. Rob Portman (R., Ohio) as someone who could lead on this issue, and persuade those now uninformed or afraid.

We have failed to acknowledge an obvious moral imperative: Little children should not be shot in their schools. Shot multiple times. In the arms of teachers trying to shield them.

The man who killed 20 children and their teachers in Newtown, Conn., should not, with the problems he had, have had access to any gun. And he had access to weapons of war.

Visiting before her speech, Ms. Hockley told me she would never “get over” the death of her son. It’s not possible, she said, and she would not want it to be possible.

If we are a good society, a just and humane one, even an approximation of the civilization we want to be, we won’t forget it either.

Keith C. Burris is a columnist for The Blade.

Contact him at: kburris@theblade.com or 419-724-6266.

First Published March 13, 2015, 4:00 a.m.