Dec. 14, 2012, will never be forgotten by Americans. According to the Chicago Tribune, 26 adults and children were killed. A gunman was also dead, officials said.

Just days after a gunman opened fire at Clackamas Town Center in Portland, Ore., Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre now marks the seventh mass shooting in 2012.

The last massacre that shook the entire nation was when a gunman entered the Sikh Temple Aug. 5, 2012, in Oak Creek, Wis., and killed six people and injured three others. A month prior to that tragic event, James Holmes murdered 12 and injured 70 people during the midnight screening of “The Dark Knight Rises.”

The elementary school massacre may rank the second deadliest shooting in national history after the Virgina Tech killing spree that occurred six years ago, reported the Long Island Press.

The elementary school massacre has claimed more lives than in the Columbine High School massacre that left 12 students, one teacher and two shooters dead.

ABC News reports that there have been 31 school shootings in America since Columbine. According to thinkprogress.org, in the last 30 years, there have been 61 mass shootings in the U.S., and the rate of people being murdered by guns in America is 19.5 times higher than in similar income countries across the globe.

 “Almost every day another mass shooting, malls, subway stations, schools, while we fail to deal with easy access to guns and a climate of violence in America that we have aggressively shaped thru Government since 9/11, media, and entertainment. And these have all happened in states that allow Concealed Carry. The issue is rooted in the American Culture of Violence we have allowed to develop,” posted Father Michael Pfleger on Facebook.

For those of you who have not heard of Pfleger, he is a Roman Catholic priest at St. Sabina’s which is located on the south side of Chicago. The pastor is well-known for trying to stop gun violence in his own community as well across the United States.

Hopefully this sad day will open the eyes of Americans and congressman to regulate gun control for once and for all in America.

“The tragedy in Connecticut needs to be the catalyst for a larger discussion on gun control. Not in prohibiting our Second Amendment, but through tightening our filters for permits and cracking down on illegal distribution,” said Alex Thibodeau, recent DePaul graduate.

As the year 2012 is coming to a close, all we can do is pray and hope that 2013 will bring about changes and less violence.

“These glimpses of horror need to push us toward progress, not fear,” said Thibodeau.