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If Friday's school shooting in Connecticut follows the pattern set by other mass tragedies, huge numbers of Americans are worrying about the safety of their kids at school. How is our perception of risk is shaped by tragedy, and what happens when our perceptions do not line up with the facts?

There's still no budget deal to prevent the automatic spending cuts and tax increases scheduled to go into effect at the end of this year. There are some tax deductions, credits and other breaks lawmakers are weighing in this budget debate.

Hayden Carlo was recently pulled over near Dallas for having an expired registration sticker. He said he had a choice: either feed his kids or get a new registration. The officer issued a citation, and when Carlo unfolded it, he found $100.

There are Christmas displays, and then there's the one in Wall Township, N.J. It has synchronized lights, lasers, fog machines, strobe lights, 20-foot flames and the music of the Trans Siberian Orchestra. There's no charge — they only accept donations for a local charity.

Kyle Mangieri teaches in nearby Fairfield, but his home is just down the hill from Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown. Friday's mass murder means his lessons today may need to be set aside.

Six-year-olds Jack Pinto and Noah Pozner — two of the 20 first-graders killed Friday when a gunman stormed Sandy Hook Elementary School — are to be remembered today. Funerals for their classmates and the six adults who were gunned down will continue all week. So will the investigation.

Investigators have a huge amount of evidence to process, State Police Lt. J. Paul Vance says. And, "I'm not going to lie to you," he adds: What's being discovered about the shootings that left 20 children and six adults dead are disturbing.

The mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school has revived calls for stricter gun laws. The debate is not unfamiliar, but the nature of the event may provide new impetus for action. Exactly what kind of action might make a difference is another story.

The preservative thimerosal keeps vaccines from going bad in places where there is no refrigeration. Anti-vaccine activists say it should be banned because it contains mercury, but public health officials insist it's safe.

Host Michel Martin continues the conversation on America's gun culture. She speaks with author Paul Barrett, journalist Craig Whitney and psychiatrist Carl Bell.