THE RECENT RELEASE of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office report on the Columbine High School murders provides a great deal of horrifying detail about the tragedy -- but carefully finesses the police inaction that gave the killers a free hand inside the school building.

Columbine may matter a lot politically, as attested to by the frenzy to exploit the anniversary of that day when two students slaughtered 12 classmates and a teacher, injuring 23 others. Yet the real lesson of Columbine is that very few people care enough about the horrible events of April 20,…