10 Years After Sandy Hook Massacre, Progressives in Congress Lead Calls for Gun Control
"It's been 10 years since Sandy Hook. Ten years and Republicans still offer no solution beyond thoughts and prayers. Our children deserve action," asserted Rep. Barbara Lee.
U.S. progressives marked the 10th anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre by renewing calls for gun control, with one reform advocate telling families of those slain in the nation's worst primary school shooting that "it is our national shame that we failed to take meaningful steps to protect your children."
"Instead of a moral reckoning, this country has seen an increase in mass shootings. The whole damn system is guilty as hell."
On December 14, 2012, a mentally ill 20-year-old armed with an assault-style semi-automatic rifle shot and killed his mother before murdering 20 first graders and six faculty members at the Newtown, Connecticut school before taking his own life as first responders arrived on the gruesome scene.
While gun control advocates pressed for reforms in the wake of the Sandy Hook slaughter, National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre, who still holds the position today, asserted that more guns in the form of armed guards at schools were part of the solution to a problem which he blamed on violent movies, video games, and music videos.
Since Sandy Hook, Democratic U.S. lawmakers have proposed dozens of gun control laws, with the vast majority failing to pass.
"Ten years ago today, 20 children and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School were shot and killed. We must never forget that horrific day," tweeted Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). "It's time for Congress to pass the commonsense gun safety reforms the American people are demanding."
\u201cTen years since Sandy Hook. Ten years since we failed to keep 20 children and six educators safe.\n\nWe were heartbroken. But we were united in our anger and determination to make change.\n\nToday and always, I'm standing with Newtown, and I will never stop fighting for you.\u201d— Gabrielle Giffords (@Gabrielle Giffords) 1671030521
\u201cToday we remember the 26 beautiful lives lost at Sandy Hook Elementary School.\n\nMy heart is with their families, and all others who have lost loved ones to the gun violence epidemic in this country. It's time to protect our children by enacting an assault weapons ban.\u201d— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@Rep. Pramila Jayapal) 1671031800
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) tweeted that "it's been 10 years since Sandy Hook. Ten years and Republicans still offer no solution beyond thoughts and prayers. Our children deserve action."
Former Democratic Ohio congressional candidate Nina Turner wrote on Twitter: "It's been 10 years since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary occurred and instead of a moral reckoning, this country has seen an increase in mass shootings. The whole damn system is guilty as hell."
Since Sandy Hook, there have been 189 deadly school shootings in the United States, resulting in 279 deaths, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database. The advocacy group Sandy Hook Promise says that 12 children are killed and 32 more wounded by gunfire each day in the United States.
\u201cNo one should have to suffer the enduring pain felt by the families of those murdered at Sandy Hook\u2014or of those killed at any of the 189 school shootings since. We can save lives and protect hearts by passing stronger gun safety laws, including a ban on assault weapons.\u201d— Rep. Katie Porter (@Rep. Katie Porter) 1671047944
\u201cSending love to all the #SandyHook families today. It is our national shame that we failed to take meaningful steps to protect your children and since, so many others. Please know how many of us are committed and standing with you.\u201d— Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sherrilyn Ifill) 1671036397
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention figures show that more than 250,000 people have been shot dead in the United States between 2016 and 2021. According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 42,199 U.S. gun deaths in 2022 alone, including 628 mass shootings.
"Today, gun violence has become the leading cause of death for children in the U.S.," noted the Institute for Policy Studies in a Twitter thread.
\u201cOn the 10 year anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre, we hold in our hearts every single child and person that has been a victim of gun violence.\n\nThey deserved better. Our communities need us to enact lifesaving gun violence prevention legislation NOW.\u201d— Congresswoman Cori Bush (@Congresswoman Cori Bush) 1671049941
IPS continued:
Even within the U.S., gun deaths are highest in the states with the fewest gun restrictions... The same NRA lobbyists who profit off pushing more guns into the populace tell us that the answer to school shootings is to militarize schools. But we've seen that adding police to schools harms students--and *still fails* to prevent shootings.
The pro-gun lobby, one of the largest in the country, ignores these facts and spreads distortions by vastly outspending all of the gun safety orgs, while Congress looks on. Nearly $3 billion(!) is being spent annually on school security across the country without proven evidence that it promotes safety. Instead, we should invest in what we *know* promotes safety: Social and emotional support for students. And commonsense regulations on guns.
"From Sandy Hook to Parkland to Uvalde to Club Q, mass shootings are heartbreaking, too common, and entirely avoidable," IPS added. "Before we see any more tragedies, Congress must listen to the people and pass bold gun control now."
\u201c10 years ago, 20 first graders and 6 adults lost their lives at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Congress took steps this year to help address gun violence, but we still have a lot of work to do to pass stronger gun violence prevention laws. We owe it to the lives lost & families.\u201d— Elizabeth Warren (@Elizabeth Warren) 1671039528
\u201cToday marks 10 years since the horrific shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary \u2013\u2013 one of the darkest days in our nation\u2019s history.\n\nAs we remember the 20 children and 6 adults who were killed and their loved ones, we must keep fighting to end the gun violence epidemic.\u201d— Rep. Ro Khanna (@Rep. Ro Khanna) 1671037958
President Joe Biden--who earlier this year signed minor gun safety legislation in the wake of the Robb Elementary School massacre in Uvalde, Texas--marked the Sandy Hook anniversary by declaring a day of remembrance.
"We should have societal guilt for taking too long to deal with this problem," the president said in a statement. "We have a moral obligation to pass and enforce laws that can prevent these things from happening again."
At the time of the Sandy Hook shooting, Biden was vice president under then-President Barack Obama.
\u201cI consider December 14th, 2012 the single darkest day of my presidency. The news from Sandy Hook Elementary was devastating, a visceral blow, and like so many others, I felt not just sorrow but anger at a world that could allow such things to happen.\u201d— Barack Obama (@Barack Obama) 1671031938
Biden added Wednesday that he is "determined" to sign a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, an unlikely outcome given Republicans will control the House of Representatives beginning next month.
"Enough is enough. Our obligation is clear," the president said. "We must eliminate these weapons that have no purpose other than to kill people in large numbers."
