10 years after Sandy Hook massacre, Progressives in Congress lead calls for gun control
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.”
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.
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.”
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.”
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.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention figures show that more than 250,000 people have died in shootings 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.
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.”
Originally published at Commondreams.org.
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