It's impossible to overstate the lasting damage that murder inflicts on the survivors, families, and witnesses. This murderer, a deeply troubled young man who spent his days in his darkened room playing video games, was given his assault rifle by his mother, a shooting enthusiast. Apparently, she hoped that taking him out to practice at the range would help him engage with the real world. She paid for this monumental misjudgment when she became his first murder victim. As most other countries have already determined, every gun is a tragedy waiting to happen to someone. Why do we have to accept the consequences as inevitable?
14
It is no disrespect to the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting to suggest that the lawsuit some of them have brought against the manufacturer of the gun used in the shooting is ill advised. They are attempting to use product liability civil litigation to achieve restrictions on gun ownership that can only be accomplished by legislation. That gun, after all, had no defects in design or manufacture. To accomplish their goal they are demonizing that gun as a "weapon of war" and a "military" weapon that should not be entrusted to civilians. But any gun capable of killing a person is a weapon of war, going back to the days of the flintlock musket; military assault rifles by definition are capable of fully automatic fire, but the gun used at Sandy Hook was only a semi-automatic rifle of a type owned by millions of citizens. The suggestion that ordinary citizens are incapable of safely owning semi-automatic rifles is fatuous, and their whole argument is intellectually dishonest.
Nancy Lanza negligently entrusted guns to her troubled son Adam; she paid for her negligence with her life, and her estate paid $1.5 million to families of victims.
While not germane to the legal issues, there are two questions I wish Times reporters had pursued: (1) Why did some families of the victims not join the lawsuit; (2) On what basis is the Koskoff law firm handling the case: pro bono, contingency, or payment by unidentified persons or organizations?
1
I work in a school and in that day I was based at an elementary school. This is such an important issue. I want to encourage readers to continue to take action around curbing gun violence by writing officials, teaching your children, raising these issues in schools. As a psychologist in the Boston Public Schools I have responded to too many crises over the years to deal with the aftermath of loss related to gun violence. In fact my first day I had to deal with the aftermath of a drive by shooting. Young people in urban areas are growing up in fear, worried whether a bullet will find them. They have witnessed shootings and mourn the loss of beloved friends and family. We owe them a better life.
5
If you really believe in working towards a more just society, you will stop demonizing the profoundly mentally ill by calling them "evil" rather than sick.
There certainly are plenty of sociopaths who are indeed evil. They do not share the emotions the rest of us do.
But people like Adam Lanza and Devin Kelley are not sociopaths. They live in a volcano of emotions they can't control. They are recognized as troubled from earliest childhood. They don't get the services they need; they don't get the parenting they need; they are enabled, every step of the way, to obtain weapons they shouldn't have and to continue in delusional thinking that never ends well.
Far too often they come from families of means who intervene in the wrong way; who provide financial support for the wrong things; who shield them from the consequences of their actions until there is an ultimate explosion of rage.
It always starts at home. These are not wild beasts emerging from monstrous lairs to prey on us. They are as horribly neglected in their needs as any foster care child bounced from one wretched placement to the next. T
8
A good article. However, failing to mention Sandy Hook Promise and the good it has done in building awareness about potential shooters in schools is an egregious omission.
6
There are few times in life you recall exactly where you were and what you were doing when an event takes place. As a Sandy Hook resident and father of 2 in the school system that day this is one of them. Fortunately my children were not impacted but our family was and is. Who goes to multiple funerals in a day, all with tiny little coffins ? We ultimately moved away from Newtown, like many families have. The reminder DAILY of what happened was a big reason we left. I dreaded for years people asking me where I was from....it was awkward and uncomfortable, I used to lie just to avoid it. I don't anymore, perhaps that's a bit of healing but I will tell you this scar will never leave me, the other residents of the town and the victims families.
11
“If Sandy Hook is the ultimate evil of gun violence then we’ve weathered the worst. Now, let’s move on.” This might very well reflect the logic of the gun lobby and the shariah-like readers of the Second Amendment. They want their guns and they will have them. But maybe it's not as black and white as that. We need to know more.
Is the NRA really that powerful? If so, how so? How much money goes to the politicians who we hear cannot vote against them? Will the dollar amount surprise us by how much it is? Or how little it is? We need to know more about the NRA.
Do the majority of red state citizens really believe a free society means the public must be able to arm themselves with military weapons? Do they really believe the slippery slope argument? We need to understand those fellow Americans better. How many are there really? On a referendum, how would they vote really?
Are blue state citizens morally superior to red state citizens or is that unlikely truth obscuring something else that is going on that makes gun reform in America so difficult?
We must stop holding vigils and anniversaries and claiming the moral high ground and finally get to work to understand better the NRA and the politicians and the voters. The gun issue might just be caught in the weeds of DC. We need to drag it out into the open in a new way. Progressives like Michael Bloomberg or Tom Steyer who have the resources can get to the bottom of it all. We need to find a better way.
3
Horribly the carnage goes on, and on. According to "EVERY TOWN FOR GUN SAFETY" 93 Americans are killed each day by guns. 33,945 Americans each year! Can you imagine the Trump/mostly Republican reaction if this slaughter was perpetuated by a foreign power upon our homeland? Yet, these NRA stooges insist that even suspected terrorists on the FAA " No Fly List" retain their "right" to own an assault weapon. May God help us and protect us - congress will not!
8
Thank you for not mentioning the murderers name in this reporting. He does not warrant any attention.
2
Arthur Weisberg: Adam Lanza was failed by everyone in his life. He was a profoundly disturbed child whose mother refused to accept the extent of his illness. She encouraged and fed his obsession with guns. She destroyed him, and through her actions and failures to act, destroyed many other lives. We should repeat Adam Lanza's name everywhere until mental health treatment is a priority everywhere.
4
It's sad to think this single horrific event essentially marked the end of the gun control debate. It ended when we as a society decided that it was acceptable to endure the murder of 20 young children in defence of an extremist, radical gun ownership contingency.
9
Lovely and sensitive piece. I support Sandy Hook promise with money and all these families with hopes and empathy. One question: why isn't the list of victims from the memorial in perfect alphabetical order?
As a Grinnell resident, I wish to express our deep gratitude to Mr. Wheeler, Ms. Jacob, and Dr. Begg for travelling to our town last week for a screening of the documentary 'Newtown' and a public forum on our community's unique role in speaking truth to the NRA's power. My neighbors and I had the privilege of accompanying our guests on the walk depicted in the third photograph of the article. We did not see this as a demonstration, nor ourselves as protesters. Rather, we held a moment of silence and prayed that not one more life would be lost to gun violence in this country. This walk was but one in a series of events ('26 Days of Action Against Gun Violence') that we have recently undertaken as a community.
Just before the walk, Mr. Wheeler gathered with twenty-five local fathers and sons who had come to support him. This brave man's message to us? The NRA is not invincible. We in the majority must become more invested in gun safety, through our donations, the questions we ask of our political candidates, and then, 'By God, by voting'. Would that we could all take his words to heart.
5
Of course it is "still so raw"! These children and adults were massacred and the response the survivors have seen is the proliferation of gun accessibility across the US and multiple large scale shooting since. Not to mention the crazy (though somehow believed by many!?) theories of it being a "false flag" event. The "right" rationalizes everything in its desire to make the 2nd Amendment the only amendment that counts while gutting the social safety nets and removing any effective rules and regulations to actually keep us safe. Our country is a very sick place.
Whenever I'm on 84 driving through CT, I cannot help but have a chill run down my spine as I pass through Newtown. I cannot imagine how these people cope. Peace be with them, though without real justice, I do not know if peace will come.
11
My vote is a direct response to Sandy Hook, and the failure of this country and its many people who cannot walk in others shoes, to prevent the ones that followed and will continue to follow. I have voted this way every time since, and will, every time, for the rest of my life.
7
Organized criminals in charge.
1
Peace.
3
I remember that day just as well as I remember 911. When the first news alert popped up in my computer, I just had a feeling it was going to be especially bad. Such an atrocity. Yet we have done nothing to even try to prevent another such day. I believe that is the true atrocity. Shame on us.
6
Some feel the moral death of the Republican Party has happened recently with the election of a president who brags about sexual assault and endorses an accused pedophile. But the soul of the Republican party died in the weeks after the Newtown tragedy when they failed to enact sensible gun law reform.
I still can't read about this without crying. How can they face live with themselves?
15
The killings in Newtown left no doubt in my mind, which I still believe today, that we are a morally bankrupt nation. That we continue to call ourselves the greatest country on earth is laughable and insane. Since that day, and forevermore, I am ashamed to say that I'm an American.
6
I feel your outrage Claudia but I never lose sight that the republican party enabled these massacres, and for what? Money and power! The democrats have been trying to get common sense gun laws passed for years. They were blocked at every turn by republicans. Repulsive, cynical, corrupt, treasonous, yes, treasonous republicans. They are, in the context of their disgraceful alliance with the gun lobby, bugs!
Be outraged, just put the blame where it rightfully belongs.
2
Has anything changed the GOP is still dictated to by the powerful NRA with no substantive gun laws. It is sad when the people want it and the GOP will never deliver it. The Democratic party is different and wants common sense gun laws. Regular people who always say eh, both are corrupt, GOP and DNC are the same. Well revelation the DNC will change these laws but they need the people support with a vote. Alabama just did it, hopefully people will see a difference in the parties the GOP says they represent the middle class when in they vote it is for the rich and not the middle class. Hopefully they will see that soon. The Dems actually represent the middle class. Bernie is for us. Robert Reich for President. From James Katakowski
1
Yes it is tragic but our abysmal health record is worse. Having 34 countries with healthier populations is simply unacceptable yer nothing is done. Even worse it is never mentioned in any newspaper. Congressmen do not return calls on this topic. The numbers of cases of childhood cancer are horrible.
We are totally corrupt.
2
I dread this anniversary because I am ashamed at the lack of progress this Country and our fellow citizens have made in ensuring this nightmare doesn’t happen to more of our children, family and friends.
It is heartbreaking to see the families of Sandy Hook who are bravely still lobbying, actually begging our feckless government representatives to do something to stop more needless carnage.
We, the people of the most powerful and richest Country in the history of the world, have allowed this travesty of justice to infect our peace and prosperity. And our children are paying the price.
How horribly sad for all of us.
4
As I read this I cried... for those who have continued to suffer there no way as a parent you ever move past the emptiness and sadness of losing a child who has smiled, laughed, cried and been a part of you. For we as a society to continue to deny and look past this unforgivable and unclassifiable event by allowing demented and flawed individuals to have access to automatic weapons is simply unacceptable and unjustifiable by any account. What have we become as society that we fail to honor the memory of these innocents and their loved ones.
4
I am not belittling the #MeToo movement, but look at how quickly sexual harassment has become a national conversation since Harvey Weinstein was exposed. We have seen famous men fall and a group of female senators force Senator Franken out of office.
Now look at Newton where 20 first graders were slaughtered along with six teachers. Where is the national outrage that brings us real gun control? Instead, we get an anniversary article in the NYT's. Instead of the thousands of comments posted on every Trump article, we are barely over 100 on this one. I do not expect anything from Republicans, but how about the Democrats treat gun violence like they are now treating sexual harassment?
8
Heartbreaking. Still.
4
And republicans still block all efforts to control weapons. Shameful and disgraceful. How do they put Sandy Hook out of their minds? How can they not know that they bear some level of responsibility for the massacre? They were complicit. The thing with the gun followed a path that was cared for and well tended by the gun lobby and the republican party.
4
I still can't believe that the National Shooting Sports Foundation, quieter sibling of the NRA and trade association of the firearms industry, is actually headquartered in Newtown. How does anyone who works there hold their head up in town or look anyone in the eye? https://www.nssf.org/.
5
It is difficult to fathom that it has been 5 years.
Of the many tragedies and horrors that have afflicted the USA over the past many years - this one truly has left a deep wound in the hearts of mothers and fathers across the world.
We send our children to school to be educated, to play, to make friends. And at the end of each day, they're supposed to come home. That is the proper order of things.
This was a slaughter that destroyed our collective innocence in so many ways. To those of us who thought the deaths of wee ones was a line a nation would not cross in its fervent devotion to guns- we were shown, once and for all, that we are wrong.
So many children did not come home from school that day. They should have had playdates and Christmas concerts and birthdays.
Instead, grown adults who want to play 'soldier' or 'militia' maintain their iron grip on your politics. They play, the children no longer do.
This is unbearable.
7
This needs to be said: this tragedy and all the others that change lives in the most dreadful way possible weigh less on the scale than the love of money. It is money and the NRA that perpetuate horrors like this. It is money and the elected representatives who rely on it to keep their cushy jobs and taxpayer- supplied benefits.
Everything else is pure rationalization. We are up against greed and money.
It's bad enough that these people have to live their lives without their children and their loved ones. It's exponentially worse that they have to live with the realization that the lives of those they lost were not worth saving because of money.
4
I honor their lives with action. Everybody should. I joined the Brady Campaign and Moms Demand Action. I call my Representatives constantly asking for stronger gun laws and fighting the insanity of national concealed carry that is now in the Senate for a vote. More guns on our streets are not the answer. My heart aches when I think of Sandy Hook. If Congress won't make our gun laws stronger, than I will work to unseat that Congressperson.
6
"The right to bear arms" - the people of this country need to take control over the definition of that phrase. We have accepted without question the perspective established by the NRA, that is, that "arms" means "firearms of any kind."
That perspective (that "arms" means "any firearm") is no more an original intent than a definition that would include "offensive weapons of any kind, including firearms, military weapons, bombs, grenades." The current definition is an artificial construct established by the vested interest of the gun lobby and, unfortunately, accepted by Scalia (may he burn in Heller).
The Second Amendment is regulated, but the regulation that limits it to firearms is based on the enormous brilliance of the gun lobby in seizing and defining the term before the rest of us realized the harm that could be wrought.
Let's assume control over our lives; let's demand that regulation be established by a broad group of citizens, and not just buy into the regulation controlled by those with a profit motive. Reset, restart, regulate.
5
This story says the shock waves have faded a bit. Not for me. I still can't visit the place I was when I first saw the news. I grieve and I try to do things politically to change the guns laws so that we never have anything like this happen again. And even though my 5 year old's school is a minute or two out of the way, I sometimes find myself driving by on my way to work when school is in session.....just to be vigilant. This tragedy has taught me a lot about life. Some lessons frankly that I don't want to accept, such as what is the meaning of life and what is grief. It has taught me to be a more compassionate parent and to realize that at any moment, for no reason and regardless of zip code, tragedy can strike.
As Shakespeare said in Romeo and Juliet: "When he shall die take him and cut him out into stars and he shall make the face of heaven so fine that all the world will be in love with night and pay no worship to the garish sun."
3
Talk about insanity and guns. In November of this year Governor Scott Walker in Wisconsin signed into law legislation that allows anyone any age to have a gun license. Also no limit on the number of guns or bows carried.
Ten gun licenses were issued to infants under one year of age in Wisconsin. 1700 licenses were purchased for children under 9, and about 50 licenses were purchased for children under 5.
No hunter safety courses are needed. Children can walk along with adults, (the law calls them mentors!) carry guns, and shoot without any formal instruction.
Welcome to Wisconsin. Home of the insane. Newtown must mean nothing to our legislators and daddy gun owners. One more crazy place about guns. Our Wisconsin, under Republican Scott Walker - who, by the way, ran for president.
6
I hope that the media remain, like the ghosts from A Christmas Carol, to remind America that little has changed in our country's obsession with weapon ownership cloaked in preservation of the "rights" of the Second Amendment and capitalized on by the NRA and political funding. Reportedly 1,300 children are killed annually by guns in the US. Somehow neither this fact or the shocking tragedy of Newtown seem to have swayed our legislative bodies. Perhaps the recent surge in women's public outrage against inequities will tip us closer to things we need vs. things we want. MADD was able to foster laws that have saved lives from drunk drivers (tho enforcement still seems to allow too many repeat offenders back on the roads). We can hope that the women who are outraged enough by current events to have clamored for public office is a movement that may eventually save our country's children and reshape our moral standards of responsibility.
2
I can understand the citizens of Newtown's pain. Being from Orlando and going on now a year and six months since the Pulse tragedy, the biggest thing I've learned is time doesn't make it better. That heartbreak stays with you forever.
1
It is, unfortunately, incorrect to say that nothing has happened since that dark day. I say that because it seems that the Sandy Hook tragedy, along with the Pulse Nightclub, Las Vegas, Sutherland and other shootings, seem to again and again provide impetus for one thing: Increased gun purchases. Whether it’s “Good guys need guns” or “They’re gonna take your guns away”, the NRA and its supporters have an uncanny ability to take these events and spin them into rationalization for their cause. The saddest thing is that I don’t know how this ever changes.
3
This is a beautiful, sensitive and accurate portrayal of the pain and anguish that continues to be experienced by not only Newtown folks but people from all over the country and beyond. I salute the authors for approaching the subject knowing full well how diffficult it would be to ask strangers about their thoughts and feelings. The effort was worth it; we in Newtown may not want to be identified as victims of a horrific massacre, but we strive to be courageous survivors, led in part by brave hearts like the Wheelers, Hockleys, and the Bardens and all those who continue the fight for justice.
8
I grew up in Connecticut in a little town in Farfield County. I've lived outside the States for 22 years now and I regularly went back to visit my family in the USA (they live in Florida now), with the last visit taking place in March 2012. Since then, I haven't had the heart or the nerve or the courage or whatever it is that I should call it to go back. I have friend, a Canadian, who has been boycotting the States since 12/14/2012 until "they change the laws to have better gun control". But she doesn't have to give up seeing her family like I do. I'd like to go back for a visit; my parents, now too old to travel, are utterly heartbroken, but the news of Newton shocked me so much; I simply cannot make the plane reservations. I won't bring my family to a country which lets such things happen and which continues to let such things happen.
2
For outsiders, it's a big challenge to keep one's caring from being about oneself. An all-too-natural failure to meet that challenge shows in the sending of gifts, paper cranes, and so on. It's more likely to comfort the sender than the recipient. The same is true of almost any outward gesture, though we learn from this article that it's not necessarily so.
At the same time, I think the best and truest form of caring about the victims and their families is selfish in the extreme -- but inward. It's to think of our own children, if we have any, and then think of the Sandy Hook tragedy. And think of our children again, and so on. Soon it will become unbearable and we'll stop. Then it's time for one last thought about the families of the Sandy Hook children and teachers, who can't stop.
1
I always think of that picture of President Obama in the Oval Office when he heard about this horrible shooting. He looked like he literally had the weight of the world on his shoulders. An apt expression of how many felt.
36
Wonderful picture.
2
The many morally obligated responses to what happened in Newtown that never materialized is a blight on the moral fiber of this country. Mass murder of 20 children by a mentally ill 20 year old with access to military weaponry and nothing changes? Does this country not share in Adam Lanza's mental illness?
55
Lanza had no access to military weapons. I wonder when anti-gun people will find out that civilians have no legal access to military weapons and that they haven't had access to them since 1934.
And no, we don't share in his mental deficiencies else gun owners would be the only people living in this country.
While those in power did NOTHING. I will never forgive or forget their callous insensitivty.
32
Amen. Well ... I can forgive because if I don't then the problem becomes mine. But I will never forget the complicit.
1
The pain of the victim's families was made still worse by ALT-Right organizations like Infowars that claimed the massacre was all a hoax perpetrated by our government.
23
Why didn't the NYT and the writers of this story honor the request to leave the city of Newtown alone? Are they a special exemption?
4
Jeremiah 8:11 : They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.
9
My heart goes out to Newtown, the whole community; I wish them peace. The fanatics who insist that untrained, unsupervised civilians should have unfettered access to military-style weapons have these juvenile fantasies -- and a town like this is paying the dreadful price. Thank you, NYT, for reporting and publishing this article. Until the reality of the cost imposed on everyone else, to placate gun manufacturers and crazy gun-hoarders, sinks in over and over, these shootings will happen. Over and over.
26
Don't forget the acts of the crazy people who claim the massacre didn't happen. Having these idiots harassing the people of Newtown is a crime against human decency. My sister works in the Newtown school system. My niece grew up in Newtown. Those children were murdered. There needs to be laws to punish the harassers.
42
Tragic, horrible, unimaginable, but also tragic, horrible ,and unimaginable that nothing ever became of it in terms of new gun regulations. The sheer numbers were unfortunately not shocking enough. They were, after all, just numbers.
I think the graphic images of the carnage should have been made public. This is case where people needed to be shocked and horrified into taking action. Those children and adults died in vein, otherwise.
17
and nothing ever will come of it,except more "thoughts and prayers."
Wayne La Pierre and his NRA cohorts are
as guilty as the madman who pulled the
trigger,as are the politicians who take
their blood money.what a sad state our
beloved country is in!
2
Was not this debunked by the alt-right as a staged government training exercise in an attempt to restrict gun rights?
1
I am a proud Newtown teacher of 17 years. Newtown is every town. Our tragedy is America's to own.
I will keep pledging my allegiance every morning, and I will continue to push back in word and deed until America lives up to its promise of liberty and justice for all.
23
May you and our students continue in learning, safety, and peace.
1
Remember that the NRA is not the only pro-gun lobby. The corporations that make the guns are also lobbyers. Ultimately, the problem in this country is that corporations are now more important than human beings. We are just fodder for the corporate machine, and if some of us are killed by that machine, well, that's just too bad. Unfortunately, too many of those sitting in Congress apparently agree with that, and instead of representing their constituents, they kow-tow to the corporations.
24
I remember hearing about Newtown on NPR as I drove to the mall to finish Christmas shopping. My children were aged 16 - 6. I couldn’t stop crying in the stores so I gave up and went home. Gun control laws don’t work in this country because gun manufacturers own federal and, increasingly, state legislators. But gun manufacturers are publicly traded. Check your 401K or money market account. Where are your funds invested? Check your Public employee pension accounts. You, as a taxpayer, fund those accounts. Where are those funds invested? Who funds your state rep and state Senator campaigns? The NRA is going local. Starve the beast.
36
December 14 2012 was a day of relentless terror, horror, sadness, and grief. I also wish I could take away even a moment of pain from these families, and I mourn for how our country contributed to this terrible act.
December 15 and beyond showed an outpouring of love and support to this small town in our tiny state. And I remember that, and take comfort from it.
9
The satirical Onion, had the wisdom to publish more than once, the following:
"No way to prevent this", says only nation where this regularly happens.
31
I've started to use the names of the Newtown kids as passwords. Every time I type in "Charlotte Bacon, age 6" my heart sinks at "age 6". Guess where I stand on the 2nd amendment? Get rid of it, I say.
10
powerful
The what to do and how to do it of this entire regretable and needlessly bloody phenomenon of gun violence in the United States has been discussed ad nauseaum .
Until there is a real willingness and drive to do something about it, nothing will change indeed and the sad roster of mass shootings will continue to increase leaving in their wake utter destruction and infinite sadness.
5
This is very simple to understand, friends and neighbors. America has exchanged the occurrence of these horrific, murderous terrorist attacks for the ability to acquire and hold firearms, with little or no restrictions. And many of you would immediately vote to remove from office any representative or senator who might want to tighten this up, even a notch or two, wouldn't you?
7
I don't know anyone in Newtown is supposed to come to terms with this. I still can't and I don't even live there. I still cry whenever I read an article or see a reminder of it. What happened there has traumatized the nation, except for, apparently our Congress, who still can't bring themselves to put human lives above NRA donations. They should be deeply ashamed.
22
More specifically, it’s the GOP that refused, and continues to refuse, to do anything but ignore the grieving parents of those victims when they visited Capital Hill seeking support for gun control. Absolutely soul-less and disgraceful.
4
I am haunted by this tragedy and every year as the anniversary approaches, I struggle to deal with my memories of that day, my thoughts about the victims and the survivors. I’ve never met anyone from Sandy Hook but I think of this community often and I worry for their healing, I cry for their loss, and I rage with them at the inaction of the US government. This year my oldest son is in Grade 1, and I find the anniversary even more unbearable. In an effort to cope I imagine in my mind’s eye a cluster of 26 stars, dancing and shining, reminding me to be grateful, have patience, and show love and kindness. It has helped a great deal.
24
After many of our friends raised their eyebrows recently at the prospect of our purchasing a home in Newtown, we went ahead. After spending a lot of time there and talking to as many Newtowners as possible we came away impressed with the collective wisdom and nobility of the community. They have managed to move forward without forgetting the unspeakable tragedy which befell them and have chosen to be bravely proactive in addressing broader social and political issues which contributed to it. As a community they supported and protected their wounded souls. Newtown is often referred to as shorthand as an example of what can go very wrong in our nation - even though it has become an even stronger example of what can go right.
46
I feel it is important to remember that the majority of Americans support stricter gun control laws. The NRA is unequaled in its ability to successfully lobby and organize its members to put pressure on Congress.
We who see the insanity of lax gun laws (and we are legion) simply are not as well organized and our outrage appears ineffective and hollow. For every outraged and grief stricken voice, there are three or four voices making their unholy demands known to their representatives in Congress.
The numbers are actually on our side. Each day we are witnessing our citizens calling out injustice. We are not really a nation that wants to continue to embrace our tired old narrative of fear, domination, and so-called rugged individualism frontier-style. Most of us are much more evolved, and carry the pain of the carnage at Newtown.
We simply must find our voices and create the kind of wave that can’t be stopped, much as the phenomenon of the MeToo movement is demonstrating now.
And we will.
49
The strength of the Newtown community continues to amaze me. I didn't know anyone there personally, but I cried and cried that day as if one of those children were my own. My oldest daughter was in first grade five years ago; my youngest just an infant who now, as a Kindergartener, is practicing lock-down drills in school. Just the other day she told me that her class practiced moving together to the back of the classroom, her teacher turned off the lights and locked the door, they had to wait for the principal to tell them it was over. She has no idea why she would ever have to do this, of course, and she told me about it with a nonchalence and innocence that broke my heart. On the other hand, I've talked to my older daughter about how to react to an active shooter, now that she is old enough to be aware of the possibility that she might have to. I cannot wrap my brain around the fact that we must have these conversations with our children. And why? So people can purchase assault rifles? How can anyone begin to justify that? Yes, I know...money, politics, the NRA...but still, I will never understand it. I refuse to accept that this is our "new normal," but with nothing changing in the time since 26 teachers and children were killed in an elementary school, I don't have much hope for it to be otherwise.
70
It seems to be a common refrain among Americans to say 'Never Forget' after some massive tragedy. They start within just a couple of weeks, 'never forget, never forget'. It seems a bit ridiculous at times. People aren't going to forget something like that, especially the immediate survivors of the victims. The wounded certainly won't forget any time soon. But why not forget? People don't need to be reminded of their grief and loss. Sometimes its a relief from the pain to forget, if just for a few minutes or while you are sleeping.
It's been medically proven that dwelling on gloom and doom is bad for your health. Here in hurricane country we don't erect memorials to destructive, deadly hurricanes. We don't care to be reminded and are glad to forget them. Of course that doesn't mean we don't learn lessons for the next one but it's not productive to dwell on past tragedies. There are plenty of reminders anyway.
If the people of Newtown are feeling sorrowful for themselves perhaps they should consider the community of Beslan, North Ossetia in Russia. After the school massacre there the community was so affected that even the dogs did not bark. Don't tell me you forgot about that. That was when the American press was more concerned about Bill Clinton's bypass surgery than the events in some small town in southern Russia.
4
What are you trying to say? That people should pretend it didn't happen? With all respect, I also think there is a bit of difference between a natural disaster and an entirely man-caused one like Stony Hook.
8
Lose a child first. Then you will see how the meaning of "never forget" changes. The people of Newton don't "dwell on gloom" because they want to. They don't have a choice in the matter. The best you can do with loss of this magnitude is learn how to live with it the best way you can.
This "move on" , "move past it", usually comes because people don't want to deal with the issue confronting them, gun violence, which in the United States is an epidemic, which when looked on from the outside, is mind boggling to say the least.
8
Spoken like someone who's never gone through anything like Newtown. IT. DOESN'T. GO. AWAY. That hurt? It's going to stay with them forever, same as it will for Orlando, Aurora, Littleton, Las Vegas, etc.
This one remains in memory Dunblane all over again and we experienced that two decades ago - yet America won’t change this is one of worst right along with the horrors of 2017 - for your people sake and more importantly your children I pray America do something drastic as every generation will accept that it’s something they can do and the devastating outcome last forever xxxxx
7
Shortly after the shootings in Las Vegas occurred, I wrote to a friend. Nothing has changed. These events go on and on and on.
"I have no more prayers to give. I have only anger in my heart today, and I want you to be angry with me! That I am sick and I am tired, and I want you to be sick and tired with me! I-I-I am sick and tired of what has seemingly become a daily occurrence. And I-I am sick and tired of the people of this country who continue to allow these things to happen! This is no time to delay action. But my expectations are low because our lawmakers are beholden to a wealthy special interest group who hopes we become inured to these acts of domestic terrorism. We need to eliminate these weapons of mass destruction. We need the most extreme form of vetting on who gets to buy a gun and look for ways to reduce the now more than 300 million firearms that are on the streets, churches, schools, movie theaters and shopping malls of America. We need to be angry enough to demand change. We shall not lose interest as days of inaction go by. At election time, we will remember those lawmakers who chose to stand with us, and show those who didn't why our voices and our votes matter. How many more have to senselessly die? Act now."
Newtown has been burned into my brain. The events of December 14, 2012 will always be remembered.
10
This shooting broke my heart and still does. It is very difficult to even think about the horrendous events of that day without feeling overwhelming sadness for the loss of those beautiful children and what their poor families have suffered.
Their grief will lessen somewhat over time but it will never fully recede. The parents and other family members have lost a precious child who is never coming back. And through a senseless violent act.
Shame on every legislator and this president who doesn't support an assault weapon ban, universal background checks and tougher laws to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill.
22
Such a sad day for the Newtown Community. Those lives will always be remembered. This violent act changed the way all public schools operate. How unfortunate that our children and teachers have to practice security drills as preparedness steals the joy of childhood.
10
This topic SHOULD still be so raw. It was a horrible tragedy where 20 innocent children and six adults lost their lives needlessly. Nothing has been done to keep it from happening again and the person occupying the Oval Office loves conspiracy theorists, like Alex Jones, who claims Newtown didn’t happen. I cannot imagine how the families who lost loved ones are feeling at this point. They were probably hoping things would be a bit better now, if not for themselves, then at least for others in this country. But things aren’t better, because certain politicians think it’s “still too soon” to talk about gun control and actually DO something to prevent further tragedies.
15
My heart goes out to all of the families who lost a loved in this tragedy. I cannot imagine going through such a devastating loss and then being met with such indifference by so many of my fellow Americans.
10
Each of us can take person responsibility to economically boycott the firearm industry as well as those retailers who bolster their revenues through firearm and ammunition sales. Check your investments in mutual funds and ETF holdings for firearm manufacturers and retailers. Avoid shopping at retailers who sell firearms. Each of us can act responsibly to turn off the oxygen that feeds the NRA and its lobbyists.
14
Due to the perverse interpretation of the second amendment, written in the latter half of the eighteenth century, there are people in this country that love their guns more than they love their children, and consider these deaths as “collateral “.Until that changes, and the nation wakes up to the despicable actions of the NRA, nothing will change. It is a sad, grotesque commentary on freedom.
93
Money is the terrible lever for legislators and lobbyists. Send them the bills. Let the NRA pay the hospital bills, the funeral bills, the ongoing medical bills of the survivors, the costs of tearing down and replacing of schools and systems that we can not bear to use, and all the other costs to the families, friends and communities whose lives and livelihoods have been shattered.
1
To those who say that the lack of gun safety legislation after this tragedy proves that it will never happen: Please stop. It IS possible, because there are many more of us than there are of them. The only difference is that these mostly old white people in favor of all guns anywhere, vote in each and every election, from city council to President. We can do the same. We can keep the issue front and center, drown out the gun merchants' propaganda with facts, field candidates for local, state and national office, and Vote. If public safety isn't worth fighting for, what is?
9
You know, one thing that helps with serious grief and shock is the acknowledgment that a horror occurred. Another thing that helps, is seeing the community and the country take tangible steps to addressing the conditions that took so many lives, with so many of those lives taken being painfully young.
In this country, in this time, very little of this happened.
The issue of gun violence, even a kindergarten slaughter, did not provoke anything but another tired defense of the Second Amendment, even though that amendment, written hundreds of years ago, failed to foresee a time of automatic and semi-automatic weaponry owned by anyone - not within a well-regulated militia.
Too, it was only a matter of days before conspiracy theorists began saying that this slaughter never happened. That grieving parents were paid actors. That their beloved children, taken from them by a gun wielding unhinged man, never existed. That it was all a ploy to take their weapons. You can thank Alex Jones, he of pizza gate etc.. and his coterie for that.
No healing can possibly come from these conditions.
May these little angels, and their adult protectors who were all mown down, haunt the NRA and its defenders.
27
This anniversary feels more like it happened 5 months ago than 5 years ago. I do not know how the families who lost a loved one manage to cope, much less get out of bed every day. I doubt if sympathetic words and prayers give any real comfort to these parents or the families who lost a teacher while trying to shield or save their students, but I just want the heartbroken families of Newtown to know that I will NEVER forget what happened. I hope and wish that one day, this rawness will gradually lessen and your hearts will once again be filled with more joy than sadness and grief.
41
I turned 40 on 12/14/12. It was among the saddest days in my life. Since then, my birthday has never felt the same and I doubt it ever will.
40
Don’t ever forget that our despicable liar of a President and many of his henchmen support conspiracy theorists who say this didn’t happen.
28
If America really cared for those children, they would do something about gun access. All I see here is virtue signalling.
16
Gun violence is the choice WE Americans have made. WE Americans value our guns more than we value OUR own children. WE Americans are mentally ill as an entire society.
27
Here is a Christmas song I wrote in memory of the victims at Sandy Hook.
Listen to Christmas In America by WillRockwell #np on #SoundCloud
https://soundcloud.com/willrockwell/christmas-in-america
If the killing of 26 people in an elementary school with 20 6 year olds as victims couldn't change the gun control conversation, then nothing ever will. Perhaps the NRA is proud of this achievement as is any congressperson who sides with this evil and soulless organization and takes its money.
90
Truly, it baffles me how this unspeakable tragedy occurred and nothing has really changed. I remember that day so vividly and was so certain that we reached the point of change. As a nation, sadly, we have not. I really don't know this country.
17
MRose - your first sentence says it all. The fact that the gun control conversation has not been changed in the slightest makes the deaths of these children and teachers all the more painful and tragic.
6
As an American son of a WWII vet who saw combat in the Ardennes and Rhineland, where he mentioned seeing corpses stacked like cordwood and came back with perforated eardrums from the countless artillery shells he fired against the fascist troops who wanted to help a madman rule the world, I'm ashamed, disgusted and horrified by our country's leadership post WWII, particularly post JFK and LBJ, excluding Jimmy Carter. We've been lead by pathetic, corrupt, greedy and indeed malignant leaders that allow incidents like Newtown to happen.
Japan and Germany won the war in the long run, Japan only had 10 gun homicides last year? Germany's violent crime levels are much lower than ours also. They have civilized societies, whereas ours has become savage.
We are the most violent developed nation in the world, the world's greatest jailer, with gross income inequality and millions of able unemployed who cannot find gainful work. The American people should demand change, and not have to ask for it for fear of having their civil and human rights violated including the first amendment by authoritarian officials, politicians, judges or military overlords, as this authoritarian system is in contempt of what the WWII greatest generation fought against, is in contempt of the American people and their children, as Newtown and countless other gun atrocities prove.
The problem is the rich Americans propaganda networks, that have turned the American public into brainwashed politicized poodles.
186
Dear Mr. Speke,
You are so right about Germany and Japan's victories. While I grew up very near Newtown and spent many memorable times there with family, I have now enjoyed 30 years of peaceful existence in France. Terrorism and dodgy underprivileged suburbs notwithstanding, it is pleasure knowing the people around me here see no need to arm themselves to the teeth.
Forgive me now for injecting political comment, but, while I agree that Jimmy Carter had (and still has!) many admirable qualities, Barack Obama will forever be my favorite.
7
Regardless of the cause,few if any parents "overcome" the loss of a child.
6
I sit here trying to conceal my teary eyes as I read this article, while watching my current first-grader twirl around the living room doing cartwheels on his snow day. Not knowing any of the victims or families personally, my heart is still shattered to pieces.
"What are you reading, Mom?"
"Oh, nothing, sweetie. Nice moves! Can you do a somersault, too?"
One day I'll have to find the words, but today isn't it. God help us all, and may these babies rest in peace.
43
I was reading this and my kindergartener came up, looked, and cheerfully said "That heart says 'Sandy Hook!'" She attends the new Sandy Hook School. To her "Sandy Hook" means school, Christmas tree lightings and trick or treating down in the village, friends, home.
I think every day about how I am someday going to explain what happened to her.
She asks why a nearby house has stones arranged in a "26" in the front yard.
She asks why there is no house where there should be a house at 36 Yogananda Street
She asks why there are 26 stars on the fire house and 26 angels over the registers at Stop and Shop even when it isn't Christmas.
I will never have the right words for this tragedy.
86
Recommending your comment felt wrong. No one should recommend the situation you're in. I'd just like to convey that I felt your perspective added something to this board.
2
"The shooting in Sutherland Springs had the same death toll as the one at Sandy Hook." - not exactly.
The killer in Sutherland Springs took 26 lives plus his own. The killer in Newtown took 27 lives (26 at the school, one at his home) and his own.
Stop blaming politicians for our high rate of gun deaths. They don't act until our culture changes. Think about how long it took for women to vote, for African Americans to be considered equal by the government, or how long after society accepted homosexuals that they were given equal rights.
We need to change ourselves, to reject gun violence in our culture, before politicians will see to it that laws change. Right now we are a country fascinated and in lust with guns. They are everywhere, seen non stop in movies and on tv. If Americans love guns so much, why would a politician risk their career by placing restrictions on them? No, gun owners should be portrayed as weak and afraid, instead of tough and bold. Killers as cowards. Those who resort or rely on violence as sub human.
Until we quench our thirst for violence, don't expect any change from our politicians.
8
Let's be clear. It is only because of REPUBLICAN 'lawmakers' in Washington DC that these guns are allowed to still be sold. These Republicans kowtow to the NRA and there is a special place in Hell for all of them.
25
This is a thoughtful and sensitive article and well done. The pity is that it needed to be written in the first place.
From all the willful violence we have seen as a country, nothing breaks my heart more than this tragedy. Any life needlessly lost is tragic. Perhaps my grief endures because so many were children.
There’s no way to fathom why these fanatics and terrorists do what they do. I mourn the loss of the innocent lives lost that day. Just as profound is my grief that the relatives of the victims, indeed the community itself, has to wrestle forever with a question that has no answer - why? There simply is no answer, or no answer that suffices.
So take a quiet moment today and in your own way, remember with compassion those lost and the enduring grief of this community. They understandably don’t want any attention, so let’s offer up some compassion each in our own way, and along the way, remember that no soul is ever lost. As life comes and then passes, we are always there and are always united in spirit.
Kindness always endures.
6
Five years later, so many of us remain wounded in our deepest hearts. I continue to grieve for the children, the educators, the parents. And I rage at the cowards in Washington who could not bring themselves to do the right thing. I also feel the special hurt that comes from a sense of hopelessness. The quasi-religious mindset of the gun fanatics prevails because no tragedy will ever be great enough to force a change.
21
Meanwhile, school shootings are so frequent that they barely make the news.
Corporate personhood means that arms manufacturers can afford to have a lot more of an influential opinion than all of us expendable rubes.
11
To the families my daily thoughts and prayers.
7
No Republican in Congress should be allowed to offer the prayers and silence if they intend to do nothing. better they should hide their heads in shame at having done nothing especially when you consider some of the bodies of the children were so mangled the corner could only show them a picture of the remains.
21
One of the saddest days of my life. I pray for the victims of Sandy Hook and their families and friends. And, more importantly, I hope that our government takes all of the necessary steps to stop these types of insane massacres from happening again.
3
Repeal the Second Amendment and allow our legislators to pass common-sense laws regulating the ownership, possession, and use of firearms.
For now, every person in range of the village idiot's firearm of choice must take the risk that he will accidentally discharge it, or will misunderstand a situation or mistake his target and will purposely discharge it. Then, of course, there are the crazies.
And the carnage goes on...
7
I am not surprised that emotions are still raw since the Newtown killing of innocent children and teachers five years ago. The loss of a child as a result of gun violence is unpardonable.
But the fact remains that NOTHING has been done on the issue of gun related violence.
The high and unacceptable incidence of gun related deaths in the US is not only a scourge and cancer in America it is a National Security and National Health risk issue adversely impacting all Americans.
The key issues are the proliferation of and the easy access to guns. There are an estimated 357 million firearms . An estimated 31% of households, or one in three Americans, own guns. And what are guns used for ??? Guns are used for no other reason than to kill !!!
But debates in Congress and the Senate continue to be focused on peripheral issues, like magazine size. But the facts remain that the culture of gun violence is out of control !!!
The reality is that all of the debates on the need to improve controls on guns and gun ownership are DEBATES ON THE MARGINS. Any new legislation to strengthen gun controls will affect only new purchases of guns. Any such new legislation will leave the remaining guns already owned unaffected, grandfathered by earlier laws. Tinkering on the margins has not and never will work. There is only one solution to solve the issue of gun violence and deaths.
The Second Amendment must be repealed.
The new law should be called: “The Innocents’ Law.”
Bring peace to America.
11
There is the constant 'How are you doing?' query each and every day that the relatives of the murdered are asked when ever they are out in public.
This happened to a family I know and the father ended up committing suicide.
It's life long tough being the survivors or close relative in the aftermath of gun massacres. Give them their space and peace. The media should stay away from Newtown tomorrow on the 5th anniversary of this tragedy. Let it be.
6
The far right has repeatedly called the Sandy Hook massacre "fake news," adding outrage to an unimaginably horrible crime.
Of course it's still raw.
14
I've lived in the US for 24 years after moving from Australia. Of all the tragedies that have occurred in this country in that time, it is this massacre and the subsequent conspiracy theorists' attacks on the children's parents that effect me the most. I knew that if no legislation could be passed after this massacre then it would never happen. It's a disgrace.
50
I recall this day like it was yesterday. I still cry. When is enough, enough? After Sandy Hook I really thought we reached that point. Tragically, we have not. What more will it take?
12
I am a family survivor of the Gun murder of my beloved Nephew Neil. PLEASE everyone just understand and accept this basic fact; all the affected families and the locales that experience this overwhelming tragedy NEVER RECOVER. The wound of this special horror leaves a permanent stinging scar.
Here consider this scenario: imagine that your door bell rings at 4 AM. You jump up and answer the door bell only to find two police officers there who ask. Are you Mrs. Godleski, is your son named Neil? "YES". Sorry to inform you Neil's Mom but Neil was shot to death in D.C. at one AM. Well, That was my sister's fate on August 22, 2010. None of us have recovered. Shame on this nation for putting gun rights above human safety. Shame on our American religious leaders for being so silent on this grotesque social degradation in America. We are all cowards. Here is a possible ploy; If your elected officials call you begging for a donation firmly tell them "no". You are failing your responsibilities to the living by supporting excessive GUN RIGHTS. STOP BEING A COWARD. DO YOUR JOB! Wish them a good Day and say, I pray that the police never ring your door bell. For you will not ever forget that ugly visit.
153
Many have commented, in response to this and to other articles on mass shootings, that if the Sandy Hook massacre couldn't lead to any legislative changes, then the cause of gun control is truly hopeless. Alas, I tend to agree with this. The issue, in my opinion, is that there is a critical mass of gun owners and gun-rights advocates who accept the NRA's mantra that more guns means more safety, and that, as specifically applied to Sandy Hook, the only thing that could have stopped Adam Lanza that day, or at least led to fewer lives lost, would have been if the teachers and/or administrators had been armed as well. They really and truly believe this. Nothing meaningful will happen in terms of gun control until and unless there is a sea change in this mind-set.
27
But, the people who think the way you describe are a clear minority in all polls and surveys. The question is why majority opinion does not prevail - and the answer is in NRA financing of politicians.
12
A follow-up thought: these same gun owners and gun-rights advocates, in general, have also bought in completely to the idea that there is simply no way to prevent mass shootings without violating the rights of law-abiding gun owners. One sometimes hears this even from those who have been shot themselves (but survived) or had family members killed in such shootings. Even after these experiences, they remain convinced that gun control, in any form, is not the answer. This also has to change at a significant level for any progress to be made on gun control.
5
MN, they might not be a majority of the populace as a whole, but they do seem to be a majority of gun owners. There are certainly enough of them that, if they demanded that the NRA change its tune, the NRA might have to at least consider bending a little.
This should have been the tipping point. Perhaps if the republicans in congress had to go into that school and pick up the pieces, NRA cash wouldn't look so good to them.
41
Infinite sadness.
I wish it were possible to take on a bit of the unfathomable pain of these parents and relatives. I don't pray, but my heart is heavy.
And then there's activism, and relentlessly fighting back against the insanity of guns in this country. Of that we can all be a part.
Love.
41
I don't think that I will ever be able to hear New Town or Sandy Hook without tears welling in my eyes.
25
And in February 2017, Donald Trump killed a regulation that would have tightened gun background checks on the mentally ill, thereby aiding and abetting the next Newtown massacre.
The Obama administration rule required the Social Security Administration to submit records of mentally disabled people to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, the FBI database used to determine whether someone can buy a firearm under the 1993 Brady Bill.
The rule would have applied to about 75,000 people “adjudicated as a mental defective" and who had applied for Social Security benefits, and had a mechanism to notify those affected so they could appeal.
Congressional Republicans said the rule could ensnare people who had mental health issues but otherwise were competent to own a gun!
The Republican vote was 57-43 in the Senate and 235-180 in the House to Make America A Crazy National Shooting Gallery.
Trump signed the bill without a public ceremony because it was a complete disgrace to allow 75,000 people with mental issues to further destroy public safety by giving them unrestricted access to guns and bullets.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/02/28/trump-sign-bill-...
"A well regulated dementia, being necessary to the paranoid security of a murderous guns and ammo state, the right of the people to be randomly slaughtered by a male mental defective with a gun fetish, shall not be infringed."
"Drop dead, America"
GOP 2017
126
I will add, one of the most heartbreaking interviews I have ever heard was recently on NPR: StoryCorps aired an interview by the father of a victim at the Simon's Rock campus shooting with his imprisoned killer, Wayne Lo. Lo was severely mentally ill and delusional when he bought a gun and went to school. He literally wept as he described how easy it was for him to get the weapon and ammunition. "Guns everywhere" policies only benefit those who sell the guns. https://www.npr.org/2017/12/08/568929063/simon-s-rock-shooting-anniversary.
1
I can't believe there are people out there who believed Sandy Hook was a hoax/fake news - may God please help them get to their senses.
26
They should be made to look at the crime scene photos, and then come back with their fake news claims.
2
I am speaking directly to Women, and Men who love them: WE must end this scourge, this ongoing tragedy, the murderous stain upon OUR land. The precious Second Amendment is not worth the life of one single Child.
I'm begging you to make a simple vow, to NOT vote for any GOP candidates, for ANY Office, in ANY Election. Don't be complicit in the death of the next child. NRA means death for our Children and untold suffering for the Families left behind. It's that simple, and that profound. Only WE can change this, by removing the NRA lackeys from any public office. I'm not too proud to beg. I'm begging, please help. Thank you.
98
The photographs of the children's bodies directly after the attack should be published. I know that sounds extreme, but the real extremism is our tolerance as a people for carnage.
The day it became o.k. in America for 6 year olds to be slaughtered -- their bodies torn apart by weapons of war in their own classroom -- is the day I realized we are truly lost as a people. If we endorse the use of these weapons against tiny children, we cannot avert our eyes: if not the public, then every member of Congress should be required to view the photos of these children's bodies.
176
I could not recommend anything that might cause the parents to be further hurt.
The deniers would continue to deny and claim that the government either killed the children or the photos are a hoax.
2
What an appalling idea! As awful as this was, and as much as I would like to see more firearm regulation, the idea of using the mutilated bodies of 6 year old children to further a cause is just abhorrent. What are you thinking!!!!
5
ML, I agree with you - with the caveat that the family must be the driver of the decision to show. I think it could be a very powerful form of activism.
4
The photographs of the children's bodies directly after the attack should be published. I know that sounds extreme, but the real extremism is our tolerance as a people for carnage.
but the day it became o.k. in America for 6 year olds to be slaughtered -- their bodies torn apart by weapons of war in their own classroom -- is the day I realized we are truly lost as a people. If we endorse the use of these weapons against tiny children, we cannot avert our eyes: if not the public, then every member of Congress should be required to view the photos of these children's bodies.
15
“We work really hard to be resilient and strong,” she said. “And I think it’s O.K. to recognize that we’re still grieving, and that we should never forget. We don’t want to forget.”
I doubt no parent whose child was taken or whose parent was taken on that horrific day could ever forget. Unfortunately, I think our law makers in Washington continue to forget or worse, refuse to acknowledge what happened five years ago. I always thought if there was one single incident in which lawmakers would finally wake up and take aggressive action in carving out strong and effective gun control legislation, the Sandy Hook massacre would be it.
Many years ago I worked for an agency that granted wishes to terminally ill children. I still receive letters from parents, telling me how much their child loved their “granted wish” but how empty and sad their lives are, even after 25 years. But there is a difference in the kind and degree of pain, anguish and anger that resonates within a parent when a child dies from an illness vs. being murdered. What happened at Newtown is still not only raw, but almost still unbelievable. I never knew a parent who stopped grieving or felt a complete emptiness after the death of their child. The circumstances in which these 26 angels were taken merely sharpens their pain all the more.
I don't know these parents but can't help feel their pain or emptiness. It's a rawness that may never ease. God bless the kids and teachers who died that day.
24
If Sandy Hook didn't move the needle of gun control, the needle cannot be moved. I am of the firm belief that the public needs to see what victims of attacks with assault weapons look like. In a somewhat understandable desire to be sensitive to the families of victims, we sanitize and sentimentalize, ultimately to our own detriment.
People need to see what the mothers and fathers of the children massacred in Newtown saw. They need to see the carnage to understand what is really at stake here. No teddy bears, candlelight vigils, flowers, balloons.
These tragedies happen so frequently and with nothing done to reduce the risk of the next one, that they all blur together and are forgotten, within a week or two at this point.
Perhaps we need a Vietnam Memorial type wall-it will have to be very long and have lots of room for new panels-to inscribe the names of victims of mass shootings. Maybe seeing it carved in stone (and not just on a headstone) will make the point.
25
I'd support a Vietnam type wall, but no photos published without the specific consent of the parents.
They have already suffered an incomprehensible loss.
8
Make it a traveling memorial.
2
I lived in Newtown on that awful day and I also had a child in first grade at the time...fortunately for us, she went to a school 1.5 miles up the hill from Sandy Hook School. However, being in a small town, she knew many of the victims of the shooting. She played soccer with two of the girls, their season had ended just the month before, and went to dance with one on Monday nights. At that first rehearsal after the shooting, the teacher asked the kids to think of Caroline as dancing with them still, only up in heaven. I also taught two of the kids in church school...there are many like us who were not directly impacted but nevertheless are affected, on a daily basis, by the aftermath. Each dealing with it their own way and most of us horrified by the country's collective response to the shooting and the subsequent shootings that have cursed our nation since.
79
I remain utterly hearbroken that the shooting of little children and their teachers in the classrooms did not open the hearts of the Republicans and the NRA to sensible and reasonable gun regulations.
Five years later and the Republicans are trying to make open carry laws reciprocal across the country. Meaning that Wyoming would set the open carry laws for populace cities in other states that don't want the wild west open carry.
60
So much for states' rights. The Republicans only believe in that when it suits them.
25
"...[mr. begg] eventually settled on addressing gun violence as a public health issue, like cigarette smoking."
perhaps a better analogy is alcohol drinking with its tens of thousands of associated DWI and other deaths + permanent injuries and amendments in the constitution, although second hand tobacco smoke has pernicious effects on bystanders too.
but like tobacco and firearms, alcohol has an array of state and national taxes and other regulations like ID checks to try to deal with the harms that it imposes on the rest of society.
5
A couple of years ago I was fortunate to hear Nicole Hockley speak about her son Dylan and the Sandy Hook tragedy at a MLK awards ceremony for school children. Her strength, courage and determination to find some common, rational ground on gun control issues was remarkable. It is heartbreaking that the NRA and gun rights folks refuse to even discuss basic common sense gun control measures. That the Hockleys, Wheelers and other families continue to advocate on behalf of children in this cruel, angry environment is inspiring.
92
Every Republican - including every person who votes for Republicans - is responsible for these murders and can not escape moral culpability. Every Republican should feel shame every time they look into a child’s eyes. No child deserves the horror Republicans are reigning down on them.
6
Republicans keep insisting that mental health is the problem, not guns. Where is the mental health legislation the Republicans said was needed to prevent these tragedies in the future? Answer: Tax cuts for corporations!
139
Raw? Why is that? Because so many innocent children and teachers were murdered needlessly by a poor soul who was mentally ill and was still able to easily purchase a weapon of WAR with no difficulty at all and, today, five years later, NOTHING has changed? Raw because nearly 50 innocents were massacred by a terrorist ON A WATCH LIST who went into a Walmart, bought a weapon of war and took his beyond grotesque self to Orlando and the Pulse Club and, today, he could do the same again since nothing has changed? Our country is sick on so many levels, ladies and gentlemen, that one hardly knows where to begin addressing it's ills these days. Still, the slaughter of babes in Newtown, I thought, MIGHT jolt even the most un-Christian "born again loonies" and other mindless people who support the NRA and who love their guns into thinking that maybe some controls might be a good idea after all. No such luck. So yes, it's raw for me and I can't imagine how it feels for the parents and families of Newtown but my heart goes out to them in all sincerity.
181
And those who scream for 'no gun control' the loudest call themselves Pro-Life! Unbelievable.
17
The teachers who placed their bodies between children and a killer's bullets were lionesses and heroines. We need lawmakers who will be soldiers in this fight. And we need all others who refuse to forget.
59
I thought my own heart would burst as I watched the increasing horror, minute by minute, on TV that day.
And I remain furious that the real discussion is still not being held. Two parents who equally failed a desperately ill child; one abandoned him to the lunacies of the other. They were upper middle class so no one properly intervened.
Adam Lanza may, factually, have been a "20 year old man." In truth he was a profoundly disturbed child whose murderous weapons were bought for him by his mother, over and over and over again. She refused to acknowledge his diagnoses; refused to get him the treatment he needed; refused to break his self-imposed isolation; refused to be the mother he needed.
And advocates for the mentally ill fled from the name and reality of Adam Lanza as from a plague.
Please. Time to tell the truth about what happened here. Because it just happened again, in that Texas church, and it will happen again. Want to end mass murders? Start at home.
58
Amen. Guns in the home of anyone with mental illness is like giving a child gasoline and matches. Conflagration and Death. Period.
19
SCA, yes, she failed mostly by giving him guns. As for his mental illness, I have dealt with family members suffering from it and, believe me, it is almost impossible to deal with. Even with great insurance (15 years ago it was really good) you get a max of 30 days inpatient care per year. When a patient is released there is no outpatient followup or counseling; you are on your own. A sick person won't go to a counselor if they don't want to and will lie to doctors to get out of the hospital. It's a nightmare. This country needs to get serious about treating this terrible affliction. So yes, blame her for the guns but don't say she didn't get him the treatment he needed: it doesn't exist.
13
Unfortunately, mental illness isn't going anywhere. We cannot control it or predict it or eradicate it. We can, however, control weapons of war, just as we have with machine guns. It is not a perfect solution just as seat belts and traffic laws cannot stop all vehicular deaths, but we can greatly reduce the numbers of these horrendous events by reducing and controlling the manufacture and distribution of firearms. We just lack the moral character to take the smallest step at the federal level, such as closing the background check loopholes that 90% of americans (90%!) wanted after sandy hook. When the next incident occurs this afternoon, tonight or tomorrow, there is a high probability that it will be done with a weapon capable of firing multiple rounds with ease, and the blood of that event and next will be on the hands of the United States congress. They just don't care.
5