Today is the fifth anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, a signal event in America’s relationship with firearms and the right to keep and bear arms. That unimaginably horrific crime was both the result and cause of many failures. It happened because of failures of complacency, of security, of law enforcement and, maybe most of all, failures of parenting. And the massacre of 26 students and teachers touched off innumerable follow-on failures of hubris, of conceit, of self-importance and of political pomposity.
But one thing that didn’t fail — a factor that no reasonable observer can blame for what happened that day in Newtown — was the nation’s gun control laws. Connecticut already had one of the strictest gun control regimes in the nation prior to Sandy Hook. The rifle Adam Lanza used was purchased, legally, by his mother in full compliance with all of the applicable laws from a federally licensed dealer after undergoing the Brady Bill’s background checks as required by law.
What the Brady Bill’s drafters couldn’t foresee — what no gun safety control law will ever be able to proscribe or prevent — was a severely mentally disturbed, long-neglected, basement-dwelling shut-in stealing his mother’s rifle, shooting her in the head and then committing mass murder in a neighborhood grade school.
Not that any of that will prevent those who push for Second Amendment restrictions from using the example of Sandy Hook as an opportunity to call for further limitations and constraints on Americans’ gun rights. It’s just too juicy an opportunity — to both tug at heartstrings and tsk-tsk at the supposedly ineluctable power of the “gun lobby” — for the Civilian Disarmament Industrial Complex and their complicit media cheerleaders to ignore. Here are just a few examples:
Five years after my sister died at Sandy Hook, the gun lobby is working to make us less safe
I’ve become intimately aware of our nation’s gun laws. I’ve met other survivors of gun violence as part of the Everytown Survivor Network and shared my story with members of Congress, urging them to take action to close the gaping loopholes in our nation’s gun laws. I remember the disappointment and outrage when legislation in Congress to close the background check loophole failed to become law in 2013. But I’ve learned that change happens over time and since 2012, a groundswell of Americans has gotten more engaged in the fight for gun safety.
Still, it’s astonishing to me to learn that last week — just days before we mark five years since the day Vicki was shot and killed in her classroom — gun lobby-backed members of in the House voted in favor of legislation that would gut our states’ gun laws. The gun lobby’s number one priority — known as “concealed carry reciprocity” — would override the standards that states have set for who can carry hidden, loaded guns in public. It would put all of our communities at risk — forcing each state to accept the concealed carry standards of every other state, letting people with dangerous histories, no training or even no concealed carry permits to carry concealed handguns across the country.
Gun Law Advocates Gather In Tulsa On Anniversary Of Sandy Hook Massacre
The Oklahoma chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America gathered Wednesday night to remember those killed in the Sandy Hook massacre five years ago.
The event, held at the Charles Schusterman Jewish Community Center, is one of more than 200 events taking place across the country.
In the five years since Sandy Hook, Moms Demand Action volunteers — along with survivors of gun violence and other gun violence prevention advocates — have fought to change America’s gun laws.
“Twenty children and six staff members were going to bed early so they could get up early and get to school but they didn’t know it would be there last time to go to school,” said Allison Ikley-Freeman, Oklahoma Senator-Elect for District 37.
Add at least 57 to the number of gun-related deaths tied to the Sandy Hook mass shooting
The line between increased gun sales and accidental shootings is by no means a direct one. But the research strongly suggests that the behavior of gun owners and gun buyers in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting contributed to a rise in accidental gun deaths.
The study’s authors — health economists from Wellesley College and from the National Bureau of Economic Research in Massachusetts — used several measures to gauge Americans’ increased “gun exposure” in the wake of Sandy Hook.
They saw a spike in presumptive gun sales, gleaned from a spike in the background checks required for most sales. They also tallied increases in Google searches about gun-buying and gun-cleaning. That’s evidence, they suggest, that gun owners were bringing existing guns out of storage and that both established and prospective gun owners were preparing to bring a new firearm into the home.
Sandy Hook was five years ago. Congress has still done nothing.
Sandy Hook, at the time, was the country’s second-deadliest mass shooting in modern history. It was seen as a defining event that would finally lead to some sensible gun control. But not even the horror of elementary school children being slaughtered was sufficient to get action from a Congress in the thrall of the National Rifle Association. A ban on assault weapons was defeated, and Republican lawmakers blocked even modest legislation to improve background checks.
Five years later — after a series of mass shootings (including two deadlier than Sandy Hook) — that failure continues, and the gun lobby has become more emboldened. Witness the House’s passage of legislation allowing people, including those with dangerous backgrounds, to carry concealed guns across state lines.
Newtown Is ‘Still So Raw,’ 5 Years After Sandy Hook Shooting
The shooting punctured the sense of security that blanketed Newtown, a quiet and bucolic New England community, and stunned a country that could not comprehend an act as depraved as mowing down 6- and 7-year-old children. That day, an emotional President Barack Obama dabbed his eyes as he addressed the nation.
The shock waves have, by now, faded to something more subtle. Yet they still ripple through the town, stirring concentric circles of anguish, leaving people with varying degrees of pain and differing sets of struggles. The victims’ relatives are at the core. Beyond them are the teachers and students who witnessed the carnage and chaos that day; the police officers, emergency workers and doctors who responded to it; and then an entire community.
“It’s almost impossible to ask the question, ‘How is the town doing?’ It depends entirely on who you ask,” said David Wheeler, whose 6-year-old son, Benjamin, was killed. “One of the things an event like this does — it doesn’t change you, it simply heightens who you already are. There are beautiful, meaningful, thoughtful and very kind gestures at every turn, from people you know well and people you don’t know at all.”
How gun laws have changed in the 5 years since Sandy Hook
Over the course of the past five years, (Connecticut Senator Chris) Murphy has been outspoken in his calls for gun safety. In the last 12 months alone, he has sponsored one piece of federal legislation and co-sponsored nine other bills related to guns.
But federal legislation is not where gun control advocates have seen the most success. He pointed to state-level laws, electing politicians who support tightened gun laws, and ballot referendums as meaningful ways that changes have been made.
“We’ve found that referendums are a very potent tool,” Murphy said.
Referendums and ballot initiatives were what led to major changes in certain states, with all but one gun regulation-related measure passing.
It’s Been Five Years Since Sandy Hook & Sheryl Crow Has Had Enough
After the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary five years ago today, the one thing I thought nobody would be fighting about was a common-sense solution to gun violence. I wondered then if my own sons would be safe in their schools as they grew up in a country in love with guns. Surely, I thought, this tragedy has to result in some reasonable new laws to prevent further senseless mass shootings.
How wrong I was. In April of 2013, four months after the Newtown shooting that claimed the lives of 20 children and 6 adults, the U.S. Senate rejected a bill to expand background checks on firearms sales. Most Americans supported this bill. It didn’t matter.
5 years after horrific Sandy Hook massacre, a mother and daughter still fight for sane guns laws
Ashley (Cech’s) plan of becoming a language teacher was put on hold and she turned her attention to gun safety. “This issue became incredibly urgent for me and I knew that I needed to focus my energy on being a part of the solution of ending gun violence in America.” Ashley now works with Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun violence prevention organisation in the country.
Yvonne worries about her, as a mother, working such an intense job, but describes her daughter’s “unbelievable passion”.
“She is approaching it from a very intellectual point of view and she’s very supportive of people’s rights,” Yvonne says. “I am very, very proud of Ashley”.
The family have become single issue voters now, Ashley says. If a candidate doesn’t have a strong stance on gun violence prevention, “they don’t get our vote”.
Pro tip. My rights do not depend on the good behavior of left wing psychotics.
+ 10^(n+1)
I just DGAF about this anymore because the Left loves to dance in blood to push their fatalist utopian dreams.
so you just called adam lanza a leftist? he was just insane, thats all there is to it.
I’m sure his connection to the Obama campaign was just a coincidence, right?
I really hate the name of their group. “Moms Demand Action”…… It sounds like some porn you’d rent in a hotel room on a business trip but I’m consistently amazed that any of these women were ever able to be impregnated in the first place.
And ya know what else? I give not one single fuck about your motherhood status. I’m so sick of any dumb twat who got knocked up being held as a paragon of wisdom and intelligence.
Don’t hold back: tell us what you really think.
Time to have a day the honors and embraces a gun hero incident. How about the guy that grabbed his rifle and plugged the bad guy in that recent shooting?
It would provide an opportunity to thumb our collective noses at people like the drooling puppet lady, dried prune Feinstein and bad hair day Watts.
Would any new law have stopped lanza from killing people?
No. Rifle was stolen from his mother after her killed her.
Did the current laws stop that coward from going into a church and killing?
No. In fact passed a backround check supported by the gun grabbers. What stopped him was a good guy with a gun.
And the loser at mandalay bay? Yet another one who passed a backround check.
And the illegal immigrant that shot and killed the woman in san francisco? Illigal immigrant with a stolen gun.
No amount of laws would have prevented these tragedies. Evil can not be governed. It must be destroyed.
I realize that sounds extreme. Maybe it is. Maybe its not. You will never be rid of evil. So you must be ready to combat it.
How did she think buying a rifle for her crazy kid and taking him to the range as a bonding experience?
Well they’re bonded now in hell, having to spend eternally “what the fuck was I thinking”?
I see that the gun controllers are still dancing in the blood of this event.
They still use the events of 1989 to demonize peaceable gun owners in Canada, so why would the US be any different?
I just wish that the average person who is swayed by the anti-gun-owner reporting would take time to think about what is being said. It’s easy to feel sympathy for the families of the lost, and even easier to be swayed by it into action. It’s just that the idea that the average gun owner is just a nut waiting to go off is a dangerous one (and that is precisely what the anti-gun laws are structured around). If we expand that idea, and start considering the average person as just a criminal in waiting, we destroy western civilization.
What happened was sad, but it is not possible to protect everyone from every possible evil act. Evil men motivated by whatever twisted thoughts occur in their fevered imaginations will always act out with whatever tools they have at hand. This has been true since the first cave man smashed a rock into the head of another in a fight over food. No law will ever change the nature of humankind no matter what these sad deluded people think.
I just saw an article about four different organizations started by parents of the victims. I was expecting to see several gun-control organizations, but instead three of them were focused on identifying troubled kids and getting them help they need before something like this happens, and the fourth was focused on trying to make schools safer and more aware of what’s going on inside their buildings (with cameras and controlled access points and such).
They may be pro-gun-control, and I don’t necessarily agree with all their methods, but it was refreshing seeing folks actually recognizing that the problem is with people rather than with the tools, and trying to address the issue accordingly.
Hey moms demand action. How about you demand action for the 600,000
children murdered every year by abortion ?
Maybe then people will care about you running your pie holes.
Indeed and +1000
But one thing that didn’t fail … was the nation’s gun control laws.
Huh? They completely failed, just like they failed in every high profile shooting, or low profile one, since. Gun control laws fail, because we can’t control bad behavior with legislation.
I keep hearing anti-gunners throwing around words like “common sense” and “reasonable” when describing proposals. After all, who could reject common sense? Who doesn’t want to be reasonable?
However, they usually fail to specify exactly what they mean, and when examined, the measures often lack common sense and strain reason. Sometimes I fear the Internet’s dumbed humanity down to the point that any thought over one sentence long is ignored and insults are considered a legitimate argument.
I don’t want to be “reasonable” or accept “common sense” when it comes to my rights. My rights are non-negotiable. End of discussion.
Not infringing on rights that are clearly protected sounds an awful lot like common-sense to me. So by refusing to be reasonable, are you pro-infringement? I’m confused now.
How about the uncover the FBI agent who befriended the kid online through world of Warcraft, and convinced him to do this. He probably told the kid that his mother doesn’t love him because she cares more about the kids at the elementary school. And the best way to get back at her is to steal her weapons and go on a rampage at the school.
*adjusts tin foil hat*
I would [still] like to know why the Sandy Hook was torn down and Bath School, Columbine, West Nickel Mines, Polytechique and V-Tech were not.
(pardon the crinkling of my tin foil hat)
Barry Soetoro dabbed his eyes with irritant to PRETEND he “cared”. FIFY…if Newtown (or Las Vegas) didn’t nail our rights coffin shut nothing will. Anyone notice quickly the Texas church shooting faded when it didn’t fit the leftard narrative???
Don’t hold your breath. We are getting chipped away at the local level on the coasts and the commies are ALWAYS looking for the next tragedy to make more restrictions politically possible.
I don’t want to act too much like a troll but, given how apropos it is, I’m just gonna cut and paste my comment from the Blumenthal thread.
I said:
“What exactly does Blumenthal propose that would work? Bueller, Bueller, Anyone? And I do mean what *exactly*.
Make a proposal, tell me exactly what you want to do and then make a compelling case for how it would work – you gotta make the sale. Phrases like, ‘keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people’, ‘limit access to assault weapons’, ‘eliminate the gunshow loophole’, and the like are not serious proposals, BTW. What do you propose to do that will make it harder for a crazed individual to shoot up an elementary school and how would this be implemented and how much will it cost and who will it affect – go ahead, tell me.
Oh, I see, you don’t have a meaningful proposal and can’t establish any justification – You just want to virtue signal. In that case, shut up, I don’t have the time.”
The same senator Blumenthal that talks about his “service in Vietnam”?
That’s the one.
https://youtu.be/qI6zOKnRZ7I
Except the narrative is full of holes….
I will never believe the official story about Sandy Hook. There were too many situations that happened during and after the “incident” that no one will address. Every crime has a motive regardless of what the elitist want you to think. There was no motive for a kid with aspergers that had no connection to the school, murder his mother, steal her weapons, break into a school and murder 26 people. However, at the time of the “incident” there was a government in power that had motivation to ban, restrict, or out right confiscate your firearms. Such a mass murder could be used to brainwash many Americans to willingly forfeit their second amendment rights.
Then at a Super Bowl, kids having a scarily similar appearence to the ones murdered are standing on the field. The families of the kids murdered have collected tens of millions in donations. Robbie Parker, the father caught laughing on camera before his emotional plea and announcement of his charity in the name of his less than 24 hour murdered daughter.
Some will claim how could all those people stay quiet if there was a conspiracy? Easy. Money. Money in America means everything and I totally believe money with a healthy dose of fear will keep them all quiet.
If “Sheryl Crow has had enough”, well by golly we need to do something ASAP! Because she is Sheryl Crow after all.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again….
The Sandy Hook gun-grabbing fascist media complex can go fvck themselves.
I’m not giving up my rights to make you feel better.
If you want to save 1000x the lives monthly head down to your leftist state congress critter and get some “commonsense” control on the abortion mills.
If you live with crazy don’t take em to the gun Range
In today’s world in 2017 any teacher, principal, staffer, or school board member who is against having a gun in school, that person should be removed from the education system.
They are a threat to children because they will do nothing as the only adults in the school building when the next attack comes.
“Adam Lanza” … the man who wasn’t there!
i met a man upon the stair;
i met a man who wasn’t there;
he wasn’t there again today;
oh! how i wish he’d go away!
So, all these years later, we still don’t have improvements to mental-health interventions, restrictions on known stalkers and crazies, or hardening soft targets. (The hand-wringing overlords still have heir secure facilities and armed guards, tho, so there’s that.)
Specifically from Sandy Hook, we don’t yet have the reports that would let us at least learn & improve responses, like have come from several incidents since, and changed many law enforcement protocols for active shooter interventions. We didn’t get that from the elementary school, yet, one assumes due to all the attention. Every preventable death, if we’d just learn from what happened, is on them. These people have blood on their hands.
I do wish they’d stop impeding things that might help with nonsense ideas they won’t get, that wouldn’t help anyway. I have no hope for them. Even dead children won’t make them get serious or teach them what won’t work.
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