WASHINGTON — Everytown for Gun Safety and its grassroots networks, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, released the following statements in honor of the 10 year mark of the Sandy Hook School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14, 2012, during which 20 children and six educators were shot and killed.
“Ten years after one of the defining tragedies of our time, we come together to remember the 26 people whose lives were cut short at Sandy Hook School — and also to recommit ourselves to the fight for a safer future,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “The courage and resilience of those who survived the shooting remains a driving force behind the gun safety movement, and Everytown is honored to stand alongside them today and every day.”
“Ten years ago, 20 children and six educators were murdered in their school, their families were left with unimaginable grief and an entire community was traumatized forever,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action. “Our hearts continue to be with those families and survivors as we mark this day that forever changed their lives and our nation. Their courage continues to inspire us as we fight to end gun violence in this country.”
You can visit My Sandy Hook Family – a digital storytelling site in which families who lost loved ones during the shooting at Sandy Hook School share defining details about and honor their loved ones’ legacies in their own unique voice.
Every day in the United States, more than 110 people are killed with guns, hundreds more are shot and wounded, and countless others witness acts of gun violence. Since 2013, Everytown has identified at least 1,000 incidents of gunfire on school grounds, and the worst period for this violence has been in the 2021–2022 school year, which saw nearly quadruple the average number of gunfire incidents since 2013. The reach of each incident – which Everytown defines as whenever a firearm discharges a live round inside or into a school building or on or onto a school campus or grounds – can stretch far beyond those killed and wounded, harming the well-being of survivors, their families, and entire communities.