Sandy Hook massacre: one year on
- 10 years ago
A year after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, residents of Newtown Connecticut marked the anniversary in quiet remembrance.
Newtown officials wanted the town to be left alone on the anniversary. However, some of the victims’ families have encouraged people to mark the day by performing an act of kindness in their own communities.
On December 14 2012, 20 year old Adam Lanza killed his mother in her bed. He then shot his way into Sandy Hook School, where he murdered 20 six to seven year old children and six adults, before taking his own life.
Lanza’s mother had legally purchased the guns he used that day.
The incident raised many issues surrounding gun laws in America.
President Obama addressed people’s concerns in a statement to the press.
“We have to do more to keep dangerous people from getting their hands on a gun so easily,” he said. “We have to do more to heal troubled minds. We have to do everything we can to protect our children from harm and make them feel loved, and valued, and cared for.”
Both Barack and Michelle Obama observed a moment of silence at the White House in memory of those who died.
Since the massacre, there have been 28 similar incidents in schools, including one in Colarado, on the eve of the Newtown anniversary. Two people were injured before the gunman reportedly committed suicide.
Since the Sandy Hook shootings, New York has passed some of the tightest gun control laws in the nation.
Yet, this is not the case in the majority of US states, where rifles and shotguns are often not required to be registered and no permit is needed to buy or carry them.
Newtown officials wanted the town to be left alone on the anniversary. However, some of the victims’ families have encouraged people to mark the day by performing an act of kindness in their own communities.
On December 14 2012, 20 year old Adam Lanza killed his mother in her bed. He then shot his way into Sandy Hook School, where he murdered 20 six to seven year old children and six adults, before taking his own life.
Lanza’s mother had legally purchased the guns he used that day.
The incident raised many issues surrounding gun laws in America.
President Obama addressed people’s concerns in a statement to the press.
“We have to do more to keep dangerous people from getting their hands on a gun so easily,” he said. “We have to do more to heal troubled minds. We have to do everything we can to protect our children from harm and make them feel loved, and valued, and cared for.”
Both Barack and Michelle Obama observed a moment of silence at the White House in memory of those who died.
Since the massacre, there have been 28 similar incidents in schools, including one in Colarado, on the eve of the Newtown anniversary. Two people were injured before the gunman reportedly committed suicide.
Since the Sandy Hook shootings, New York has passed some of the tightest gun control laws in the nation.
Yet, this is not the case in the majority of US states, where rifles and shotguns are often not required to be registered and no permit is needed to buy or carry them.