President Barack Obama at the Sandy Hook Promise benefit in Manhattan.Photo: Kristina Bumphrey/WWD via Getty
Nearly a decade ago, on Dec. 14, 2012, devastated parents in Newtown, Conn., were grappling with the sickening reality that the innocent, wide-eyed first graders they sent off to school that morning were never coming home.
They were processing the unthinkable: that their 6-and 7-year-olds who were excited about Santa coming and making holiday crafts in school had been shot at point-blank range with anAR-15-style Bushmaster semi-automatic rifle in their classrooms atSandy Hook Elementary School.
Two days later, then-PresidentBarack Obamatraveled to Newtown, where he met with some of the families of the 20 children and 6 educators who were killed that day and then spoke at an interfaith prayer vigil to try to console a grieving nation.
On Tuesday night, the former president spoke yet again about the tragedy atSandy Hook Promise’s 10-Year Remembrance benefit in Manhattan, saying, “I still consider Dec. 14, 2012, the single darkest day of my presidency.”
“Like so many other people, I felt not just sorrow, but I felt anger,” he said.
“Fury at a world that could allow such a thing to happen. And the days that followed, I joined you to remember your loved ones and offer what comfort I could. And the nation wept with you, and prayed with you, and vowed that you would not bear the burden alone.”
He praised all the Sandy Hook families for bearing the weight of that day “with strength and grace.”
“You made a solemn promise that you’d do everything in your power to make sure they never have to experience what you and your loved ones did,” he said.
“You’ve made meaning where there was none,” he said. “Back when we were together in 2012, I said that Newtown would be remembered for the way that you looked out for each other, the way that you cared for one another and the way that you loved one another.
Speaking about Sandy Hook Promise, which works to protect children from gun violence and prevent tragedies before they happen, he said, “you have upheld that promise and you upheld it in such a remarkable way.”
The non-profit also created the no-cost Know the Signs program, to teach students and educators how to recognize when someone is in crisis or at risk of hurting themselves or others to prevent a shooting.
Obama noted that SHP is “delivering results,” pointing out that its programs have prevented 11 planned school shootings and dozens more acts of violence.
“The journey has not always been easy,” Obama said. “Perhaps the most bitter disappointment of my time in office, the closest I came to being a cynic was the utter failure of Congress to respond in the immediate aftermath of the Sandy Hook shootings.”
With the help from advocates from all over the country, including SHP, “President Biden signed into law just this year, the first major piece of federal gun safety legislation in 30 years,” he said.
“I do not have to tell anybody here tonight that our work is far from over,” Obama said, noting that in 2022, there has been a mass shooting “somewhere in America” every week.
The most powerful part of Obama’s speech came when he said how proud SHP has made him and recited all the names of the victims who died that day, saying, “If they were here today I know … They would be proud of you too.”
Matthew McConaughey on Gun Violence
Matthew McConaughey talked about how he has become more outspoken about gun violence prevention since the mass shooting in May at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where he grew up.
Matthew McConaughey.Dia Dipasupil/Getty
“I am a father of three,” he said. “I was on the sidelines before Uvalde and then I got the call. I still see shock, confusion, the pain, the anger, the sadness, the grief and the hopelessness. I find myself still asking the question, when is grace going to come, if ever?”
He talked about how making gun violence prevention a priority is critical, as is a safe future for the nation’s children.
“When Camilla and I went to Uvalde, the parents of the children that were killed asked us for one thing, they weren’t just asking Camilla and I, they were asking all of us Americans, fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, teachers, young and old, to make their children’s lives matter,” he said.
“There’s no better way to make the lives of the children killed in Sandy Hook and Uvalde then and so many other mass shootings matter and to invest in saving the lives of more innocent children in the future.
So, to the Sandy Hook Promise, thank you for making the commitment, contract, covenant to the promise to see the self-service through the service of your children and mine.”
source: people.com
