Sadly today is the ten year anniversary of the Sandy Hook massacre and since then practically nothing has been regarding gun violence. But U.S. Senator Bob Casey, Jr. (D. PA), once a gun rights advocate, went to the Senate floor to read the names and ages of the victims who were killed that day and how this tragedy was the final breaking point for him:
Casey also followed up with this statement in a call for action on gun violence:
“Today marks the ten-year anniversary of the one of the darkest days in our Nation’s history. I was forever changed by the horror of Sandy Hook. After I learned of the deaths of 20 elementary school students and six of their teachers, I was struck by the stark realization that we did not have to live like this. So I changed my position on gun safety laws.
“Yet it took thousands more mass shootings and hundreds of thousands of gun violence deaths for Congress to finally act. This past summer, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle finally came to the table to pass a commonsense gun safety bill. That law will save lives. But it has to be the beginning of our work on this issue. People are still being killed and injured by gun violence every day in cities and communities across our Commonwealth and the Nation. We owe it to the families of the 26 souls who lost their lives in Sandy Hook—and to every single American who has ever lost a loved one or been traumatized because of gun violence—to get up every single day and fight to end the scourge of gun violence once and for all.”
Senator Casey wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post back in June after the Ulvade school shooting massacre discussing how he changed his stance and how his colleagues need to follow his lead:
I came to Washington in 2007 with the firm belief that to support and honor Pennsylvania’s deep-rooted hunting culture meant that I should not support restrictions on gun sales or increased regulations.
Then, in 2012, Sandy Hook happened.
Twenty 6- and 7-year-olds and six educators were killed in their school by a 20-year-old with an assault rifle, just before Christmas.
I will never forget the shock, horror and grief of learning that 26 families would never see their loved ones again. I was struck by the stark realization that we did not have to live like this. The idea that more than two dozen students and educators could be slaughtered in a matter of minutes because a 20-year-old had virtually unfettered access to weapons of war was too much to bear.
So I changed my position. Now it’s time for many of my colleagues in the Senate to do the same.
Our country cannot continue to surrender to the idea that gun deaths are inevitable or unavoidable.
Well said, Senator Casey. We cannot give up on the fight to end gun violence in this country and we need more Senators to have the same courage to change their stances on gun control and stand up to the NRA. Click here to contact your Senator and urge them to make gun control a top priority now.
Also, Senator Casey is up for re-election in 2024. I won’t ask you to donate to his re-election campaign on this day but I will ask you in the future to show that we have his back.
