Imagine you’re six years old and you’re sitting in your classroom in a peaceful quiet town when you hear gunshots. When your teacher instructs you to go hide in your cubby, she tries to sound cool, but you can hear the terror in her voice. “Be quiet as a mouse,” she advises, but your ears ring with the sobs of your classmates. More than 150 gunshots are heard in less than four minutes.
You’re in the first year of elementary school. You firmly believe in Santa Claus and the power of magic. You’re looking forward to getting rid of your front teeth. PG-rated films are nonetheless prescreened by your parents so that you are aware of any potentially frightening scenes.
And yet, here you are, witnessing a horror that only a few others can comprehend.
It’s difficult to understand the trauma of any school shooting, but the Sandy Hook atrocity was in a league of its own. These were students in the first grade. In a matter of minutes, twenty babies were shot and died. Six educators attempted to safeguard them.
It had been nine years since then. Now that the children who survived Sandy Hook are in high school, some of them are sharing their stories. Their voices have earned the right to be heard.
Sandy Hook survivor Ashley shared her experience with NowThis News in February of this year. The following scenario was adapted from her account:
Sandy Hook Survivor Speaks Out for the First Time
Ashley was seven years old when Sandy Hook happened. She stated she has felt survivor’s remorse as well as the anguish of those who say the shooting was a hoax. “I can’t give you proof except for my trauma,” she stated.
Maggie Blanca, another Sandy Hook victim, spoke at this year’s National Vigil for All Victims of Gun Violence last week. Daniel, her best friend, was slain in the shooting.
“It’s been almost nine years since I endured that day. Everything has stayed with me so clearly,” she said. “The trauma never went away, and I still feel sad all the time that I’m here and they’re not. I look for Daniel everywhere because it’s hard to accept that I lost him.”
We grieve those who are murdered in school shootings and concentrate on the number of victims, but the survivors deserve just as much attention. Having a loved one murdered or witnessing someone being murdered in front of them is distressing for anyone. In the worst-case situation, each of these things occurs simultaneously. And when the witnesses are children, it’s a tragedy that none of us should accept as usual.
This TikTok video from a Sandy Hook survivor sums it up succinctly.
We thought Sandy Hook had to be the final straw at the time. We assumed that 6-year-olds being shot and killed in their classrooms would make a difference. Our legislators would almost certainly band together to take action—to do something, anything—to attempt to prevent something like this from happening again. People pleaded for help. Activists banded together. And our laws have barely moved, particularly at the federal level, where they have the best chance of succeeding.
As per Upworthy, this does not need to be the case. The majority of Americans agree on certain fundamental gun laws. According to a 2019 poll reported by Politico, 70% of Americans support banning assault weapons, including a majority of Democrats and Republicans.
A poll conducted by National Public Radio NPR, PBS NewsHour, and Maris College in 2019 revealed that 83 percent of Americans want Congress to adopt legislation requiring background checks for gun transactions made at gun shows or through other private sales.
Why shouldn’t we make it more difficult for abusers and those with a history of violent or threatening behavior to obtain firearms? Why wouldn’t we want to make it more difficult for disturbed teenagers to obtain guns in their homes?
Gun rights advocates will argue that no law can prevent every shooting, which is correct. There are just too many guns in circulation in the United States to prevent all gun violence. However, some will prevent some, and some are preferable to none, especially when we’re producing generations of children who will have to practice what to do if a shooter opens fire on their school.
We are not in a typical situation right now. It’s not the same as liberty. It’s a horrible shame and a stain on our country, but it’s not something we have to accept without a struggle. At the very least, that is what we owe these kids.
