Hoyer Statement on the Five Year Anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting
Press Types
Press Release
For Immediate Release:
December 14, 2017
Contact Info:
Mariel Saez 202-225-3130
WASHINGTON, DC - House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement marking the five year anniversary of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut:
“It is hard to believe it has been five years since the unspeakable horror of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. On that day, a lone gunman in Newtown, Connecticut, killed twenty-six innocent people, twenty of them young children and six brave educators protecting their students. In the five years since, while Congress has failed to take any meaningful action to prevent gun violence, more than 170,000 Americans have been killed. More than 1,700 mass shootings have occurred in that same period, most recently in Las Vegas and Southerland Springs, yet Congress’s only response has been to hold moments of silence. Silence, however, will not bring back those who have been lost or bring comfort to shattered families. Silence will not keep dangerous weapons of war out of the hands of terror suspects, violent domestic abusers, or the seriously mentally ill. Silence cannot fill the vacuum of action that this Republican-led Congress has created, offering only measures endorsed by the gun lobby that make our communities less safe from gun violence.
“As we mourn this anniversary of the senseless killing of innocent children and those who cared for them, let us strive toward achieving the kind of commonsense gun safety legislation that Americans – including responsible gun owners – overwhelmingly support. If we continue to ignore this crisis in our communities and across our country, we risk having to add further tragic anniversaries to our calendar in the future.”
“It is hard to believe it has been five years since the unspeakable horror of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. On that day, a lone gunman in Newtown, Connecticut, killed twenty-six innocent people, twenty of them young children and six brave educators protecting their students. In the five years since, while Congress has failed to take any meaningful action to prevent gun violence, more than 170,000 Americans have been killed. More than 1,700 mass shootings have occurred in that same period, most recently in Las Vegas and Southerland Springs, yet Congress’s only response has been to hold moments of silence. Silence, however, will not bring back those who have been lost or bring comfort to shattered families. Silence will not keep dangerous weapons of war out of the hands of terror suspects, violent domestic abusers, or the seriously mentally ill. Silence cannot fill the vacuum of action that this Republican-led Congress has created, offering only measures endorsed by the gun lobby that make our communities less safe from gun violence.
“As we mourn this anniversary of the senseless killing of innocent children and those who cared for them, let us strive toward achieving the kind of commonsense gun safety legislation that Americans – including responsible gun owners – overwhelmingly support. If we continue to ignore this crisis in our communities and across our country, we risk having to add further tragic anniversaries to our calendar in the future.”