The shooting of twenty children and six staff members at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14, 2012 so shocked Americans that they seemed to have reached their breaking point. Many, like mother Shannon Watts, no longer found inaction regarding gun violence acceptable. In response, she founded the organization Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
“No More Silence” was the theme of events the organization coordinated nationwide to commemorate the tragedy at Newtown:
At each of these events, we will ring bells to remember victims of gun violence, and to demonstrate our commitment to be vocal and persistent in working toward common-sense gun reform.
In the DC metro area, Moms Demand Action held two vigils, one in Canal Park on the Capitol Riverfront and another in Arlington Cemetery near the Iwo Jima Memorial. In addition, one Fairfax, Virginia school teacher took it upon himself to protest at the National Rifle Association headquarters on Friday.
Canal Park
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- Shannon Watts, Founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America
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- Colin Goddard, survivor of Virginia Tech shooting: “What happened to me, happens 33 times a day to someone.”
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- Pat Maisch, survivor of Tucson shooting: “Choose to take a stand with me.”
Arlington Cemetery
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- Photo by Jennifer Burns
National Rifle Association Headquarters
Seventh-grade history teacher Ed Hale coordinated a small protest at NRA headquarters in Fairfax, VA on Friday, December 13.
“I’m a teacher, so I thought, twenty first-graders blown to pieces by an assault weapon: If the nation doesn’t do something about that, it has lost its soul,” he said. “So I made a promise that day that I would not be silent any more. No more silence. Background checks, banning assault weapons–the American people want it, this organization is blocking it.”
