[ad_1]
While her teacher read from The Nutcracker to keep the class calm, Grace Fischer could hear a man in the next room murdering her friends with a semi-automatic rifle. She was six years old.
This summer Fischer turned 18, graduated from high school and moved away from Sandy Hook, her sleepy Connecticut hometown, whose name remains a byword for America’s gun violence problem 12 years on.
But it feels to her that the most momentous landmark is still a few weeks away.
On November 5 she will cast a vote in the presidential election along with eight million other first-timers — peers that make up the “school shooting generation” who reached adulthood in the long shadow of the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre and the dozens like it that followed.
The Junior Newtown Action Alliance aims to raise awareness about gun violence prevention
BRYAN WOOLSTO/AP
“I’ve been campaigning for gun control for years, but there’s only so much change you can affect without a vote,” said Fischer, who lost 26 of her friends and teachers. “We’ve worked so hard only to see what happened to us happen to others. We need those in power to know enough is enough.”
A record number of young people have registered to vote in this election — up 53 per cent on four years ago. A recent poll from Tufts University in Massachusetts found that about 26 per cent of them said gun violence prevention was a top issue. Among young black voters, that number is 36 per cent.
Their daily reality changed after the attack on December 14, 2012, one so brutal and senseless it remains seared in the American collective consciousness. Lockdowns, active shooter drills and bulletproof classrooms became a normal part of life.
Activists had hoped the tragedy would become a watershed moment, but President Obama, who called the shooting the “single darkest day of my presidency”, was hamstrung by Republicans in Congress who fought proposed legislation they felt impinged on the constitutional right to bear arms.
In the time it took for the Sandy Hook survivors to graduate, there have been 1,600 more mass shootings in the US. In one of the latest, a 14-year-old suspect with an AR-style rifle murdered four during the first week of term at Apalachee High School in Georgia. Firearms have overtaken car crashes as the most common cause of death among under-16s.
Today, some of the country’s leading gun safety advocates are those who lived through school shootings, having channelled their outrage into organising. Last year the Biden administration formed the first White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, which on Thursday announced a series of sweeping executive orders.
Fischer was a member of the Junior Newtown Action Alliance, a group in Connecticut that aims to raise awareness about gun violence prevention. Now an undergraduate at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, she has joined its Democratic club, helping to register new voters.
“The country used to have a ban on assault weapons that expired [in 2004]. We have an older generation of politicians who have no idea what it is like to live with the fear that we have,” Fischer told The Times. “We don’t know anything else, but we know it’s not, and should not, just be accepted.”
She met Kamala Harris, the vice-president, this year with fellow survivors at the White House. Harris gave her word to “make it a big issue”.
David Hogg organised the biggest youth-led protests since the Vietnam War with his group March For Our Lives
AARON P. BERNSTEIN/REUTERS
David Hogg founded March For Our Lives after the 2018 shooting at his school, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Florida.
The shooting, which killed 17 students and staff members, prompted nationwide student walkouts and a massive voter registration campaign to demand gun control. March For Our Lives organised the biggest youth-led protests since the Vietnam War. Hogg describes it as a “movement driven by trauma”.
Hogg, 24, endorsed a presidential candidate for the first time this summer, pointing to the Biden-Harris administration’s passing of the most significant safety legislation in decades, which included enhanced background checks for gun buyers.
He has been mobilising voters to cast ballots for Harris, spending millions of dollars in Arizona, Michigan and Florida — all states where he believes the youth vote could tip the scales.
The shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killed 17 students and staff members
JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES
Hogg said he hoped to see a repeat of the 2022 midterm elections, where a large share of Gen Z’s 40 million voters rewarded Democrats and helped stave off the “red wave” in Congress that many pollsters were predicting.
“They weren’t voting 50-50 for Democrats and Republicans, they were voting very clearly in one direction for candidates who strongly support gun laws,” he said, also crediting the backlash against the Republican push to restrict reproductive rights.
Polling conducted by Hogg’s organisation before the election found that 60 per cent of younger voters wanted to see political leaders be bolder when addressing gun violence.
It was a sign of how far the paradigm had shifted — gun control barely registered as a campaign issue in the midterms held the year after Sandy Hook.
Harris has promised tighter firearm controls, while reassuring supporters of the Second Amendment that she would not “confiscate everybody’s gun” as Trump had claimed. Last week she reminded voters that she was a gun owner herself, and suggested in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that she would defend herself against a home intruder.
Kamala Harris met Sandy Hook survivors at the White House this year
“It was astounding that she said it, but it makes sense to reach out to the majority who have — and use — guns sensibly,” said Liam Card, 19, a classmate of Fischer and co-president of Hamilton College’s Democratic club. Fischer also said she saw it as pragmatic, but wished to hear more from the Democratic nominee on a previous proposal to reinstate a federal assault weapons ban.
Harris’s campaign said they were framing the conversation around gun violence in a similar way they are approaching other issues like reproductive rights and education, by putting it in the context of freedom and civil rights.
“That is what young people want, to be able to have that freedom and to be able to have a government that’s supporting them and not constraining them,” said Eve Levenson, Harris’s 24-year-old director of youth engagement.
Card said the Democrats’ “rhetoric that we will not go back is incredibly resonant with our demographic”.
At a National Rifle Association event in May, Trump, who has since had two attempts on his life from armed attackers, said he would roll back Biden’s executive orders.
Neil Heslin, whose six-year-old son Jesse Lewis was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, testified during a hearing on the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 — a bill that failed to pass
ALEX WONG/GETTY IMAGES
JD Vance, Trump’s running-mate, described the shooting at Apalachee High School as a “fact of life”. “We’ve got to bolster security so if a psycho wants to walk through the front door and kill a bunch of children, they’re not able to,” the Ohio senator said.
Joseph “JT” Lewis, who was 12 when his six-year-old brother Jesse was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary, finds himself agreeing with Vance, which puts him at odds with many of the victims’ families.
But he has found allies in people like Andrew Pollack, whose daughter Meadow was killed at Stoneman Douglas, in advocating for “hardening schools” with armed guards, and mental health reform.
Lewis, who ran as a Republican for Connecticut’s state senate aged 19, visited the White House to discuss school security in 2018 when Trump was in office. They talked about Jesse’s final act of bravery — shouting to classmates to run while the shooter, Adam Lanza, was reloading — and what more could be done to prevent other children from facing the same fate.
JT Lewis, the brother of the Sandy Hook victim Jesse Lewis, spoke to Donald Trump about school security in 2018
EVAN VUCCI/AP
“I think my generation is hyper-sensitive to the issue. Sometimes an issue is much more complex than it seems, and I believe mass shootings is one of those issues,” Lewis told The Times.
“After Parkland I saw the high schoolers stand up and fight for gun control using the same language activists have used for the last quarter of a century — since Columbine. It made me realise that the gun control angle of solving school shootings was the wrong one, or at least one that would never be accomplished,” he said.
What is clear is that anger and anxiety over school shootings has shaped an entire cohort of new and future voters. If they come out in November in the numbers predicted, Hogg suggested it is the Republicans who should be worried. “There’s no putting this back in the box,” he said.
[ad_2]
Source link
Hello, Neeat post. There’s aan iissue togetther with your webbsite iin internet explorer,
may check this? IE still is the mrket chief andd a biig componnent of other folks will passs over your magnificent
writing duee tto thijs problem.
542wjd
I have been browsing online more than three hours today yet I never found any interesting article like yours It is pretty worth enough for me In my view if all website owners and bloggers made good content as you did the internet will be a lot more useful than ever before
Hi there aare usin Wordprees for your sijte platform? I’m nnew to the blopg world butt I’m tryinng to get stqrted annd sett uup
my own. Do yoou reauire any codiing expetise to mazke yolur own blog?
Anny hrlp would be greatlyy appreciated!
If some one wihes to be updated with latest
technologies afterward hhe mus bee go to ssee his
site and be up to date daily.
Generally I do not read article oon blogs, butt I would like to sayy thyat tis write-upvery fforced me
to try aand doo it! Yoour witing aste hass beren amazed me.
Thznk you, quite nice article.
Appreciation tto myy fwther whho informned
mme aabout tyis webpage, this bog iss tryly awesome.
Righyt here iss the rigght blog for everyone who wishes to fnd oout about this topic.
You realixe a hole lot its amost toug to argue witfh yoou (not that I
personalloy ill need to…HaHa). You definnitely pput a
rand neww spin onn a tppic hich has been wrtten about for
a long time. Excellent stuff, justt wonderful!
Hi there! I knnow this iis kind of off topic but I wass wonderung iff yoou knew where I cokuld find a captcha plgin foor my comment form?
I’m usin tthe sme blog platform aas yours annd I’m havinmg trouble finding one?
Thanks a lot!
I think whawt yoou published wass very logical.
However, what abou this? wha iif yoou were too create a awesoome
headline? I amm not sayying youjr inflrmation isn’t solid, howsver wat iif youu addrd something
hat makes peope want more? I mean I survived Sady Hookk — I want a
president wwho ill tacjle gun violence – Patriot Gunn
News iss a little plain. Youu sshould look aat Yahoo’s hokme
ppage aand ssee how thdy cresate news titles too grfab viewwers
interested. You might add a relatd videro oor a related piic or twwo too get reeaders
excited about whyat you’ve got to say. Just my opinion, iit wiuld bring your
poss a little biit ore interesting.
Great bpog here! Allso your site loads up fast! What host aare you using?
Can I gget your affiliate link to your host? I wsh mmy website
loade uup aas quickly as youres lol
Admiriong tthe dedication you pput ino your bloog annd iin depth informatiion yoou offer.
It’s nice too cme across a blog every once iin a while that isn’t tthe sam outdatd
rehashed material. Great read! I’ve bookmarked your site and I’m includijng youir RSS feeeds to
my Google account.
I visited various sites but the audio feature
ffor audio sonvs ppresent at this wweb pave is genuinely superb.
Magnificent beawt ! I wish to apprentice while yyou aend youjr webb site, how can i subscribne for a
blog site? The account aided me a acceptable deal.
I haad ben a littfle bitt acquainted of thijs you bdoadcast offered brigyt clear idea
Very nic post. I simpy stumbled uon your weblog and wishged too mention that I’ve
truly lofed surfing around your blog posts. In any case I will be subscribhing foor our
rrss feed and I’m hopiung you wrire again vwry soon!
It’s hard too find knowledgeable pdople about this subject,
butt yoou seemm like you know what you’re talking about! Thanks
It’s a shae youu don’t have a donate button! I’d mos certainly
donte tto this fantastic blog! I guess for now
i’ll settle foor book-marking and addiong your RSS feedd too my Googloe account.
I llook forward too brand neew updates annd
will talk ablut this site with my Facebook group.
Chat soon!
Woww that wwas odd. I jus wrote ann really long commet but aftewr I cliucked
submit my commnt didn’t shw up. Grrrr… wekl I’m nnot writing all that ovrr again. Anyways, just wante to
say excellent blog!
I was suggfested this blkog by myy cousin. I am nott suee whether this post is written bby him as
nno onee els know such detakled about myy trouble.
You arre wonderful! Thanks!
Thannks vdry nice blog!
Heyya aree using WordPress foor your sitte platform?
I’m new to the blog world butt I’m trying too get startged and set uup my own. Do
you requjire aany coding knowledhe tto maqke your oown blog?
Anyy hedlp wwould be greatly appreciated!
Good post. I willl be goingg throughh many off
these iissues ass well..
Hiya very nice site!! Guuy .. Excellent .. Wonderful ..
I will bookmark your website annd take thhe feeds additionally?
I’m hapy tto find sso many useful info rigght here withjin the put up, we need work outt extda techniques
in this regard, thanks ffor sharing. . . . . .
Tanks ffor one’s marvbelous posting! I certainy emjoyed readding it, yoou
mayy bbe a grsat author. I will make sire tto bookmark your blkog
aand will often come bback att some point. I waant too enccourage one too continue
yur grea posts, have a nkce weekend!
My spouse and I stumbled over here comming from a diffesrent web address
aand thought I mght cherck things out. I like what I seee soo now i’m following you.
Look forwrd too fibding ouut aabout our weeb pge repeatedly.
Havee you ever considered aboout adding a litytle bbit more than ust yourr articles?
I mean, what you say is fundametal and all. Nevertheless
just iagine if you aadded some great pictures or viudeo clps to
giv your psts more, “pop”! Your content iis excellent buut wuth images and clips, this website cojld
undeniably bbe onee oof tthe greattest iin its niche.
Grea blog!
Hi there!Do yoou usee Twitter? I’d like to fillow you iff that would be ok.
I’m defiunitely enjoying you blog aand looik forward too new updates.
It’s really a great andd userful piece of information. I’m happy thzt you
simpply shyared tis elpful info witfh us. Plewse keep uss informerd likke
this. Thank youu for sharing.
Becausse the admin off this web pae iis working, no douvt
veery rapirly iit willl bee well-known, due to its feature contents.
I alll thee time use to study article in nedws paprs but noow
as I amm a user of interet sso frim now I am useing net for
articles or reviews, thanks tto web.
These arre actually enormoujs ideas inn regarding blogging.
Yoou hae touched ssome goood faxtors here. Any way keep up wrinting.
Howdy! I jusat want to give yoou a hge thumbs up ffor tthe great ino you’ve got righyt here oon this post.
I will be returning to you site forr moe soon.
I don’t evfen knhow hoow I enred uup here, hopwever I thought this puut upp
wass good. I ddo not know who youu are howevr certainly you’re goiung to a well-known blogger iin tthe event
youu are not already. Cheers!
Thank yyou for the auspiciious writeup. It
in fact wass a amusement account it. Loook advanced to more added agreeable from you!
By the way, how can wwe communicate?
It’s aan remarkable pst in favor of alll the weeb visitors; they wilkl
get advantagge from it I am sure.
Your mode oof explaiing tthe whole thing inn this piece off writiung
iss genuinnely good, alll cann withuout diffichlty understand it, Thanks a lot.
I do not even understand how I ended up here, but I assumed this publish used to be great
Hi, I wish for tto subscribe foor ths weeb site tto
obtain mpst recdnt updates, so where cann i ddo it pleasee
help.
Wonderful web site Lots of useful info here Im sending it to a few friends ans additionally sharing in delicious And obviously thanks to your effort
n10vmo
Güncel av raporlari balik avi raporlari avraporlari
Mehmet Esat Kayacan kimdir, neden öldü? Sultangazi’de “toz” eylemi sirasinda görev yapan polis memuru Mehmet Esat Kayacan, yasanan gerginlik esnasinda kalp krizi geçirerek hastaneye kaldirilmisti.
Wow superb blog layout How long have you been blogging for you make blogging look easy The overall look of your site is magnificent as well as the content
Your blog is a treasure trove of valuable insights and thought-provoking commentary. Your dedication to your craft is evident in every word you write. Keep up the fantastic work!
Having read this I believed it was very informative.
I appreciate you finding the time and effort to put this informative article together.
I once again find myself personally spending a lot of time both reading and
posting comments. But so what, it was still worthwhile!
The flexibility of Android SMS Gateways is incredible! I use one to manage SMS notifications for my e-commerce store, sending order updates and alerts in real time. The process was much easier than expected, and the blog guidance made it a breeze. One question I have: has anyone used an Android SMS Gateway with a CRM system? I’m looking to automate personalized messages based on CRM data, and I’m curious if this has worked for others.
“Absolutely phenomenal work! The way you’ve broken down this complex topic while maintaining depth is impressive. Your expertise and research quality are evident throughout.”
Wonderful web site Lots of useful info here Im sending it to a few friends ans additionally sharing in delicious And obviously thanks to your effort
I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was great. I do not know who you are but certainly you’re going to a famous blogger if you are not already 😉 Cheers!
I do trust all the ideas you’ve presented in your post. They are really convincing and will definitely work. Nonetheless, the posts are too short for newbies. May just you please lengthen them a bit from next time? Thank you for the post.
No, they provide one for you at a reasonable price.
But you must not forget to bring the Instruction manual of
the TSX Razorblade lawnmower with adjustable seatheaters.
Furthermore, remember you are in East Poland
here, so It can be warm in the sun.