WASHINGTON — One AR-15. Not even five minutes. 154 life-stealing rounds. Twenty tiny caskets, six large ones. Three seismic legal victories. One bipartisan—if neutered—gun law. Ten years. Seemingly eternal sorrow.
A decade later, many of Newtown's accidental advocates—fueled by unimaginable grief and righteously rational rage—remain fixated on a goal once thought unattainable in the cynical marble halls of Washington: Protecting America's classrooms from guns, bullets, and haunting nightmares.
They've tasted victory in the ensuing decade, if through salty tears, but they've also failed. Or, more so, the nation's political leaders have failed them, their little ones, and the heroic adults they were forced to lay to rest despite all the life and love they were brimming with at the start of their last school day. Since the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, 948 other American communities have joined the formerly sleepy Connecticut town in burying babies—babies who went to school draped in oversized backpacks before their lifeless limbs were zipped in cold, loveless plastic.
Ten years distance, ever-present loss. And this spring, the pain became acute when 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, had their hopes, dreams, futures, and freedoms extinguished. Police stood by— seemingly, unmoved by the parent's pleas or the pops of a weapon expertly crafted to kill as many as possible as quickly as possible—as a disturbed 18-year-old unloaded some of the 375 rounds of ammo he legally purchased with his legally acquired AR.
Newtown nightmares overtook many in Connecticut.
"With Uvalde, we relived the searing pain and sorrow of that day and all the days since," Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) told Raw Story at the Capitol this week. "It's beyond words."
In the wake of the slaughter in Uvalde this summer, Congress defied many political observers when 15 Republicans joined Democrats in passing a gun control measure. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act is intended to shore up the nation's background check system while also pumping some $13 billion into community mental health programs in the coming years.
While the new law falls woefully short of what advocates have wept, begged, and bartered for—whether that's banning extended clips or reinstating the lapsed 1994 assault weapons ban—after a decade of tears, bewilderment, and anger-turned-advocacy, the bipartisan effort was seen as seismic.
"I do think passing the Safer Communities Act this Congress really was a tipping point in demonstrating that the NRA does not have the stranglehold that they used to have," Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) told Raw Story on 12-14. "The reaction to these horrible events is no longer just sadness, it's rage. People want to see things change, and they're starting to figure out, you know, where the bottlenecks are."
Schools haven't been the same since Sandy Hook—after they were supposed never to be the same after hate-filled bullets ensured 13 students never walked out of Colorado's Columbine High School on April 20, 1999—even as Washington politicians felt they were afforded the past decade to dither.
That bipartisan measure—a mental health bill, according to its Republican sponsors—wouldn't have prevented Sandy Hook or Uvalde, according to even its progressive supporters. Nonetheless, the new law is a hope-filled breakthrough.
"That's the biggest thing in decades," Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA)—a proud gun owner who's also a leading voice for tightening America's firearm regulations— told Raw Story while walking through the Capitol last week.
With Republicans set to take back control of all the gavels in the House of Representatives at the start of the new year, the congressional math just got simpler: Zero is zero.
"We're not going to get any legislation out," Thompson predicted of the 118th Congress, which kicks off on January 3, 2023—with or without Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) serving as speaker of the GOP House.
With all legislative efforts around firearms expected to be halted on Capitol Hill come the new year, advocates are re-directing some of their energy. Last Friday, Thompson met with Steven Dettelbach, the first director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) to be confirmed in the previous 16 years.
Before the power passes to their GOP counterparts, Democrats hope to infuse the ATF with more cash so agents can carry out their mandate to protect Americans.
"They're completely under-resourced," Thompson said after meeting with the director. "We're going to try and get them money."
Money's a mighty motivator. The Sandy Hook families have proven that in more ways than one in these ensuing years.
The perpetually grieving families flexed, and Remington—the manufacturer of AR-style weapons—went bankrupt. Twice.
The Supreme Court declined to hear the case, and the North Carolina-based gunmaker eventually settled with the victim's families for $73 million and the right to disclose key internal company documents, including the gunmaker's PR strategies.
Families didn't stop there. Some of them took their fight to Infowars and won. Twice, as well. All told, the conspiratorial site's conspiracy-peddling host, Alex Jones, lost two defamation cases—one in his native Texas, the other in Connecticut—and is now on the hook for upwards of $1 billion.
Democrats went from defense to offense since December 14, 2012. Even with power about to shift dramatically at the Capitol, there's no plan to let up.
"The Safer Communities Act was a significant step, but it's by no means the end," Sen. Blumenthal of Connecticut told Raw Story. "With Republicans in control of the House, the obstacles are seemingly greater, but we're not giving up on getting Republicans to join us."
While the NRA remains a formidable opponent, the nation's most prominent gun lobbying house has also been weakened in recent years. That's thanks to the legacy of those little ones and their beloved teachers.
Democrats have made inroads in suburban districts, governor's mansions, and state legislatures since Sandy Hook through running unashamedly pro ('sensible,' as they say) gun control campaigns. They've got no plans to let up.
"Public sentiment will always be what moves the needle," Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT) told Raw Story just off the House floor on yesterday's tragic anniversary. "I think that more and more people are just saying that they had enough, and they're demanding that their legislators do things differently."