After my mom was shot and killed at Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut, along with five other educators and 20 children, I was sure that Congress would act. They didn’t. And now 58 more people are dead following a mass shooting in Las Vegas—to say nothing of the more than 100,000 other Americans killed with guns since that December day five years ago.
The shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on the Las Vegas strip was the largest and deadliest mass shooting in our country’s recent history. For now. Until the next one. Because it’s not a question of if there will be another mass shooting, it’s a matter of when. How is it that our country has come to accept the regularity of these horrific acts of violence? This isn’t normal.
What should have been a fun night filled with dancing, singing, and laughing with friends instead has left dozens of people dead and more than 500 hospitalized, many with life-altering injuries. And that’s just the physical toll. No one walks away from a horrifying scene of that magnitude ever feeling safe again. For the victims and their families, there is no light, no hope. They will try to find a way out of this darkness, but I can tell you, the darkness does not leave you.
My mom, Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung, was my best friend in the entire world. She was the principal of Sandy Hook School, and she died running toward the shooter that awful day, trying to protect her kids.
I thought Sandy Hook would be a wake-up call to our leaders in Congress. There was no way they could allow 20 children and six educators to be gunned down in classrooms and offer no more than “thoughts and prayers.” But that’s exactly what happened.
Today my voicemail is full. My inbox is overflowing. The messages on Facebook are pouring in. For those wondering how I’m doing—I’m angry. I’m triggered. I miss my mom. I hurt for her. I feel like I’ve failed her. Above all, I am sick over how often this happens. And I don’t want to hear one more person say it’s too early to talk about solutions to our gun violence epidemic. It’s not too early—it’s way too late.
We don’t have to live like this.
It’s time for politicians to stop cowering behind the gun lobby and start standing with families. I wish Congress could show just half the courage my mother did on December 14, 2012.
This is a defining moment for our country. Do we want to continue living in the NRA’s dystopian society of guns everywhere, for anyone, no questions asked? Do we want to continue being held hostage by the gun lobby? Or do we want to live in a country where we feel safe going to schools, concerts, shopping malls and places of worship?
I could easily let days like this knock me down. It’s all too familiar and it’s all too painful. It takes me right back to the day my mom was killed. But no matter how hard it gets, I’m going to continue fighting for stronger gun safety laws. Time after time we see that it’s far too easy for people with dangerous histories to get their hands on guns in this country.
Right now, the gun lobby is pushing legislation to gut silencer safety laws and make it easy for anyone, including convicted felons and domestic abusers, to buy a gun silencer without a background check simply by going to an unlicensed dealer. I don’t even want to think about how much worse the shooting in Las Vegas could have been if the thousands of people attending the music festival didn’t recognize the sound of gunfire coming from above them, or if first responders weren’t able to determine where the gunshots were coming from.
And that’s not all. The NRA and its allies are also pushing for so-called “Concealed Carry Reciprocity” legislation, a dangerous proposal that would gut states’ gun laws, and allow countless people to carry concealed weapons across the country with no additional background checks or gun safety training beyond what goes into an initial purchase.
For those asking what they can do—get off the sidelines. Gun violence tears families apart every day in America. Most often, it doesn’t even make the headlines—there’s simply too much to report.
If you’re not actively trying to be a part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. Get up and do something. Make a call to your Congressperson or Senator. Show up to a rally. Sign a petition. Donate to local organizations that support survivors of domestic violence. Just do something.
Erica Lafferty is the daughter of Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung, the principal murdered in the Sandy Hook School shooting on December 14, 2012. She is partnerships manager for Everytown for Gun Safety.
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