Sandy Hook Promise

December 14th marked five years since my six-year-old son, Dylan, was murdered in his first grade classroom alongside 19 of his classmates and 6 educators. The pain of his murder is with my family every day. To honor him and prevent other families from having to experience this horror, I have dedicated my life to studying the causes of gun violence and promoting tangible solutions that are proven to work and save lives.

For the five-year remembrance, and indeed for every year and every day, most people show compassion and humanity. This year, the White House did not - on two occasions. First, when Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked about the Sandy Hook shooting and what the President and his administration are trying to do to prevent similar massacres, Sanders remarked she was unaware of any regulation that could have been put in place to prevent anything.

This shows a remarkable amount of ignorance, especially regarding an issue that kills over 30,000 Americans every year. As the voice of the White House, Sanders should have not only offered condolences - or even thoughts and prayers - but she should know the answers. I will happily go the White House and train the administration on regulations like Extreme Risk Protections Orders (ERPOs) and Threat Assessement, both of which could have prevented the Sandy Hook tragedy and which I have written to the President about. I’d also love to train the White House on recognizing the signs of someone who is at risk of hurting themselves or others, or even about how to store a gun safely and responsibly. Both of these contributed to the Sandy Hook tragedy.

But while I can forgive Sanders for her lack of knowledge (though not her lack of compassion) I cannot say the same for President Trump. Not only did he ignore the 5-year remembrance completely - not even a single tweet - he slapped us all in the face by having none other than NRA President Wayne LaPierre at his White House Christmas party that night. The appalling lack of humanity and decency has not gone unnoticed.

Trump, LaPierre and Sanders are all parents. While they ignorantly partied and remained uninformed on an issue that kills thousands of Americans every year, I was crying myself to sleep. While they got the chance to kiss their children goodnight, I kissed the urn holding my beautiful boy’s ashes.

I would request an apology. But I’m not sure there are any hearts in the White House that would understand why an apology is the least they could do.

- Nicole Hockley, Dylan’s mom

1. breadsticksbeforedicks liked this
2. sandyhookpromise posted this