The Ghosts Of Sandy Hook

 Thursday, December 15th, 2022

My Dear America:

It is hard to believe that it has been ten years since the Sandy Hook Elementary School Massacre in Newtown Connecticut.  During that incident 20 innocent Grade Schoolers and Six Elementary School Teachers and other School Personnel were shot to death with an AR-15 Assault Rifle. Unfortunately some of the victims were so badly mutilated by the bullets that they were not easily identifiable.

Time has gone by fast for the rest of us but not for the Parents of the victims of the Sandy Hook Shooter, 20 Year old Adam Lanza.

Like many of the thousands of shooters that we have come to learn about over the course of the past ten years Lanza was a disturbed Loner and misfit who had several problem behaviors which may have contributed to the state in which he found himself on December 14th of 2012.  Adam was Autistic, Obsessive Compulsive and may have been showing signs of Schizophrenia prior to his Murderous and suicidal spree.  Like many other mass killers it was learned later on after the fact through checking his computer that he was possibly in contact with other violence prone cyber buddies, many of whom were, like Adam, obsessed with the Columbine School Shooting incident and other mass shootings.

President Barack Obama visited with and comforted the parents and other family members of the victims of the Newtown, Connecticut shooting and to this day identifies what happened at Sandy Hook as the Darkest Day of his Presidency.

President Obama and some members of Congress attempted to do the right thing and press for serious Gun Control Legislation after Sandy Hook.  There was even a bipartisan effort on the part of Pennsylvania Republican Senator Pat Toomey and West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin to seek what they felt would be common sense background check gun reform but partially due to the efforts of the National Rifle Association they unfortunately failed in their efforts.

Certainly Sandy Hook was not the first mass shooting in America.  It wasn't even the first school shooting.  Certainly The Columbine Massacre seemed to be somewhat of an inspiration to potential school shooters everywhere in the United States.

What set Sandy Hook apart from other school shootings was the young age of most of the victims and the incredible smiles on photos of the cherubic faces of the 20 innocent and beautiful young victims whose futures were robbed by Adam Lanza's senseless desperate and despicable act of violence.  

Prior to murdering victims at Sandy Hook Elementary School Adam Lanza shot and killed his mother, Nancy Lanza, who reports indicate was a considerate and loving mother to her son.  Although Adam led a rather isolated life and had limited contact with his mother even though they lived together he did go with his mother to a local rifle range to shoot with some of the many guns Adam's mother had purchased.

While some clues were probably found on Adam's computer regarding his motives for killing innocent victims, Adam's actual motive for his killing spree will probably never be known because after his Sandy Hook murder spree he killed himself.

Ten years after the senseless violence of Sandy Hook Elementary School we are still seeing the continuation of the senseless violence that has consumed and overwhelmed American Law Enforcement for years.  The Unfortunate Reality is that in the last Ten Years the situation with regard to gun violence has not improved.  It has unfortunately gotten worse, not better.  The American landscape has continued to be littered with the bodies of countless victims of senseless gun violence.

Many attempts have been made to obtain common sense gun legislation in America but except for a recent rather lukewarm background check bill helmed by Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, not much has been accomplished.

Certainly many of the parents of Sandy Hook Victims have worked tirelessly to make safety in American Classrooms an American priority.  The Group "Sandy Hook Promise" continues to advocate for gun control and school safety and has accomplished a great deal over the past ten years.  The parents of Sandy Hook's victims know full well what is at stake in the American Classroom, as well as in other places that have become danger zones as the result of senseless shootings.

Movie Theaters, Grocery Stores, Churches, Parades have all been targeted by disturbed gunmen at times.  It seems as though nowhere is safe anymore from people with guns who are willing to shoot them at other people.

One tactic that has been successful in recent months practiced by the Sandy Hook Parents has to do with fighting back against disinformation.  For Years Far Right Podcaster, Alex Jones, has been spreading lies about Sandy Hook being a "False Flag Operation".  Jones has claimed over and over that The Sandy Hook Massacre never happened.  Although, at first Sandy Hook parents tried to ignore this foolishness, when Jones and his followers began directly harassing the parents the parents fought back and sued Jones and recently won their suit.  Clearly the Sandy Hook parents could care less about the money but if they can bankrupt Jones' despicable operation and stop the lies told about their children they might begin to find some peace.

With Republicans poised to take over the House of Representatives in January of 2023 it is difficult to see how any meaningful legislation will pass, never mind meaningful gun control legislation.  

Joe Biden and the Democrats in Congress are hoping that by some miracle a ban on AR-15's and similar assault rifles might see another ban like the one previously proposed and passed with the assistance of then Senator Joe Biden.

Wouldn't that be a tribute to all of those Americans who have been killed by those awful weapons over the course of so many years.

Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher