Newtown
Growing up with school shootings hardened my generation in ways you don’t understand
When the voices of 70 elementary school students flooded the speakers of Busch Stadium in St. Louis last week, I was haunted by the ghosts of my own childhood fears. Four days earlier, 19 children about the same age were murdered in their own classroom, along with two teachers, at Robb Elementary School in Texas. […]
Four more children dead, and a nation shrugs. Is enough finally enough now?
Lawmakers who refuse to act should be required to personally explain their inaction to the families of the dead. It is hard to see any other way for that cold-hearted resistance to crumble Families in Michigan will set an empty place at the table this holiday season in the wake of the mass shooting at […]
Eight years later: We profane the memory of the Sandy Hook children with our failure to act
A lot of people have — perhaps understandably — put it out of their minds, but yesterday was the anniversary of one of the most horrific events in American history. It was eight years ago yesterday that a deeply troubled 20 year-old walked into a Connecticut elementary school with a semi-automatic assault rifle and systematically […]
Vigils scheduled for this evening in Raleigh, Charlotte and Chapel Hill to commemorate 5th anniversary of Sandy Hook
As was highlighted in yesterday’s Policy Watch radio commentary, today marks the fifth anniversary of the dark and dreadful day in Newton, Connecticut during which gun violence took the lives of 26 innocent children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School. If you’d like to stand with or support caring and thinking people committed to […]
Two can’t miss events in January
If the impending winter weather leaves you stranded at the computer over the next couple days, here are a pair of outstanding January events to add to your calendar: Number One is the January 18, NC Policy watch Crucial Conversation luncheon, “What is the true state of the economy and how do we make it […]
Lighting a candle for gun violence victims
There were vigils all across the country last night (and there will be more this weekend) for the victims of the Newtown tragedy on its second anniversary, including the one pictured at left that took place at the Judea Reform Congregation in Durham. And while it was a somber affair, there was some good news […]
Vigil in Durham tonight to mark anniversary of Newtown tragedy
Here’s something that would be worth an hour of your time tonight: North Carolinians Against Gun Violence will hold a vigil tonight at 7:00 p.m. to mark the second anniversary of Newtown and to organize against future tragedies of this kind.Sadly, there have been at least 91 school shootings in the U.S. just since the Newtown […]
Vigil to mark second anniversary of Newtown tragedy this Thursday evening
As today’s Fitzsimon File explains in detail, not a whole lot of good things have happened on either the gun violence or mental health fronts in North Carolina during the two years since the unspeakable tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut: “The National Alliance on Mental Illness released a report this week […]
Crucial conversation: Gun politics after Sandy Hook
December marks the two-year anniversary of the unspeakable tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Since that time, there have been 91 additional school shootings in the United States but only very limited progress in passing new laws to help curb gun violence. Recent elections results may, however, herald an encouraging shift. Is […]
A new approach to combating gun violence
ICYMI, New York Times contributor, Prof. Gary Gutting of Notre Dame University has a thought-provoking piece that’s worth your time. In it, he suggests that an important key to fighting gun violence involves convincing people they don’t need guns rather than trying to regulate them: “It’s one thing to be horrified at gun violence. It’s […]
NRA to announce new proposal to combat school shootings?
School “lockdowns” in response to gun violence: It’s become almost a daily occurrence in the U.S. Indeed, school gun violence incidents have gotten so absurdly commonplace that many of us don’t even blink an eye as the latest red-letter alert crawls across our computer or TV screens. As I write this, two more such lockdowns […]