Length: 5 hr 52 min
I looked for these videos quite a while because I felt that listening to the parents, officers and rescue workers would give us a perspective that we haven't heard yet.
Sandy Hook hearing reveals sharp divide on gun control
updated 8:09 PM EST, Tue January 29, 2013
His son, James, was among the 20 children and seven adults
killed by Adam Lanza on December 14 in Newtown, Connecticut -- an event
so horrific that it has since spawned a federal task force and
kick-started a national conversation about gun control.
But unlike the handful of
other parents who testified Monday at the emotionally charged hearing
in Hartford, Connecticut, Mattioli said there are more than enough gun
laws on the books. He called instead for a closer look at mental health
policies.
"I don't care if you
named it 'James' law,' I don't want (another law)," he said during the
first of a series of meetings set up by a legislative task force
assigned to review the state's gun laws.
Reaction to Newtown school killings
Mass shootings: A timeline of legislation
"I think there's much
more promise for a solution in identifying, researching and creating
solutions along the lines of mental health."
Connecticut's medical examiner said he was told that Lanza, 20, had Asperger's syndrome. Research has not shown a link between that condition and violence.
The hearing drew hundreds
to the Connecticut state house and revealed the sharp divide in public
opinion over what should happen next in the massacre's aftermath.
"The time is now," said
Veronique Pozner, whose son, Noah, was also killed, referring to a
strengthening of the nation's gun laws.
With a framed photo of
her slain 6-year-old propped up beside her, Pozner called on Connecticut
to become "an agent for change" across the country.
During her testimony, she held up a crayon drawing that Noah once scrawled on Thanksgiving.
"I am thankful for the life I live," he wrote.
At one point during the
hearing, Neil Heslin, father of a 6-year-old boy named Jesse who was
also gunned down that day, asked why the public needed assault weapons
and high-capacity magazines.
Some people in the crowd then interrupted his statement and shouted the "Second Amendment shall not be infringed."
"We're not living in the
Wild West. We're not a Third World nation," Heslin continued. "We have
the strongest military in the world. We don't need to defend our homes
with weapons like that."
Connecticut already has some of the nation's strictest gun laws.
Gov. Dannel Malloy, a
first-term Democrat, has also vowed to address the factors that led to
last month's massacre and set up a 16-member panel of experts to come up
with recommendations. It includes experts who reviewed policies after
mass shootings in Colorado and at Virginia Tech.
The panel must meet a
March 15 deadline for its initial report, which Malloy is expected to
use in drafting initiatives aimed at reducing gun violence.
Details continue to emerge about what
precisely happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Here is a timeline
of events that compiles the latest reporting.
An interactive tribute to the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
updated 11:26 AM EST, Tue January 15, 2013
His parents remember Dylan Hockley as such a happy child.
updated 10:08 PM EST, Mon January 14, 2013
Many questions remain after a school massacre
shocked the nation. But what's clear is that the pain remains
powerfully visible throughout the community.
updated 12:17 PM EST, Fri December 21, 2012
Growing up in Louisiana and Texas in the home of a part-time deputy sheriff, guns were a constant presence in Robin's childhood.
updated 10:17 AM EST, Wed December 19, 2012
Amid the chaos that first-responder Ray Corbo witnessed on Friday, there is one image that he will never forget.
updated 10:02 AM EST, Thu December 20, 2012
In many ways, Josh Stepakoff's childhood came to an abrupt halt at 10:49 a.m. on August 10, 1999.
No comments:
Post a Comment