OFA Sends Email from Daughter of Slain Newtown Principal to Push Gun Control

OFA Sends Email from Daughter of Slain Newtown Principal to Push Gun Control

On the six-month anniversary of the horrific Newtown shootings, President Barack Obama’s policy advocacy group sent an email from the daughter of the principal who was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary to use the tragedy to push for gun control.

Organizing for Action, which had previously been the organization for President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign, sent an email to its list of supporters from Erica Lafferty, the daughter of heroic principal Dawn Hoschsprung. Lafferty said the six-month anniversary of the tragedy was the time for America to “recommit” to the fight for more gun control. 

“I’ve been doing everything I can to reach out to members of Congress. But my voice isn’t enough,” she wrote. “Today, on the six-month anniversary of Newtown, every single person who cares about reducing gun violence in America needs to recommit to this fight.”

The Obama campaign tried to politicize the Newtown tragedy leading up to the vote in April on the Toomey-Manchin amendment that would have been the first step toward a national gun registry. That amendment failed to get the 60 votes needed to move forward.

The full e-mail can be seen below:

My mom, Dawn Hochsprung, was the principal at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

Six months ago today, she was shot and killed in her school, along with five of her coworkers and 20 of her students.

In the weeks and months after that horrible day, lawmakers from across the country told us, the families of the victims, that they’d take action to make our communities safer. What we found out is that, for some of our members of Congress, those were empty promises. 

And in those six months, thousands more people have been killed by guns.

I’ve been doing everything I can to reach out to members of Congress. But my voice isn’t enough. Today, on the six-month anniversary of Newtown, every single person who cares about reducing gun violence in America needs to recommit to this fight.

More than 1.4 million Americans have said they’re with us in the fight to reduce gun violence — add your name today.

In her last minutes, Mom was just as brave and caring as I knew her to be. After telling everyone to hide, she went running into the hallway, saw the gunman, yelled and lunged at him in an effort to protect the school she loved.

I miss her every second of every day. I’m getting married in just a few weeks — to a guy she was rooting for, in a dress we picked out together — but because a dangerous man got his hands on a gun, my mom won’t be there to see it. 

I’m still grieving — and I’m not alone. On average, 33 Americans are killed by a gun every single day. That’s 33 new families a day who mourn like I do. 

If a background check saves even one life, and keeps even one family from hurting like this, then this fight will all be worth it. I think my mom would like to know that the tragedy that fell on Newtown meant that another tragedy could be stopped before it even started.

I’m asking you to join me today, six months after that horrible day, to keep this fight going — take action for my mom, Dawn, and the 25 other people who we lost in December.

Say you’re with us today:

http://my.barackobama.com/Six-Months-Since-Newtown

Thanks,

Erica

Erica Lafferty

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.