Gabby Giffords remembers the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims

WASHINGTON — GIFFORDS, the national gun violence prevention organization led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, released the following statement remembering the 20 children and six staff members who were killed during the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut ahead of December 14.

“Thirteen years ago, our nation was forever changed by a terrible act of gun violence that should have never happened,” said former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords. “Today, I’m honoring the 26 people — most of them young children — whose lives were stolen. I’m also thinking of the students, staff, family members and the entire Newtown community who will always carry that pain. I know what it means to have everything change in an instant because of a gunman, and I will never forget meeting the Sandy Hook families after the shooting. Tragedies like these are preventable. That’s why we founded GIFFORDS, to push elected leaders to take action and fight for commonsense gun safety.”