More than 3,700 children died or were injured in gun incidents in 2019.
ABC News’ chief justice correspondent Pierre Thomas takes a look at the U.S.’ gun violence epidemic, where it’s happening and who it’s affecting.In Watertown, Connecticut, you can hear the squeak of a swing's chain as it glides back and forth, along with the laughter of children at play. They are sounds that harken back to the simpler and sweeter moments of childhood.
Lavin calls it the flagship of the project, which includes playgrounds throughout Connecticut, New Jersey and New York. Each one reflects the personalities, passions and lives of those who died. “So you'll see that here there's 20 swings that represent -- for us, anyway -- the special number of the children.” Six other toys represent the educators who were killed.
Carlos Soto helped build some of the playgrounds, including one in memory of his daughter, in nearby Stratford, Connecticut. Victoria Soto was the Sandy Hook teacher who died shielding her students. In a kindergarten classroom in New Jersey, 6-year-old Liam and his classmates practiced a drill they have yet to learn the significance of, an active shooter lockdown drill. They were told the intruder was an animal. He recalled to his mom Tara Gimbel, an ABC News producer, “We had to go down and hide under our desks and we pretended there was a bear.”
John Woodrow Cox, the author of"Children Under Fire: an American Crisis," estimates that during a single school year, 4 to 8 million kids experience lockdowns. He says even false alarms are leaving their mark.Where Angels Play Playground in Watertown, CT is dedicated to Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung, principal of Sandy Hook Elementary school, who was one of the 26 educators and children who died in the shooting on December 19th, 2012.
Back at the playground in Watertown, Lavin says the families of Sandy Hook victims want to move beyond politics and find common ground.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Gun violence in America: Defining the problemBetween 2014 and 2019, an average of 38,826 Americans were killed by guns annually, according to the CDC.
Read more »
Indigenous activists demand investigation into police shooting of Zapotec teen with BB gunThe teen may not have understood the police's Spanish and English commands when officers in Salinas City, California shot and killed him.
Read more »
Here’s A Full Timeline Of Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly’s Relationship Because I Know You Have A Lot Of QuestionsTIL Bernie Sanders basically saved this relationship.
Read more »
At Least 430 People Killed in 915 Shootings Across U.S. in Past WeekThere have been more than 24,000 gun-related fatalities so far this year, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive.
Read more »
Gun violence in America: Defining the problemBetween 2014 and 2019, an average of 38,826 Americans were killed by guns annually, according to the CDC.
Read more »
Guns in America: Patriotic or Deadly?Colion Noir, popular gun rights activist, attorney and host of the web series NOIR joins us for an explosive debate over the 2nd amendment with John Rosenthal, Co-Founder of Stop Handgun Violence.
Read more »