On Wednesday, President Joe Biden stood before 2022’s Annual National Vigil for All Victims of Gun Violence at St. Mark’s Church in Washington D.C..
As he memorialized the victims of gun violence, Biden spoke to grief that comes from having loved ones ripped away far too soon.
“It’s like a black hole in the middle of your chest, that you’re being dragged into and you never know if there’s any way out,” Biden said.
“And what I admire so much about all of you, is you show up,” he continued, recalling the days after the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary, when he was Vice President to Barack Obama. “It was astounding to see even then the courage that was represented.”
This year marks 10 years since a gunman murdered 26 students, teachers and staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, the deadliest mass shooting at an elementary school in the nation’s history. It also marks a decade since the shooting at an Aurora, Colo. theater, in which 12 people were killed and 70 others were injured.
Both shootings involved the use of AR-15-style semi-automatic rifles, and the Sandy Hook shooting in particular roused a national conversation around gun laws.
After years of stalled talks in Congress, years of debate over gun violence culminated with the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act earlier this year, which set aside federal funding to address both community-level impacts and causes of gun violence, while also expanding gun-purchase background checks for people under 21, closes purchasing loopholes and incentivizes states to enact red flag laws.
“Together, we made some important progress, the most significant gun law passed in 30 years, but it’s still not enough,” Biden said. “Even as our work continues to limit the number of bullets that can be in a (magazine) the type of weapons that can be purchased and sold, the attempt to ban assault weapons, a whole range of things that are just simple common sense.
“But you know, we did it before, you may remember, in the ‘90s…and guess what? It worked,” Biden continued. “The number of violent mass murders reduced were significant. A lot of people’s lives were saved, you know, and we can do it again.”
The vigils are sponsored by the Newtown Action Alliance Foundation, named for the Connecticut community in which Sandy Hook Elementary once stood — the original school was torn down and replaced with new buildings in 2016.
Biden’s appearance is the first by a sitting president at the annual event, which began in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting.
Each vigil seeks to honor victims of gun violence across the nation; this year, the victims and survivors recognized included those of the Uvalde, Texas shooting at Robb Elementary School, in which 21 students and teachers were killed and 17 wounded; and of the May 14 shooting at a Buffalo supermarket, where 10 people — all Black — were killed in a racist attack; as well as speakers from recent past attacks.
“I’m going on six years since we lost our 49 friends at Pulse. We continue to lose children at schools, more people like myself — gay men and women, trans women, trans men at Club Q,” said Keinon Carter, who was wounded at Pulse. Carter then paused, catching his own emotions, and admitting he wanted to speak from the heart. “We’re at constant questions, like, why is this happening to us? Why do we constantly have to fight to live? Why do we always have to bury the ones we love, due to someone’s ignorance?”
The survivors in attendance were also joined by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; and Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. But Biden was introduced by Sandy Hook survivor Jackie Hegarty, 17, who was in second grade on the day of the shooting.
“At the time, I was only seven years old. I heard and saw things no child, no person, should ever have to see,” Hegarty said. “The last 10 years have not been easy. But living my life honoring the victims has helped…guns are now the number one killer of children in America, and we are asked to be brave while hiding under our desks in our classrooms, while too many elected officials lack the courage to pass common sense laws to save our lives.”