Sandy Hook parents speak

Children’s survivors urge new ideas to halt violence

— Several parents whose children were killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting joined the national debate on gun violence Monday, declaring they will help start a nonprofit organization aimed at preventing the kind of bloodshed that thrust this quaint New England community into the middle of the issue.

In some of their first public statements since the Dec. 14 shooting that killed 20 children and six staff members at the school, the families of 11 of the children and adult victims appeared at a news conference and called for a national dialogue around issues of mental health, school safety and what their organization called Sandy Hook Promise, described as “gun responsibility.”

“On Friday, Dec. 14, I put two children on the bus, and only one came home,”said Nelba Marquez-Greene, whose 6-year-old daughter, Ana, died that day. “I hope that no parent, grandparent or caregiver of children ever has to go through that pain.”

The news conference, which included other members of the Newtown community, was the first time a group of families has spoken publicly about the tragedy. It was held in the auditorium of the historic Edmond Town Hall in downtown Newtown.

“It’s a sad honor to be here today,” said Nicole Hockley, whose son Dylan, 6, was found dead in the arms of his favorite school aide, Anne Marie Murphy, who apparently died trying to shield him.

The gathering came as President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden prepare to unveil gun-control proposals that are expected to call for a ban on the kind of assault weapon and high capacity ammunition magazines Adam Lanza used in the Newtown shooting.

But asked where the group stood on tough new gun measures, Tim Makris, one of its 17 founders, said it was still in the process of educating itself before taking firm any stands.


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“It’s only been 30 days, and for the past 30 days, we’ve really been looking inward and supporting our community,” Makris said.

“We love the focus of the president,” he added, “and we love that the vice president reached out recently to talk directly to the families that chose to meet with him. But we don’t have an immediate response right now.

“We’re looking for dialogue. We’re looking for ideas. We’re looking for a national discussion to take place. We don’t want to just come out and say this is what we stand for, this is what we believe in. We want to encourage a national discussion on this. Do something different. When you look at what’s been done in the past, it hasn’t gotten us very far. We have to do something different.”

Front Section, Pages 2 on 01/15/2013

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