Biden, Harris mark anniversary of Sandy Hook shooting

President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Monday marked the eight-year anniversary of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School and pledged to fight for “common sense reforms.” 

The president-elect, who was vice president at the time of the shooting in 2012, called the day when 20 children and six adults were fatally shot in the elementary school “the saddest day we had in the White House.”

Biden in a statement addressed the “grandparents, parents, siblings, children, spouses, and fellow broken and healing hearts of Sandy Hook.”

“Eight years later, I know the pain never fully heals,” he said.

“I remain in awe of you,” he added. “I have heard from and watched as so many of you turned pain into purpose, working to change our laws and our culture around gun violence and how we protect and nurture our children.”

The president-elect commended those who have become activists following the shooting, saying they “helped us forge a consensus that gun violence is a national health crisis and we need to address its total cost to fully heal families, communities, and our nation.”

“Eight years later, there have been plenty of thoughts and prayers, but we know that is not enough,” Biden said. “Together with you and millions of our fellow Americans of every background all across our nation, we will fight to end this scourge on our society and enact common sense reforms that are supported by a majority of Americans and that will save countless lives.”

The vice president-elect also recognized the anniversary of the shooting in a tweet. 

“To honor the lives lost in this terrible tragedy, it’s past time we implement common-sense gun safety reforms to keep our children safe,” she said.

Today marks 8 years since 20 first-graders and 6 educators were murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

To honor the lives lost in this terrible tragedy, it’s past time we implement common-sense gun safety reforms to keep our children safe. pic.twitter.com/YmsIWM6dDG

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) December 14, 2020

The school shooting in Newtown, Conn., reignited the push for gun reform in the country; however, proposals for an assault weapons ban and universal background checks were defeated in the Senate. 

The Sandy Hook shooting was the second-deadliest school shooting and the fourth-deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.