A year ago, on Dec. 14, 2012, 20 children between the ages of 6 and 7 years old and six teachers were gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. The crime horrified the nation and the world.
Within a week of the shooting, the group Mayors Against Illegal Guns sent a letter urging President Barack Obama and congressional leaders to pass legislation closing loopholes in the national background check system.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and I are members of that group. We are also advocating for limiting the availability of military-style weapons and high-capacity magazines and to making gun trafficking a federal crime. I joined Mayor Barrett on Wisconsin Public Radio's Kathleen Dunn show this week. You can listen here.
http://www.wpr.org/listen/392826
I respect the wishes of the Sandy Hook victims' family members in their efforts to mark this tragic anniversary in private. It is a day however, when we can all renew our resolve to stem this horrific violence in our world.