On the ten-year anniversary of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, a local organization is still working to see a national assault-weapons ban. Newtown Action Alliance, founded briefly after the Sandy Hook shooting, has been active in getting Connecticut s assault weapons ban passed. The group has also spoken with congressional officials about a national ban. .
Human-rights activists in New Hampshire say the growing number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills at the Statehouse is encouraging right-wing extremists to intimidate and threaten members of the community. In the weeks leading up to the fatal shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs, experts say anti-LGBTQ+ activity surged, including the recent protest of armed white nationalists at an LGBTQ+ family-friendly story hour in Concord. Linds Jakows, co-founder of the group 603 Equality, said policies demonizing a specific group of people have real-world consequences. .
While community activists in some of Boston s south side neighborhoods have declared a state of emergency following a string of fatal shootings, one mother is working to help the grieving families left behind. Chaplain Clementina Chéry, president and CEO of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, named after her 15-year-old son who was fatally shot in Dorchester in 1993, said a long-term and sustainable public health approach is needed to end the violence. .
Though its campuses have not experienced serious gun violence to date, the Cherokee Community School Board is now the second in Iowa to allow school staff members to carry guns on campus and in classrooms. Kimberly Lingenfelter, superintendent at the school, described the board s approach to keeping kids safe as "very measured and serious." "No one wants guns in school," Lingenfelter acknowledged. "But we want bad guys with a gun even less." Connie Ryan, executive director of the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa, said she understands there is a public-health crisis in American schools, which includes firearms. " .