Before I moved to Northampton in 2016, I lived in Fairfield County, Connecticut, in a town neighboring Newtown, where a lot of my friends lived.
On Dec, 14, 2012, at around 9:35 a.m., Adam Lanza opened fire at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, killing 26 people, 20 children and six adults. Shortly after the shooting occurred, my school was put on lockdown for the rest of the day, and into the afternoon.
Of course, I had heard of school shootings and gun violence before, but before that day I truly did not understand the fear and sadness that came with it. However, the thing that affected me the most was losing someone near to my heart who I had known since they were a toddler.
Since that day I have started to educate myself about the impact of gun violence and the need for gun control, and have vowed to dedicate at least part of my life to standing up for what I believe in, which is why I am participating in the March for Our Lives.
I hope that eventually shootings won’t be so common that people prepare their children for what to do if there’s an active shooter, that dealing with the loss of a loved one isn’t routine, and that we can stop being afraid to go outside with the fear of being shot haunting us.
Riley Lerman
Northampton