Mother of Sandy Hook Shooting Victim Speaks on School Safety Solutions
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO)- Michele Gay said this recent shooting is bringing up painful memories but she is pleased with the efforts of people in South Carolina and others nationally to find some sort of resolution.
Michele Gay’s seven-year-old daughter Josephine died along with 25 others after a gunman opened fire on sandy hook elementary. Now Michele travels to different communities to talk about ways to end school shootings, stopping in Columbia for a summit Thursday.
“We need to be looking at this problem from all angles. Particularly prevention, better preparing for response and preparing communities for recovery when tragedy does strike. There won’t be any one magic pill, unfortunately. Americans like the easy button, we would like to point to one thing we can wipe out or we can change or can fix to solve the whole problem and that is just not the reality,” Gay said.
“Years ago it was columbine, years ago it was sandy hook and now Stoneman Douglas. The question is put before us why, where and how?” asked Charleston Representative Wendell Gilliard.
Since the shooting in Florida, South Carolinians have proposed several ideas to end the bloodshed including a bill to block people under 20 from buying AR-15s, parents calling for more resource officers in schools, a bill for harsher penalties for credible threats against schools, and the latest a new bill looking to ban the sale, usage and possession of assault weapons, bump stocks and trigger cranks; a proposal Michele believes could be successful.
“Looking at the accessories of the firearms, that is being looked at very seriously. Although it seems as though it might be stymied a little bit, I think that might be just because law enforcement officers and community members and leaders want to make sure they want to do it right,” said Gay.
Lawmakers who introduced that proposal to ban assault rifles said only military and law enforcement should have those weapons. The bill was referred judiciary committee Wednesday.
