Sandy Hook is the mass shooting I hear mentioned most often when people talk about the moment they knew nothing would change.
A madman murders 26 people — most of them 6 or 7 years old — and Congress was still unable to pass substantive gun or mental health legislation. The assault weapons ban that Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced in 2013 was defeated in the Senate with 15 Democrats siding with Republicans in opposition — not that it mattered. Even if the yeas and nays ran down party lines, the measure would have been five short of passage.
For a lot of people, that vote 10 years ago was a clear sign that the National Rifle Association and the gun lobby had won. I believe that indication came 60 years ago with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
