Front Burner - A Sandy Hook mother on another school shooting

Episode Date: May 26, 2022

On Tuesday, an 18-year-old shooter barricaded himself in an elementary school classroom in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and two teachers. This, nearly 10 years after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. In the years between the shootings, no meaningful national legislation on gun control has passed in the United States. Veronique De La Rosa's son Noah was the youngest victim at Sandy Hook. She tells Jayme Poisson that she had hoped what happened at her son's school would be a watershed, but that now, "it's become painfully obvious that thoughts and prayers are not the way out of every single one of these tragedies."

In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. This is a CBC Podcast. On Tuesday, students at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, went to school. In just two days, their summer holidays were set to begin. In the morning, there was an awards ceremony where a little girl named Omari Jo Garza beamed with pride when she was named to the honor roll. Her grandmother took a picture.

Shortly after that, Amory Jo was shot dead, along with 18 of her classmates. She was just 10 years old. Two teachers were also killed. By an 18-year-old gunman who barricaded himself in a fourth-grade classroom with a semi-automatic rifle he purchased legally at a local sporting goods store. He also bought 375 rounds of ammunition. To lose a child is like having a piece of your soul ripped away. There's a hollowness in your chest. You feel like you're being sucked into it. You're never going to be able to get out. Suffocating. It's never quite the same.

By Tuesday night, U.S. President Joe Biden was addressing the nation, calling for action on gun control. As a nation, we have to ask, when in God's name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? When in God's name we do what we all know in our gut needs to be done? It's a refrain that we've heard before, less than two weeks ago, after 10 were murdered in a racist attack in Buffalo. Look, I'm not naive. I know tragedy will come again. But there are certain things we can do.

We can keep assault weapons off our streets. And almost 10 years ago, when 20 children were massacred at Sandy Hook Elementary School. As a country, we have been through this too many times. Whether it's an elementary school in Newton or a shopping mall in Oregon or a temple in Wisconsin or a movie theater in Aurora or a street corner in Chicago, these neighborhoods are our neighborhoods and these children are our children. And we're going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics. But in the last decade, no meaningful national legislation on gun control

has passed in the United States. Veronique De La Rosa's son Noah was the youngest victim at Sandy Hook in Newtown, Connecticut. He had just turned six when he was killed. Thank you so much for doing this. I'm so sorry you're having to watch your country go through this again. Yes. It's become some sort of a sick, grotesque cycle in this country. Very, very difficult to watch. As you watch the news begin to trickle out on Tuesday, can you tell me a bit about what went through your mind in that moment as you learned that there had been another mass shooting at an elementary school? It's just horrifying, but it's something I live with every day. It's a story that has no ending. You don't

move forward from the loss of a child. And it's that knowledge of what those parents are going to be facing for the rest of their lives with this brutal, senseless loss. And, you know, it's so out of the order of nature that your child should die before you and in such a brutal way. So it's that knowledge, what those parents are about to face. It just breaks my heart for them. Could you have imagined that something like this, as you came to grips with what happened at your son's school nearly a decade ago, could you ever have imagined that this could happen again? I wanted to think at the time that Sandy Hook was a watershed event that would drastically change the landscape. But it didn't. Not on a federal level, for sure.

Connecticut did manage to pass some sweeping reforms, but on the federal level, there hasn't been the change at all. I was hoping to see. And so because of that, these types of mass casualty events are going to keep happening. What do you think has stood in the way? of fast and loose and one could argue inaccurate interpretation of the Second Amendment by some people, some legislatures, and of course, you know, the gun lobby, the NRA, and the manufacturers. I mean, it's a huge wave of resistance to meaningful change. But in fact, it's a public health crisis

of huge magnitude, and it should be addressed as such. We heard President Biden on Tuesday night come out and say that this pain has to be turned into action, that more has to be done. And so, like, what did you think when you heard that? Because, of course, he was vice president in the aftermath of the massacre at Sandy Hook. Yeah, well, I think he's been dealing for years with obstructionism. You know, I mean, nothing has happened because there's been such strong opposition by powerful individuals against change. But in fact, 90% of Americans support common sense measures like background checks. And a majority of Americans

also oppose these military style weapons that are designed to aim, shoot, and maim. I mean, the damage that they're designed to do to a human body does not in any way belong in civilian circles it's a military weapon and it doesn't matter the semantics of what you call it that's what it's designed for it's a weapon of war it's just incomprehensible that the powerful few are preventing us from dealing in an effective way with what is a tremendous public health crisis and with repercussions throughout our society. Our places of worship, our stores, our schools. I mean, our way of life is being threatened by these events, these mass shootings, the randomness, or sometimes targeted. But the point is, we need to take away the means. And these weapons of mass destruction are the means that are being used. They can cause a lot of damage in very little

time. If real gun control legislation with teeth, if a way to take away the means doesn't come from this, if President Biden isn't able to get the action that he insists is necessary here, what will that tell you about the state of the country that you live in? That we're on a ship that needs to be righted before we completely lose our moral compass. I mean, people want to talk about the sanctity of life. This is a direct and complete mockery and violation of the sanctity of life, this is a direct and complete mockery and violation of the sanctity of life. If we are a life-affirming and a life-embracing society, then we cannot allow this to go on unchecked. We're buying into a culture of death.

I wonder what you would say to the idea, like after Sandy Hook, the fact that nothing meaningful was done, that it sent the message that this was a country that was willing, that had decided that the massacre of its children was something that it could bear. Well, that's horrifying. And I can't believe that. I mean, if we're turning a blind eye to the massacre of innocents like this, then what does that say about us? Then we are not life-affirming. We are not life-embracing. We are not.

Then we are trivializing life. I just can't believe that that would be an acceptable definition to most Americans. And in fact, I really honestly don't think it is. It's a powerful few that are preventing the change because money and a twisted interpretation of the Second Amendment seems to take precedence. seems to take precedence, but that's not the majority of people who are parents and sisters and brothers and grandparents. I don't believe the majority of people feel that this is okay for this cycle to keep repeating itself. Speaking of that, those powerful few, the NRA, the National Rifle Association, is scheduled to have its annual meeting in Texas this weekend. How do you imagine you would have felt if the NRA had gathered in Connecticut just a few days after the shooting at your son's school?

I mean, it flies in the face of any human decency. So the only thing anybody could think of that is that it's horrifying. It's grotesque. It's disrespectful. It's making a mockery out of reality. And I don't know how they could wake up and look at themselves in the mirror. In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization.

Empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. But of the people I speak to, 50% of them do not know their own household income. That's not a typo. 50%. That's because money is confusing. In my new book and podcast, Money for Couples, I help you and your partner create a financial vision together. To listen to this podcast, just search for Money for Couples. search for Money for Cops. I know that you, along with other families who lost loved ones, took on the gun manufacturer Remington.

A settlement was reached just a few months ago, the first time a gun maker faced liability for a mass shooting. And I wonder if you could tell me a bit about why that angle, that approach was significant for you. It was significant because there needs to be accountability. People who manufacture and put out the means to commit these types of, you know, human destruction, they need to be held accountable. They can't have immunity laws in place. Again, this, their immunity has resulted in a public health crisis. So, you know, much like cigarette manufacturers that ultimately, in spite of their denials and their twisting of the truth, had to, you know, ultimately be held accountable for the

product they were putting out and the devastation and destruction it was causing in American society. So I think that's a place to start for sure is those immunity laws, but as well as tougher legislation when it comes to background checks. I wonder if I could also ask you about another aspect of living through an atrocity like you have, which is that there are people who will pretend that it didn't even happen and who will accuse you of acting. And what has that been like for you? That's also been extremely trying and exhausting and drains you of your energy in a lot of ways

to salt on the wound of the grief you're already bearing. So it's been extraordinarily difficult. I can't imagine how you've coped with your son's loss over the last decade. And like you mentioned earlier, to think of the families of 19 more children who are now experiencing that same unthinkable loss in Texas. And I wonder if you could speak with them right now, what would you say to them? Right now, just to focus on getting through the next minute, the next hour, and rallying as much support as possible to get you through this. To be honest with you, I don't think it's uncommon for them to later have very little memory. I certainly don't of the immediate aftermath in terms of exactly, you know, what you did, because you're,

you're in shock and it's your mind's way of protecting itself from having to process everything at once. So I think they're, they're going to be in survival mode. And that's what it is for now and will be for a while. It's just devastating. This has devastating, devastating consequences on the survivors, on society at large. And it's preventable. It doesn't need to happen.

I'm sure Noah is in your thoughts every day. Every day. But particularly today. I wonder if there's anything you want to share about him. He was just a little jokester. He used to tell his sisters that when everybody was asleep at night, he would go and work in a taco factory.

And so that he was saving all the money he was making. And he had a bank account. He was just making up all these tall tales to tease his sisters. And he was so inquisitive and kind. And because he was a twin, I think he was born knowing how to share. and because he was a twin, I think he was born knowing how to share.

It just, you know, he was just a little spark of life. He was. You mentioned Noah's sister, his twin. How is your family doing today? We're coping as best we can. But this is a lifetime, has lifetime repercussions for all of us. And that's just the reality of it.

And if I can impress upon people the damage that this does transgenerationally, you know, it's unspeakable. It devastates families and it's just, we're in a crisis state when it comes to this issue. You have such a rare, hard insight into the situation, one that no one would ever want to have. I wonder if there's anything else you'd like to say, anything else you'd like to add to this conversation. yes that um it's become painfully obvious that thoughts and prayers are

are not the way out of every single one of these tragedies um as the measure we need to be proactive and we need to prevent them from happening so that thoughts and prayers are never needed. It's time for action. This has come to a saturation point, and it needs to be handled, and it needs to be dealt with. We can't keep tolerating this. Thank you so much for joining us today. And again, I'm so sorry that we even have to be talking about this. Of course. Thank you. I want to leave you today with comments from Felix Rubio, a deputy with the Uvalde County Sheriff's Office. His 10-year-old daughter Lexi was one of the fourth graders killed on

Tuesday. He spoke to CNN reporter Jason Carroll from his porch. I wanted to take her life. All I can hope is that she's just not a number. Hopefully something gets resolved. That's all we ask. Hopefully something gets resolved. I know this is very difficult, but what would you like to get resolved? What would you like to see resolved at this point? Damn violence, guns. I'm a cop. I'm a deputy here in Uvalde County.

This is enough. This is enough. No one else needs to go through this. We never needed to go through this, but we are.