Remembering Sandy Hook Tragedy, Vigil for Victims of Gun Violence

At his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, two days after the mass shooting at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, Stanford professor of medicine Dr. Dean Winslow said that it is “insane … that in the United States of America a civilian can go out and buy a semiautomatic weapon like an AR-15.” Then he quickly fell out of contention for the post of assistant secretary of defense for health affairs.

Dr. Winslow addressed a gathering of about 75 people to mark the 6th anniversary of the shooting tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary with a vigil in Palo Alto despite a heavy deluge of rain. Two attendees spoke of loved ones lost due to suicide by gunfire, one for the first time publicly since she lost her girlfriend 40 years ago. The Raging Grannies sang "We Will Strengthen Background Checks" and other songs they wrote for the occasion.

The Peninsula chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America recently celebrated its one year anniversary and in that short time has gotten over 500 members. The national organization formed in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy in 2012 when a 20-year-old fatally shot 20 children between six and seven years old, as well as six adult staff members. Before driving to the school, he shot and killed his mother at their Newtown, Massachusetts home.