>>...police responded to reports of a shooting...
>>A tragedy of unspeakable...
>>...police confirmed what we feared, that the children...
>>They got an automated phone message from the school
that the schools were in lockdown.
And then we got the news that there had been a report
of a shooting at Sandy Hook School.
And I ran out the door, I just...
I headed to the school quickly.
There's a firehouse down the street from the school
where they were having everybody assemble.
And they were bringing all the students and personnel
out of the school and having us meet there.
And my friend Melissa had collected her second grader
and she asked her husband
to pick him up and bring him home.
And I said to Melissa, You should go home and be with him.
And she said, Oh no, I'll stay with you until you get Daniel.
>>And then finally the Governor came and said,
If you're missing someone, they didn't survive.
>>We have funerals for Olivia Engel at 1:00 at Saint Rosa Lima
and Dylan Hockley in Bethel.
Same thing we've been doing--
just be outside, respectful distance.
Is there anything else we need in Newtown daily developments
beyond that happening, anything we know of?
>>Yeah, one of the teachers,
her stepfather is a reporter here.
And I think as sort of a defense mechanism I thought,
It couldn't be," you know?
We'd know already something."
And eventually it was confirmed.
So, you know, a story that was difficult enough for all of us
to report anyway was, you know, that much more emotional,
that much more difficult.
>>The sort of overarching issue that I'm looking at is
whether or not Sandy Hook
truly is a tipping point in the debate over gun violence,
and that whatever the solutions are out there,
these 20 innocent children lost, this will make a difference.
And I'm sort of examining that optimism against the realit
that the gun control debate in America is exceedingly divisive.
>>It is a sad honor to be here today.
It's been one month since I lost my son Dylan,
and 25 other families lost their loved ones.
The Sandy Hook Promise is the start of our change.
This is a promise to do everything in our power
to be remembered not as the town filled with grief and victims,
but as the place where real change began.
>>This is a promise to be open to all possibilities.
There is no agenda other than
to make our communities and our nation a safer, better place.
>>Yeah, I'm Matthew Kauffman with the Hartford Courant.
Can you give us a sense of how active you intend to be?
Do you anticipate a point at which Sandy Hook Promise
would actually be testifying, lobbying, if you will?
>>We have to take the time to educate ourselves.
We have to take the time to have that dialogue.
But absolutely, there's going to become a moment in time
where we're going to take those positions.
We're a platform for people to come together with one voice
and actions to move us forward.
>>Some of us who came together to start Sandy Hook Promise
are gun owners.
We hunt, we target shoot, we protect our homes,
we're collectors,
we teach our sons and daughters how to use guns safely.
Passing a new law and then moving on is not the answer.
We have to fundamentally change our approach.
(gunshot)
>>So that's... that's pretty dead center.
>>Pretty dead center.
>>A lot of people were surprised
at how many guns Nancy Lanza owned
and the type of guns that they were.
But in fact there's a strong gun culture in Newtown.
A lot of hunters, a lot of target shooters,
a lot of gun owners.
>>After December 14th, everybody's been asking,
has it changed how I felt about firearms?
And to be honest, no.
I mean, this is how I've thought.
>>Do you feel yourself sort of under attack
as a responsible firearms owner?
>>I have friends who are devout NRA members
who believe that the Second Amendment
gives everybody the right to own any firearm.
Vice versa, I have friends here in town who believe that
all firearms should be confiscated and destroyed.
And I'm somewhere in the middle.
As far as a ban on 30-round clips,
it's a common sense law that would absolutely save lives.
And there's going to be a bunch of people upset
that I said that.
>>Do you feel, Oh, no, I'm betraying, you know,
the gun enthusiast community here?
>>I will lose friends.
I'm sure of it.
>>We are heading to the home
of a gentleman named Scott Ostrosky.
Newtown resident, has kind of a private amateur shooting range
on his property that has been the subject
of a number of complaints
by folks who live in the neighborhood.
>>We've gotten complaints of noise,
because we have a neighbor
that's been more sensitive to the shooting
in the past couple of years.
And the police have been over here many times.
They have said it was safe, and we've become buddies with them.
>>And there are complaints that are from all over the town
going to the police.
Is there something that changed in Newtown?
>>Yes.
A lot more people live here now.
And a lot more outsiders have moved in.
And these are people that
moving to Newtown is big country to them.
These are people that, in my opinion,
came from New York City,
or the suburbs of New York City,
or any urban environment,
and they're not used to what goes on in Newtown,
or what has been going on.
And then you get that conflict.
It's just, you know, growing pains in a situation like this.
>>Each of these red dots represents a home
from which a complaint was lodged
with the police about the sound of gunfire near these homes.
I think this was 2010 to the first part of 2012.
85 noise complaints related to shooting,
spread pretty broadly throughout the town.
So last year the town decided to do something about it.
Joel, how are you?
>>Nice to see you.
Come in.
>>Thanks.
>>I think it had just reached
sort of a critical mass of a number of complaints.
So we set this ordinance up, and it would say,
Look, you cannot shoot a gun in Newtown
unless you're doing legitimate hunting,
or you have a legitimate shooting range.
>>Did this feel like
controversial legislation ordinance to you?
As you were drafting it, did you think...
>>Not in the least.
Absolutely not in the least.
I never expected that there would be any significant
opposition to it.
They had two public hearings on it,
and there were a lot of people there,
and they were very vocal in opposition to the ordinance.
>>These are the minutes of the meetings that were held.
Necessity should be the standard, not simply prudence.
You know, Gunfire is a reminder of freedom.
One person notes that no one in attendance has spoken in favor
of the ordinance.
So really, you know, very strong emotions over, again,
what I think the town thought was a noise ordinance.
>>And it all had to do with their ability to maintain arms,
and somehow this would infringe their Second Amendment rights.
>>Any inkling at all that
you might be opening up a Second Amendment debate here?
>>No, because the Second Amendment
has nothing to do with shooting ranges.
It doesn't say the right to have a shooting range
shall not be infringed.
>>This all happened in the months before the shootings,
and only a handful of people showed up
in support of the ordinance.
The town meetings were dominated by pro gun enthusiasts,
and the ordinance was tabled.
And that really illustrated
the long history that Newtown has with guns.
In fact, the trade group for the whole gun industr
is located right here--
the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
Within Newtown, is the NSSF known?
I've talked to a number of people in town that said,
I had no idea they were here."
>>Well, Connecticut is not well known now
for being a state of great firearms ownership.
But ironically, Connecticut is where the firearms industr
got its beginning.
All the major manufacturers of firearms and ammunition
were generally centered in the Connecticut River Valle
during the Industrial Revolution.
And that's why the National Shooting Sports Foundation
is in Connecticut.
>>2013 marks the 35th anniversary of the Shot Show.
This year, over 630,000 square feet of exhibit space,
and more than 60,000 industry professionals.
(cheers and applause)
>>Ladies and gentlemen, the state of our industry tonight,
in a word, is misunderstood.
Now, who among us has not been moved
by that unspeakable traged
that was inflicted by a deranged man
upon the children of Newtown, Connecticut,
our very home at the NSSF?
>>You had said the state of the industry is misunderstood.
What's the biggest misunderstanding about it?
>>There are many.
According to the media,
we are nothing but a bunch of greedy fat cats
who could care less about anything but making profit.
We're in this business because we love it.
Rather than say that guns are bad,
what we say is guns are here.
Guns are part of the fabric of our society.
And so what we need to do is to make sure that
responsible gun owners make sure that they're not accessible
to children or at risk individuals.
If this woman had safely stored her guns,
inaccessible to her son when they were not in use,
this shooting would not have occurred.
>>In the month since 20 precious children
and six brave adults were violently taken from us
at Sandy Hook Elementary,
more than 900 of our fellow Americans have reportedly died
at the end of a gun.
So I'm putting forward a specific set of proposals.
And in the days ahead,
I intend to use whatever weight this office holds
to make them a reality.
(cheers and applause)
>>Our government is treading a thin, thin line
of becoming tyrannical.
Whether it's King George or Barack Hussein Obama,
oppression is oppression.
Gun control isn't about guns.
It's about control.
I only have one comment-- I will not comply.
>>Historically with the pro-gun lobby,
they've really become entrenched when challenged.
One of the questions I think is,
do 20 dead first graders change that equation?
>>So far it hasn't.
And I think what makes this such an intractable issue is
even after Sandy Hook, there are two camps.
The two camps are,
What we need to make our community safer is fewer guns,
and the other camp saying,
No, what we need to make our community safer
is more guns.
I don't know where the common ground is on this
when it starts that far apart.
>>We're 48 days past today.
When did you start thinking you have a larger role to play here?
>>I feel like we've been forced onto a platform.
And I think it... I feel, we feel,
a sense of responsibility and a feel of obligation,
a sense of obligation now to do whatever we can.
>>We're not political, Mark and I.
We're not, you know, confrontational people.
>>But I think we can't allow ourselves to become complacent
and just say, That's how it is in the United States.
You know, These things happen."
That's unacceptable.
>>I have felt guilt and shame
about the fact that in this particular topic
I have never done a single thing.
I've been awakened, and I will not be caught napping on the job
from here on out.
>>I just need to do something.
Because I'm like so many other people.
I can't stop thinking about what happened, so...
>>I'm Richard Marotto.
I have a first grader at Sandy Hook.
By the grace of God she was shoved in the bathroom
along with 14 friends and her teacher.
I won't begin to tell you
the things that she says and draws right now.
And it's progressively getting worse.
So anything we can do for our community.
But I think we need to get in the same page.
And if someone does speak tomorrow,
let's all be on the same page.
>>There's a huge silent majority out there
that I believe is easily motivated
not to be silent any more if we give them the tools.
And that's what we're working towards.
>>When you go out and you advocate,
your power is 1,000 to one,
because people aren't showing up.
And the fact that you're from Newtown is even more important.
>>I feel like our grief puts us in a unique position of power.
And I actually believe that we can, with that power,
help level the playing field
with the special interests that are out there.
>>And I do think the tide is turning,
but our window right now is extremely limited.
This is going to move very, very quickly.
>>I've never had to wait in line
to get in the legislative office building.
I've never had to walk through a metal detector
to get in the legislative office building.
So this is most definitely a moment in my state
and the nation as well.
>>My name is Raymond Maza.
I'm a resident of Farmington, Connecticut.
I come here in strong opposition of the proposed legislation,
including but not limited to House Bill 5268,
Senate Bill 140, Senate Bill 122, Senate Bill 124...
>>My daughter was a student
in Victoria Soto's first grade class.
She survived.
She and eight other children ran from that room
directly past him,
but not before witnessing her friends and her teacher
slaughtered in front of her.
>>So here we are again.
Another mass shooting, another deranged perpetrator,
and the response is yet again ban guns.
>>Something needs to change.
We need to be able to send our kids to school without fear.
>>As much as you might detest this thought,
at the end of the day,
the only protection against a bad man with a gun
is a good man or woman with a gun
in the right place at the right time.
>>Guns are a fault line
in the sort of varied American experience.
And they have this capacit
to sort of create this emotional cleave
in a way that I think maybe abortion comes close to,
but other than that, no other issue
really separates the nation this substantially.
>>If the principal had come out of her office
with a gun in her hand,
she might have at least mitigated the carnage.
>>We are incredulous
at the types of assault and semi-automatic weapons
and magazine clips that are considered legal.
>>A lot of people on both sides
think that some change will come.
But it will come not as the result of a meeting of the minds
of these two far-apart camps,
but simply because one side or the other
musters sufficient political power to get their way.
>>Thank you.
(cheers and applause)