Two years after a lone gunman opened fire on students and staff at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, a group of educators who were there that day talk with CBS SUNDAY MORNING WITH CHARLES OSGOOD's Jane Pauley about their lives since the tragedy and their mission to change gun control laws.
"For myself, I feel that I have a responsibility to make sure that I at least try and do something to... our society, our children," second grade teacher Carol Wexler tells Pauley in an interview to be broadcast today, Dec. 7 (9:00 AM, ET) on the
CBS Television Network. "I look at the young children in school every day - and I think, 'I can't let them grow up in a society where this is acceptable.'"
The gunman killed 20 children and six adults in the incident, which unfolded in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14, 2012. A month later, school was back in session in a neighboring town, though as Pauley reports, the healing continues today.
"Our high school students really felt the impact very, very deeply," Monsignor Robert Weiss tells Pauley. "There are still some that are having psychological issues, sleeplessness, you know, issues with their diets."
Also part of that healing process was the creation of a group of educators committed to changing gun laws, Pauley reports. The group is pushing for background checks, limits on magazine sizes for assault weapons and easier access for the care of the mentally ill.
Abbey Clements, a second grade teacher, remembers listening to the 154 gunshots fired that morning - the school's internal speaker system amplified the noise to every class - and trying to calm her students. "I just wanted to climb up on the table underneath it and rip it down, but I was scared because we were told to stay low and I had no idea where the shots were coming from," Clements says. "So I tried to sing songs and we tried to read and many of us did similar things."
Clements is now part of the group fighting for change as a way to honor those who died in the Sandy Hook shooting.
"I go home, I do lesson plans and I research gun violence prevention," Clements tells Pauley. "That gives me a purpose."
CBS SUNDAY MORNING is broadcast Sundays (9:00-10:30 AM, ET) on the
CBS Television Network. Rand Morrison is the executive producer.
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