[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 242 (Monday, December 19, 2022)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 77463-77464]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-27597]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 242 / Monday, December 19, 2022 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 77463]]


                Proclamation 10506 of December 14, 2022

                
Day of Remembrance: 10 Years After the 2012 Sandy 
                Hook Elementary School Shooting

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Ten years ago, a lone gunman killed 20 first-graders 
                and 6 educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 
                Newtown, Connecticut. Today, those first-graders should 
                be sitting in eleventh-grade classrooms, planning for 
                their high school graduation and all the possibilities 
                ahead. Those educators should be preparing lessons for 
                new groups of students and enjoying full lives 
                surrounded by their loved ones. Instead, their desks 
                are forever empty, their families are left with holes 
                in their hearts, and our Nation is missing a piece of 
                its soul.

                As we remember and grieve those victims and their 
                families, we acknowledge the pain that the community of 
                Newtown continues to endure. That horrific day changed 
                the lives of every survivor, many of whom still carry 
                physical and emotional wounds. It forced parents across 
                America to wonder whether the goodbye hug they gave 
                their child before school would be the last they ever 
                have, like it was for the Newtown families. And it has 
                driven all of us to reexamine our core values and 
                whether this can be a country that protects the most 
                innocent.

                I believe it can. This summer, I signed into law the 
                first major bipartisan gun safety legislation in nearly 
                30 years, which helps to keep firearms away from people 
                who are a danger to themselves and others. And I have 
                taken more executive action to reduce gun violence than 
                any other President by this point in their 
                Administration. We are cracking down on so-called ghost 
                guns, rogue gun dealers, and gun traffickers; helping 
                States implement laws for extreme risk protection 
                orders; and boosting investments in community 
                interventions to stop violence. I am also fighting to 
                ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. The 
                memories of the Newtown victims--and all victims of gun 
                violence--demand nothing less.

                I am optimistic because I have seen the courage and 
                resolve of the Sandy Hook families. They have suffered 
                unimaginable loss but have turned their pain into 
                purpose. For some, that has meant advocating for gun 
                safety laws to protect other families from experiencing 
                the same grief. For others, it has meant starting 
                foundations or programs that honor those they lost. 
                Working alongside other families of gun violence 
                victims across America, they have helped shape a new 
                movement for safety, grounded in love for our children, 
                unwavering resilience in the face of grief, and a 
                deeply held dream for a better future.

                Today and always, we honor the bright lives lost 10 
                years ago at Sandy Hook Elementary School: Charlotte 
                Bacon, Daniel Barden, Rachel D'Avino, Olivia Engel, 
                Josephine Gay, Dylan Hockley, Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung, 
                Madeleine Hsu, Catherine Hubbard, Chase Kowalski, Jesse 
                Lewis, Ana M[aacute]rquez-Greene, James Mattioli, Grace 
                McDonnell, Anne Marie Murphy, Emilie Parker, Jack 
                Pinto, Noah Pozner, Caroline Previdi, Jessica Rekos, 
                Avielle Richman, Lauren Rousseau, Mary Sherlach, 
                Victoria Soto, Benjamin Wheeler, Allison Wyatt.

[[Page 77464]]

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of 
                the United States of America, do hereby proclaim 
                December 14, 2022, a Day of Remembrance: 10 Years After 
                the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting. Let us 
                recognize the courage of survivors and families of 
                victims, who continue working to rebuild their lives, 
                and let us commit to eradicating gun violence and 
                helping rebuild communities that have suffered so much.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                fourteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand twenty-two, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                seventh.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2022-27597
Filed 12-16-22; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F3-P