Parents of Newtown ad: ‘Don’t let the memory of Newtown fade without doing something real’

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns organization on
Thursday unveiled a new ad featuring the parents of children killed in the
Newtown, Connecticut mass shooting, calling for tougher gun laws.
Newtown parents press for gun control in Bloomberg group's ad:

In the ads, parents of victims slain at the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School share memories of their family members before the tragedy and learning of their deaths.

“We dropped Jesse off in the morning to go to school Dec. 14, he gave me a hug and a kiss and said ‘I love you dad, and I love mom too,” says Neil Heslin, the father of student Jesse Lewis. “That was the last I ever saw of Jesse alive,” he adds.

Jillian Soto, whose sister Vicki Soto, a teacher at the school and was killed in the attack, says her sibling “loved teaching at Sandy Hook elementary.”

“Every student would say, I hope I get Ms. Soto next year,” she says.

The ad also features Chris and Lynn McDonnell, the parents of Grace McDonnell, and Terri and Gilles Rousseau, the parent of teacher Lauren Rousseau.

“Connecticut can save lives,” the ad says, urging legislation for “comprehensive background checks, limit [on] high-capacity magazines, [and an] assault weapons ban.”

“Don’t let the memory of Newtown fade without doing something real,” says Terri Rousseau as the ad concludes.

Long Version

When President Obama delivered his State of the Union address, he urged lawmakers
to simply give a gun-safety bill a fair hearing. The president said "They deserve a vote. Gabby Giffords
deserves a vote. The families of Newtown deserve a vote. The families
of Aurora deserve a vote. The families of Oak Creek and Tucson and
Blacksburg, and the countless other communities ripped open by gun
violence — they deserve a simple vote."