Saturday (Dec. 14) marked 12 years since the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, which claimed the lives of 20 students and six educators. Many of the surviving children have since graduated high school or are preparing to do so. In the wake of families and friends remembering their loved ones, President Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and several other officials used the milestone to once again push for urgent measures to combat gun violence.

“Jill and I still grieve this unimaginable loss and continue to pray for the victims’ families and others traumatized by this senseless violence,” Biden wrote in a White House press release. He then commended those who turned their “pain into purpose” through foundations, such as Sandy Hook Promise or Safe and Sound Schools.

“Congress has an obligation to ‘do something’ in order to protect our children and communities from this scourge of gun violence. We are the only nation experiencing this epidemic and there are common sense policies that the majority of Americans agree with and that Congress can easily take action on,” he further explained.

The renewed pressure comes in the wake of a bipartisan gun safety bill passed by Congress and signed into law by Biden in June 2022. It tightened background checks for buyers aged 18-21, made straw purchasing and trafficking firearms federal crimes and clarified what qualifies as a federally licensed firearm dealer.

“They should still be with us — finishing their first semester of college, teaching, laughing, and making new memories,” VP Harris wrote on Twitter. “We must honor their memory with action that addresses gun violence.”

School safety advocate JT Lewis also remembered his late brother, Jesse, who helped save nine lives after the perpetrator’s, Adam Lanza, gun was jammed. “He saved nine lives that day, but not his own. He was 6 years old,” the post read.