Shame On DC: Americans Speak Out Against Washington's Inaction On Gun Control

One year has passed since 20 children and six teachers were shot and killed in Newtown, Conn., and yet, Washington, D.C. has still failed to enact major legislation on gun control. Using #ShameOnDC , Americans throughout the country wrote in to HuffPost Live to express their frustration, advocate for change, and make their voices heard.

"I am a mother endowed with old-fashioned common sense and respect for the sanctity of human life. And I am here on behalf of my two children unafraid to say that the gun lobby emperor has no clothes."
-- Jennifer Mendelsohn, mother of two children

"I know longer think of gun violence as something that happens to somebody else. Those meaningless numbers are real people to me now."
-- Pam Simon, 2011 Tuscon shooting survivor

"It's such a magical age... A six-year-old may want to be a veterinarian one day, a ninja the next, and a banker after that."
-- Kimberly Wilkins, mother of seven-year-old son

"The instant he drew his last breath was when I decided that too many [children] have died."
-- Mary Leigh Blek, lost son to gun shooting in 1994

"The service we ask of you is one that demands you imagine what isn't yet, what appears to be beyond what you can accomplish and then make it happen."
-- Rabbi Aaron Alexander

"It's a terrible thing to know that your government would rather cave to gun lobbyists and their money than to stand up for innocent children, students, employees, and citizens."
-- Ariana Henderson, student at Penn State University