Several members of Congress are bringing a few special guests to Tuesday’s State of the Union Address in Washington. Florida Congresswoman Lois Frankel is hoping to bring more awareness about curbing gun violence by inviting people close to the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, which left more than 20 children dead in Connecticut.
Frankel’s guest is Lynn McDonnell, the mother of seven-year-old Grace, one of the victims of the Newton tragedy. McDonnell's husband Chris will also be attending as the guest of another Congresswoman from California.
Frankel says many of her colleagues have been resistant to the idea of having meaningful reforms in place to curb gun violence, but the Democrat representing the 22nd Congressional District in the South Florida area hopes to change their minds.
“It really is a strategy led by the Mayors Against Illegal Guns to bring some of these family members from Newton and have our colleagues look them in the eye and say to them we can get something done to prevent future tragedies,” said Frankel.
Frankel has sponsored several measures including requiring universal background checks for people buying guns—a proposal that leaders of the National Rifle Association say won’t work, according to a recent editorial written in the USA Today.
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