No rest for gun foes

WASHINGTON — As they marked the fourth anniversary of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, gun control advocates and lawmakers said they plan to keep fighting for change, even though the odds are stacked against them.

Gathering in the U.S. Capitol, where all efforts to pass gun control legislation have failed over the past four years, Democratic lawmakers and the family of victims of gun violence braced for the incoming pro-gun Trump administration and took the long view on the movement.

“We come together for the first time after the election and there would be good reason or people to be desolate and despairing,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) admitted as he spoke to almost 100 gun violence survivors, and family members of those killed before imploring the President-elect to change his gun control views.

Blumenthal told the Daily News afterwards that he was hopeful but not optimistic or confident that would happen.

Newtown Action Alliance leader Po Murray told The News the movement’s strategy hasn’t changed as a result of the election because Congress “couldn’t do anything” even when Democrats had Senate control under President Obama. But she admitted that Trump’s election was a frustrating setback at the national level.

“We’re going to continue to fight. We have no choice,” she said. “We’re upset. We’re frustrated. But does that mean we’re going to go away? No.”

Andy Parker, whose daughter Alison was gunned down during a live television broadcast in Virginia last year, said, “The election of Trump isn’t going to make it any easier but we’re not going to be discouraged.”

“Social movements in America take a long time. Abolition, the suffrage movement, civil rights, they don’t happen easy. But they do happen — and right will prevail,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), whose district contains the National Rifle Association’s headquarters.

“I know that people are so frustrated, so mad that we haven’t been able to make more progress,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said. “But we’re in for the long fight. We’re in for the long haul.”