(14 Dec 2013) Anti-gun violence campaigners gathered in front of the National Rifle Association (NRA) headquarters in Virginia on Saturday to mark the first anniversary of the Sandy Hook school shooting.
A divided Congress denied President Barack Obama's calls for changes and the national gun lobby, led by the NRA, is arguably stronger than ever.
"Congress has failed to enact any sensible reform to our nation's lax gun laws " said Martina Leinz who is the President of Northern Virginia Chapter of Million Mom March, the grassroots arm of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
"There is one simple reason for this and it's the organisation behind me, right here, the National Rifle Association," she added.
The inaction in Washington underscores the ongoing potency of the NRA and other gun rights groups in Congress where Republicans oppose stricter gun laws and many Democrats are reluctant to anger voters.
"I believe that the shooting at Newtown was a paradigm shift in the American conscience," Leinz added.
Gunman Adam Lanza, killed his mother inside their Newtown Connecticut home on December 14, 2012, before driving to Sandy Hook elementary school, where he killed 20 children and six teachers before shooting himself as police arrived.
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