Letters to the Editor: When you lose someone to gun violence, it affects you forever
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- A letter writer shares her emotional response to the documentary “All the Empty Rooms,” which preserves the rooms of children killed in school shootings.
- As a former teacher who lost a student, she reflects on how such tragedies permanently shape those left behind.
- The letter urges the nation to act on gun violence, asking when stricter laws finally will be passed to prevent more deaths.
To the editor: I was mesmerized, heartbroken and sobbing uncontrollably throughout the entire short documentary “All the Empty Rooms,” which guest contributor Steve Kerr wrote about (“The human cost of gun violence in America,” March 3).
Even though Kerr is older now, his life was forever changed the day his father was killed, and that shaped him. I was a teacher for many years and unfortunately saw how a student I taught, who died by a self-inflicted gun wound at only 14, profoundly affected everyone in our classroom. Years later, these students told me how her death changed them.
In the documentary, the rooms of these students who were killed by school gun violence were left untouched. It shows the impact — that their lives have stopped, in a sense, when the horror took away those children. Steve Hartman, the journalist leading the documentary, also said he wished every person could step in one of these rooms to experience how impactful these losses are. No thoughts and prayers will ever heal this pain.
When will our country pass stricter gun laws? When will gun violence in the U.S. be enough?
Barbara Azrialy, Los Angeles
