Sarah Clements was just a high school student when her mother, a teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School, survived the 2012 shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Now Clements says she’s working to "transform that pain into positive action."
In an interview with HuffPost Live on Monday, Clements discussed her advocacy work and how she hopes to engage Americans, and young voters in particular, on the issue of gun violence prevention.
"For the last, almost two years now there's been a growing community of activists in this movement," she said. "We call ourselves gun sense voters. We've gotten more than a million Americans to sign pledges ... committing to becoming single issue voters on the issue of gun reform."
Gun sense voters are rallying for "common sense" legislation, like universal background checks, and looking for candidates who will take a strong stance on the issue. With gun control legislation on the ballot in Washington and various pro-gun candidates vying for congressional seats, Clements urged young people to join the reform effort.
“There’s no question that young people care about these issues,” she said. "The question is why is there a disconnect between young people and the issues we care about and how elected officials talk about these issues and bring them to the table. And one way we can address these problems is by casting your ballot.”
Watch the full HuffPost Live conversation about the influence of young voters here.
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