It's been nearly a dozen years since the deadly Sandy Hook school shooting. But in some way, time has stood still.
Abbey Clements never envisioned being thrust into becoming an activist. She also never expected to be a survivor of a massacre at the elementary school she taught at.
"It's pretty heartbreaking," Clements told Scripps News. "I just saw an interview that I did about 10 years ago, and I'm probably saying very similar things to you today."
The morning's memories are crisp. Clements recalls walking to her 2nd grade classroom to begin her day at Sandy Hook Elementary School, when suddenly there was a sound that she described as metal chairs falling.
"Your brain cannot fathom that somebody is shooting into a beautiful, quaint New England elementary school," Clements said.
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But in those traumatic moments, she went through the motions to save her life and her students' lives as well. She remembers opening the hallway door to rush kids into her classroom, where they huddled by their winter coats waiting for the all clear.
It's when she opened that door again that Clements says it hit her all at once.
"The cold air, all the police and the ambulances, and I didn't look, but I could see them peripherally, and I just looked at my feet running," she said. "I was trying to hold my kids in my arms and they were just running."
When the dust settled, 20 students and six adults were dead. It became a crossroads for families, but also for educators.
"Do you stay in town? Do you stay in your house? Do you stay teaching? Do you stay teaching at that school? I just cried every single day," Clements said.
She ultimately continued teaching, first at the holding school before eventually transferring out of Sandy Hook. But the trauma has followed.
"The noises, the fear of anybody leaving your classroom, which is what I had," Clements said. "I would literally take the entire class to go to the bathroom at first, because I didn't want anybody out in the hall by themselves."
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Despite all these years of activism, the epidemic of gun violence has not changed in America. This year, Clements took a leave of absence from school to tackle the issue full-time through her organization Teachers Unify.
"Families across the country... their lives are changing at this very moment because of something that is preventable," she said.
Her efforts come at a time when many Republicans believe their second amendment rights are under attack. And it's mostly Democrats pushing for gun reform.
Clements sees culture changes as part of the solution, including with safe gun storage. Lara Smith, spokesperson for the Liberal Gun Club, supports that idea too but thinks there needs to be a deeper discussion.
"Instead of mandating you must have storage — but we're not going to help — what about tax credit?" Smith questioned.
Both women say there is a place for gun owners in the Democratic Party, but Smith believes the party is focused on the wrong issues.
"Let's do the things we can do, instead of this idea of, well, we're going to have some magic gun fairy come and ban and remove every, you know, rifle that we've decided we're going to remove," she said.
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Smith sees employing more school counselors and making sure the background check systems are thorough as ways to make a change rather than banning AR-15s — which she says is not based in science.
Clements says change will have to happen on many fronts. And through her advocacy, she's keeping her students in mind. The same ones she's been able to see grow up and will be able to vote in the upcoming election.
"I want them to see me," Clements said. "That I'm making a decision to try to end this.
It's something she knows all teachers don't have the ability to say.
