Ten years after Sandy Hook, a mother's grief and healing

'The unthinkable loss'

Lanza fired more than 150 times in the corridors and classrooms, killing 20 six-and-seven-year-olds, and six women who worked at the school, before committing suicide.

At a nearby firehouse, where authorities had taken children to be picked up by their parents, Hubbard learned that Catherine had died.

"Most people were just frozen. (It was) the unthinkable loss," she says.

Slowly, over time, Hubbard says she has been able to heal, thanks to accepting the kindness of others and religious faith.

"The first step was just getting out of bed, and that was because of my son. I had to get up because he had a right to live his life. Then every single day, there was just one more step that I would take," she says.

Difficult days include the first school day of every year and when other mass shootings occur, like at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in May when 19 children and two teachers were killed.

"I know that the journey that the families are about to take is not easy, and it's lonely, and it's dark at times," says Hubbard.

Following Sandy Hook, described by Barack Obama as the worst day of his presidency, schools reinforced doors and windows, upped teaching children how to respond to an "active shooter," and boosted staff training on how to barricade classrooms.

But tougher national restrictions on guns did not follow until after Uvalde, when Congress passed legislation that expanded background checks and reinforced measures to get firearms out of the hands of potentially dangerous people.

A stricter law that expired in 2004, banning military-style rifles with large capacity magazines, remains elusive amid opposition from Republicans who cite the constitutional right to gun ownership.

"We have a moral obligation to pass and enforce laws that can prevent these things from happening again," US President Joe Biden said Wednesday.

"I am determined to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines like those used at Sandy Hook," he added.