This week’s deadly school shooting outside Atlanta is opening old wounds for victims of the Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown.

But one survivor believes Connecticut’s “no exceptions” safe storage law for guns has saved lives there – and may have prevented Wednesday’s attack.

When a 14 year-old opened fire on his classmates in Winder, Georgia, Abbey Clements flashed back to 2012 – when she hid a classroom of second graders at Sandy Hook Elementary.

“It brings the day right back,” Clements said. “That day is clear as could be, even though it’s almost 12 years.”

In both cases, police believe the gunman got an assault rifle from his parent. Georgia prosecutors allege that the suspect’s father gave him access to an AR-15 assault rifle – the same gun used in Newtown. Colin Gray, 54, is now charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter.

“These charges stem from Mr. Gray knowingly allowing his son Colt to possess a weapon,” said Chris Hosey, the director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

His son, Colt Gray, will be charged as an adult on four murder charges. On Friday, a judge ruled that the suspect is not eligible for the death penalty due to his age.

Clements thinks a school shooting is far less likely in Connecticut now, because of strict new safe storage laws.

“Ethan's Law” was signed in 2019, after 15 year-old Ethan Song accidentally killed himself with a neighbor’s unlocked gun. Since then, the law has expanded to require guns to be locked in cars. Last year, lawmakers removed all exceptions to Ethan’s Law.

“’No exception’ means if you have a gun in your home and it is not on your person, it must be secured,” said Melissa Kane, with Connecticut Against Gun Violence. “It must be locked up.”

Georgia does not have a safe storage law.

CHARGES FOR PARENTS

Colin Gray faces up to 180 years in prison.

A growing number of states, including Michigan and Virginia, are criminally charging parents for mass shootings their children cause. Clements thinks safe storage will only happen if parents face criminal consequences.

“It’s going to take cultural change,” she said. “Maybe even the kids will start telling their parents, you know, we'd better lock that up.”

Democrats have been trying to pass a national version of Ethan’s Law, but it has made little headway with the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives.