Shootings Costing U.S. $174 Billion Show Burden of Gun Violence
This article is for subscribers only.
Televised images of Connecticut families grieving the loss of 26 first-graders and educators this week made Alfredo Valentin relive the pain he’s endured since his teenage son was shot dead in New York 18 years ago.
Shock, grief and an obsession with bringing the killers to justice consumed him for years. It brought financial ruin on his family, which had prospered from the real estate brokerage he ran in the Bronx. He lost the business and borrowed money to support his wife and daughters. It took years before he could work again. The damage, Valentin said, is permanent.