The stories of Newtown and Hadiya Pendleton are tragedies that are part of a larger epidemic of gun violence wreaking havoc on the nation—a crisis that Michelle and Barack try to remedy. They are particularly disturbed by the fact that so many children are killed by gun violence amid everyday, innocent activities, such as walking in the park and going to school. Michelle acknowledges that, had she not been killed, Hadiya could have gotten the education that Michelle had and worked her way up to do something extraordinary, but her potential is squashed by guns.