The mother of a boy killed in the Connecticut school shootings has made an emotional appeal for gun control, using a weekly address normally reserved for the US president.
Francine Wheeler choked back tears during the internet and radio address delivered from the White House, as she urged Americans to push for tougher gun laws.
"Thousands of other families across the United States are also drowning in our grief," she said.
"Please help us do something before our tragedy becomes your tragedy."
Ms Wheeler's six-year-old son, Ben, was among the 20 first-graders and six adults killed in the December 14 attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.
"Sometimes, I close my eyes and all I can remember is that awful day waiting at the Sandy Hook Volunteer Firehouse for the boy who would never come home," Ms Wheeler said.
"But other times, I feel Ben's presence filling me with courage for what I have to do, for him and all the others taken from us so violently and too soon."
Her husband, David Wheeler, sat silently next to her as she made the recording in the White House Library.
The Sandy Hook massacre shocked the country Both wore the small green pins that have become a symbol of the shootings.
The address, taped on Friday, was the culmination of a week of emotional pleas in Washington from families of the Sandy Hook victims.
The massacre has spurred President Barack Obama to propose new restrictions on guns, but he faces an uphill battle and opposition from powerful lobby groups like the National Rifle Association.
The president travelled to Hartford, Connecticut, about an hour's drive from Newtown, to make his case for action.
On the return trip to Washington, he brought back 12 of the victims' family members, who have been meeting senators.
The Senate is considering a Democratic bill backed by Mr Obama that would expand background checks, strengthen laws against illegal gun trafficking and slightly increase school security aid.
Gunman Adam Lanza, 20, was found dead after the massacre The bill passed its first hurdle on Thursday, and senators will vote on amendments to the legislation in the coming week.
Ms Wheeler was the first person to deliver the address other than Mr Obama or Vice President Joe Biden since the two took office in 2009.
The White House said Ms Wheeler and her husband had written their address.
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