WASHINGTON -- In March, The Huffington Post set up a voicemail account for readers to share stories about how gun violence had touched their lives. They had lost parents, sons and daughters, friends and classmates. Their mother dodged bullets in an Aurora, Colo., movie theater. They counseled Sandy Hook school children. They answered a teenager's anguished knock. They held a stranger in the last bloody moments. They were shot in the head. They still remember everything.
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Don Pratt, 68
Lexington, Kentucky
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Don Pratt's father, Devaughn Pratt
Teddy McLean, 60
Lake County, California
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Teddy McLean's stepdaughter and granddaughter
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Edward Rhymes, 45
Eagan, Minnesota
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Edward Rhymes' brother, Hershel Phillips, in 2002
Mary Lou Hodges Falls, 67
Tallahassee, Florida
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Mary Lou Hodges Falls' mother, Margaret Boykin
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Heidi West, 42
Indianapolis, Indiana
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Heidi West
Radha Stern, 58
Mill Valley, California
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Radha Stern's son, Christopher Robin Hotchkiss
Starla Ingersol, 55
Chicago, Illinois
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Starla Ingersol
Shandell Baker, 21
Lincoln, Nebraska
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Shandell Baker
Tracy Johnson, 62
Cincinnati, Ohio
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Tracy Johnson's parents
Margie Stone, 78
Tucson, Arizona
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Margie Stone, age 3, with her brother Henry Hoffman Jr., age 6
Ruthann Stetak, 63
LeGrange, Ohio
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Ruthann Stetak's husband, Tom, in about 2002
Rene Pedraza, 52
Potomac, Maryland
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Rene Pedraza and friend Nestor Rodda in the late '70s
Cliff Majersik, 43
Washington, D.C.
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Cliff Majersik's mother and father on their wedding day, June 4, 1967
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Sean Baucom, 22
Brooklyn, New York
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Sean Baucom's brother, Rashad, in 2010
Shane VerPlanck, 66
Los Osos, California
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Shane VerPlanck in Alaska in the mid '70s
Tom Shaffer, 71
Ocean View, Delaware
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Tom Shaffer
Betsy Stone, 57
Stamford, Connecticut
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Betsy Stone
Pietro Poggi
San Rafael, California
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Pietro Poggi's friend, Oakland musician Reggie Benn
Mary Meacher, 55
Mason, New Hampshire
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Mary Meacher and her daughter Siobhan
R.B., 55
Cleveland, Ohio
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A candleholder from R.B.'s brother-in-law
Robin Taylor, 59
Richmond, California
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Robin Taylor
Brandy Solomon, 68
Sarasota, Florida
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Robert F. Kennedy's inscription for Brandy Solomon
Donna Ratner, 53
Weston, Connecticut
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Donna Ratner (right) with a friend in the early '80s
Ken Adams, 50
Forest Knolls, California
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Ken Adams
Anny Seavey, 67
Southwest Harbor, Maine
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Chicago's South Commons in the late '60s
Candace Smyth, 40
Washington, D.C.
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Candace Smyth's grandfather, Reo Galloway
Tracey Hastings-Ward, 52
Stone Ridge, New York
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Tracey Hastings-Ward in 1980
Jim Mumford, 63
Alexandria, Virginia
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Jim Mumford
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Darryl Willis, 58
Portland, Oregon
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Darryl Willis' home
Ruth Rollins, 50
Boston, Massachusetts
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Banner in memory of Ruth Rollins' son, Warren Danny Hairston
The audio stories have been edited for continuity and length. The project was produced by Brad Shannon, Aaron Bycoffe and Andrei Scheinkman.
