Nearly a decade after 20 children and six educators were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School, President Joe Biden joined their loved ones and survivors of the mass shooting at a national vigil Wednesday for victims of gun violence.

“Together, we made some important progress: the most significant gun law passed in 30 years, but still not enough,” Biden said, asking once again for a ban on assault weapons and what he called other “common sense” legislation.

Biden became the first president to attend the National Vigil for All Victims of Gun Violence, which has honored more than 1 million gun violence victims since the Dec. 14, 2012, shooting in Newtown, Conn. He said attendees had turned “pain into purpose,” as he underscored his administration’s accomplishments on guns so far and promised the hundreds of people in a packed room that his work was far from done.

The president hugged Jackie Hegarty, a Sandy Hook survivor and now a rising senior at Newton High School, after she introduced him.

“I heard and saw things no child, no person should ever have to see,” Hegarty said. She added, “Thankfully, we have a president who does more than send thoughts and prayers.”

President Joe Biden hugs Sandy Hook survivor Jackie Hegarty, who introduced him, during an event in Washington on Dec. 7.