HARTFORD, Conn. – If and when they choose to speak out, few will have more powerful voices in the national gun-control debate than the families of the Newtown shooting victims.

Since their loved ones were killed in last month’s elementary school massacre, the families have met with former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, and many have been in touch with local groups created in response to the tragedy. While one mother is clamoring for a say in Washington, people close to other families say the pain still is too raw to enter the realm of advocacy.

“Our family is not looking to make a political statement. It is not looking to change the world,” said John Engel, whose cousin’s daughter, Olivia Engel, was among 20 first-graders killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School.