Obama in Newtown: ‘We can’t tolerate this anymore’

By Olivier Knox, Yahoo! News | The Ticket – 7 hrs ago

President Barack Obama assured the grieving, shell-shocked Newtown community on Sunday that "you are not alone" and vowed sternly to wield "whatever power this office holds" in a quest to prevent future mass shootings.

"We can't tolerate this anymore," Obama said from behind a podium on the stage of a Newton High School auditorium, as adults wept, or hugged, or sat quietly, many hugging small children. "These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change."

"In the coming weeks, I'll use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens -- from law enforcement, to mental health professionals, to parents, and educators -- in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this, because what choice do we have?"he said.

The speech, broadcast nationwide, offered the bold suggestion that Obama might engage lawmakers on the subject of gun control -- a topic that has not been among his top priorities during his presidency.

"We can't accept events like this as routine. Are we really prepared to say that we're powerless in the face of such carnage?" Obama said. That the politics are too hard? Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year, after year, after year is somehow the price of our freedom?"

There were sobs from the crowd as the president read the first names of the 20 children slaughtered at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday and paid tribute to the six adults who died defending them. Twenty-six candles in twenty-six shining glass vases shone from the base of the podium.

Obama anticipated — and dismissed — some of the time-honored arguments against stricter restrictions on guns. "We will be told that the causes of such violence are complex, and that is true," he said. "No single law no set of laws can eliminate evil from the world or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society."

"But that can't be an excuse for inaction. Surely we can do better than this," he said.

Across the country, people grieved for the 20 children — six and seven years old — and six adults killed in one of the worst mass shootings in America's history.

In Newtown and elsewhere, mourners gently piled notes, stuffed animals and American flags, balloons and flowers, in makeshift memorials where candles fluttered.

New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz played wearing a shoe that read "R.I.P. Jack Pinto" in black marker, an homage to a child slain in the massacre. Flags from coast to coast flew at half-staff. As the president's motorcade climbed the hill up the school, he could glimpse a few homes with Christmas lights -- but most were dark.

"Here in Newtown, I come to offer the love and prayers of a nation," the president said. "I am very mindful that mere words cannot match the depths of your sorrow, nor can they heal your wounded hearts."

"I can only hope it helps for you to know you are not alone in your grief that our world too has been torn apart. That all across this land of ours, we have wept with you. We've pulled our children tight," Obama said. "And you must know that whatever measure of comfort we can provide, we will provide. Whatever portion of sadness that we can share with you to ease this heavy load, we will gladly bear it."

In the auditorium where the president spoke, the audience included a large number of elementary school-age children, some carrying cuddly toys like teddy bears, according to pool reporter Stephen Collinson of Agence France-Presse.

Before the service, Obama met privately for more than an hour with families of the victims and emergency workers who responded to the crisis. As those workers entered the auditorium, the crowd erupted in a standing ovation. Some traded long hugs with members of the audience.

"We needed this. We needed to be together," said Rev. Matt Crebbin, the senior minister at Newtown Congregational Church. "These darkest days of our community shall not be the final word heard from us."

Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy, describing his meeting with Obama, said that the president had called Friday "the most difficult day of his presidency."

By 4 p.m., the line cars trying to reach the interfaith vigil stretched more than 2 miles from Newtown High School back through Sandy Hook -- and its growing makeshift memorial -- to Saint Rose church, the site of several vigils for (and hoax threats related to) Friday's massacre.

In Sandy Hook center, a lawn displayed lights with the phrase "FAITH. HOPE. LOVE." Across the street, a sign wrapped around a street lamp read, "Heaven must have been short on 27 angels."

The president spoke about the shooting on Friday, his voice choked with emotion, one finger wiping away tears as they welled up. He vowed to "take meaningful action, regardless of the politics" to try to prevent future such tragedies. But hours before, White House press secretary Jay Carney had decreed that "today's not the day" to discuss possible gun control measures.

The Obama administration has reportedly considered new gun restrictions in the past, only to shelve them.

The White House has shied from seeking tough new action from Congress — where new restrictions on gun purchases would likely run into stiff Republican opposition.

Obama's speech was the fourth in his presidency to memorialize a mass shooting. After the January 2011 rampage in Tucson, AZ, where then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was critically injured, the president spoke at a memorial for the six people killed, including Christina Taylor Green, 9.

Dylan Stableford contributed from Newtown

Police: Conn. gunman had hundreds of rounds of ammunition, enough to kill almost every student

NEWTOWN, Conn. - The gunman in the Connecticut shooting rampage was carrying an arsenal of hundreds of rounds of especially deadly ammunition — enough to kill just about every student in the school if given enough time, authorities said Sunday, raising the chilling possibility that the bloodbath could have been even worse.

Hours later, President Barack Obama told mourners at a vigil that the nation is failing to keep its children safe. He pledged to seek change in memory of the 26 staffers and schoolchildren who were killed in the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.

"What choice do we have?" Obama said. "Are we really prepared to say that we're powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard?"

The gunman, Adam Lanza, shot himself in the head just as he heard police drawing near to the classroom where he was slaughtering helpless children, but he had more ammunition at the ready in the form of multiple, high-capacity clips each capable of holding 30 bullets.

The disclosure on Sunday sent shudders throughout this picturesque New England community as grieving families sought to comfort each other during church services devoted to impossible questions like that of a 6-year-old girl who asked her mother: "The little children, are they with the angels?"

With so much grieving left to do, many of Newtown's 27,000 people wondered whether life could ever return to normal. And as the workweek was set to begin, parents weighed whether to send their own children back to school.

Gov. Dannel Malloy said the shooter decided to kill himself when he heard police closing in about 10 minutes into the attack.

"We surmise that it was during the second classroom episode that he heard responders coming and apparently at that decided to take his own life," Malloy said on ABC's "This Week."

Police said they found hundreds of unused bullets at the school, which enrolled about 450 students in kindergarten through fourth grade.

"There was a lot of ammo, a lot of clips," said state police Lt. Paul Vance. "Certainly a lot of lives were potentially saved."

The chief medical examiner has said the ammunition was a type designed to expend its energy in the victim's tissues and stay inside the body to inflict the maximum amount of damage.

The sorrowful interfaith service was stark and spare, with a stage that held only a small table covered with a black cloth, candles and the presidential podium.

The newly re-elected president said in the coming weeks, he would use "whatever power this office holds" to engage with law enforcement, mental health professionals, parents and educators in an effort to prevent more tragedies like Newtown.

He promised to lead a national effort but left unclear what it would be and how much it would address the explosive issue of gun control.

Obama closed his remarks by slowly reading the first names of each of the 26 victims.

"God has called them all home," he said. "For those of us who remain, let us find the strength to carry on and make our country worthy of their memory."

Obama conceded that none of his words would ease the sorrow. But he declared to the community of Newtown: "You are not alone."

Privately, Obama told the governor that Friday was the most difficult day of his presidency.

Newtown officials couldn't say whether Sandy Hook Elementary School would ever reopen. The school district was considering sending surviving students to a former school building in nearby Monroe. But for many parents, it was much too soon to contemplate resuming school-day routines.

"We're just now getting ready to talk to our son about who was killed," said Robert Licata, the father of a boy who was at the school during the shooting but escaped harm. "He's not even there yet."

Jim Agostine, superintendent of schools in nearby Monroe, said plans were being made for students from Sandy Hook to attend classes in his town this week.

The road ahead for Newtown was clouded with grief.

"I feel like we have to get back to normal, but I don't know if there is normal anymore," said Kim Camputo, mother of two children, ages 5 and 10, who attend a different school. "I'll definitely be dropping them off and picking them up myself for a while."

Also Sunday, a Connecticut official said the gunman's mother was found dead in her pyjamas in bed, shot four times in the head with a .22-calibre rifle. The killer then went to the school with guns he took from his mother, broke a window to get inside and began blasting his way through the building.

Federal agents have concluded that Lanza visited an area shooting range, but they do not know whether he actually practiced shooting there.

Ginger Colbrun, a spokeswoman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, would not identify the range or say how recently he was there.

Agents also determined that Lanza's mother visited shooting ranges several times, but it's still not clear whether she brought her son to the range or whether he ever fired a weapon there, Colbrun said.

Investigators have offered no motive for the shooting, and police have found no letters or diaries that could shed light on it. They believe Lanza attended Sandy Hook many years ago, but they couldn't explain why he went there Friday.

A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said investigators are reviewing the contents of Lanza's computer, as well as phone and credit card records in an effort to piece together his activities leading up to the shooting. The official was not authorized to discuss the details of the case.

Newtown police Lt. George Sinko said he "would find it very difficult" for students to return to the same school where they came so close to death.

But, he added, "We want to keep these kids together. They need to support each other."

Jennifer Waters, who at 6 is the same age as many of the dead but attends another school, came to Mass at Saint Rose of Lima Roman Catholic church with lots of questions.

"The little children — are they with the angels?" she asked her mother.

Joan Waters assured her daughter that they were, then hushed the child as services continued with boxes of tissues placed in each pew and window sill.

An overflow crowd of more than 800 people packed the church where eight children will be buried this week. Lanza and his mother also attended the church. Spokesman Brian Wallace said the diocese has yet to be asked to provide funerals for either.

In his homily, the Rev. Jerald Doyle tried to answer the question of how parishioners could find joy in a holiday season with so much sorrow.

"You won't remember what I say, and it will become unimportant," he said. "But you will really hear deep down that word that will finally and ultimately bring peace and joy. That is the word by which we live. That is the word by which we hope. That is the word by which we love."

At a later Mass at St. Rose of Lima, the priest stopped midway through the service and told worshippers to leave, because someone had phoned in a threat. Police searched the church and the rectory but found nothing dangerous.

The rifle used in Friday's attack was a Bushmaster .223-calibre, a civilian version of the military's M-16 and a model commonly seen at marksmanship competitions. It's similar to the weapon used in the 2002 sniper killings in the Washington, D.C., area and in a recent shopping mall shooting in Oregon.

Versions of the AR-15 were outlawed in the United States under the 1994 assault weapons ban. That law expired in 2004, and Congress, in a nod to the political clout of the gun-rights lobby, did not renew it.

Authorities said Lanza had no criminal history, and it was not clear whether he had a job.

At least one law enforcement official has said Lanza had been diagnosed with Asperger's, a mild form of autism often characterized by social awkwardness.

People with the disorder are often highly intelligent. While they can become frustrated more easily, there is no evidence of a link between Asperger's and violent behaviour, experts say.

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Gun control debate begins to simmer after massacre

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats say meaningful action in the wake of last week's elementary school shooting must include a ban on military-style assault weapons and a look at how the nation deals with individuals suffering from serious mental illness.

Several Democratic lawmakers and Independent Sen. Joe Liebermansaid Sunday that it was time to take a deeper look into the recent spate of mass shootings and what can be done to prevent them in the future. Gun control was a hot topic in the early 1990s, when Congress enacted a 10-year ban on assault weapons. But since that ban expired in 2004, few Americans have wanted stricter laws and politicians say they don't want to become targets of a powerful gun-rights lobby.

Gun-rights advocates said that might all change after the latest shooting that killed 20 children aged 6 or 7.

"I think we could be at a tipping point ... a tipping point where we might actually get something done," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on CBS' "Face the Nation."

Speaking Sunday night at a vigil in Newtown, Conn., the site of Friday's massacre, President Barack Obama did not specifically address gun control. But he vowed, "In the coming weeks I'll use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens, from law enforcement to mental health professionals to parents and educators in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this."

He added: "Are we really prepared to say that we're powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard? Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom?"

Schumer and other Democrats, as well as Lieberman, said they want to ban the sale of new assault weapons and make it harder for mentally ill individuals to obtain weapons. Lieberman said a new commission should be created to look at gun laws and the mental health system, as well as violence in movies and video games.

"Assault weapons were developed for the U.S. military, not commercial gun manufacturers," Lieberman said before the Newtown vigil Sunday night.

"This is a moment to start a very serious national conversation about violence in our society, particularly about these acts of mass violence," said the Connecticut senator, who is retiring at the end of the year.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said she will introduce legislation next year to ban new assault weapons, as well as big clips, drums and strips of more than 10 bullets.

"It can be done," Feinstein told NBC's "Meet the Press" of reinstating the ban despite deep opposition by the National Rifle Association and similar groups.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Obama could use executive powers to enforce existing gun laws, as well as throw his weight behind legislation like Feinstein's.

"It's time for the president, I think, to stand up and lead and tell this country what we should do — not go to Congress and say, 'What do you guys want to do?'" Bloomberg told NBC's "Meet the Press."

Gun-rights activists have remained largely quiet on the issue since Friday's shooting, all but one declining to appear on the Sunday talk shows.

David Gregory, the host of "Meet the Press," said NBC invited all 31 "pro-gun" senators to appear on Sunday's show, and all 31 declined. All eight Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee were unavailable or unwilling to appear on CBS' "Face the Nation," host Bob Schieffer said.

Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, was the sole representative of gun rights' activists on the various Sunday talk shows. In an interview on "Fox News Sunday," Gohmert defended the sale of assault weapons and said that the principal at Sandy Hook Elementary School, who authorities say died trying to overtake the shooter, should herself have been armed.

"I wish to God she had had an M-4 in her office, locked up so when she heard gunfire, she pulls it out and she didn't have to lunge heroically with nothing in her hands. But she takes him (the shooter) out, takes his head off before he can kill those precious kids," Gohmert said.

Gohmert also argued that violence is lower in cities with lax gun laws, and higher in cities with stricter laws.

"The facts are that every time guns have been allowed — conceal-carry (gun laws) have been allowed — the crime rate has gone down," Gohmert said.

Gun-control advocates say that isn't true. A study by the California-based Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence determined that 7 of the 10 states with the strongest gun laws — including Connecticut, Massachusetts and California — are also among the 10 states with the lowest gun death rates.

"If you look at the states with the strongest gun laws in the country, they have some of the lowest gun death rates, and some of the states with the weakest gun laws have some of the highest gun death rates," said Brian Malte of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

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Syrian vice president says army can't win

A mosaic of Hafez Al Assad is seen after being shot at by FSA soldiers after heavy clashes with government forces at a military academy besieged by the rebels in Tal Sheer, Syria, Sunday, Dec 16, 2012 (AP Photo / Manu Brabo)

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria's longtime vice president said the army cannot defeat the rebels fighting to topple the regime, the first admission by a top government official that a victory by President Bashar Assad is unlikely.

In an interview with Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar published on Monday, Farouk al-Sharaa offered the unusually bleak public assessment of the civil war.

"All these opposition forces can only conclude the battle to topple the regime if their goal is to push the country into chaos a cycle of violence that has no end," al-Sharaa said in the interview. "I don't see that what the security forces and army units are doing will lead to a definitive victory."

Syrian rebels have made significant tactical advances in the past weeks, capturing air bases and military installations near Syria's largest city of Aleppo and in the capital Damascus. On Sunday, an Islamist faction took an infantry base in Aleppo, a second army base that was captured from the troops in the northern city in a week.

Also, Western nations are talking of stepped up aid to the rebels. And there were mixed messages last week from Assad's key international ally Russia, which tried to backpedal after a top diplomat said Assad is losing control of his country.

Al-Alkhbar said al-Sharaa was speaking in Damascus.

The Syrian uprising started in March 2011 as peaceful protests but quickly turned into a civil war after the government's brutal crackdown on dissent. Activists say more than 40,000 people have been killed as the civil war took increasing sectarian overtones.

Most rebels are members of Syria's Sunni Muslim majority while the Assad regime is dominated by Alawites, an offshoot group of Shiite Islam.