A mournful President Barack Obama said Sunday that the nation is failing to keep its children safe.
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) - A mournful President Barack Obama said Sunday that the nation is failing to keep its children safe, pledging that change must come after an elementary-school massacre left 20 children dead.
"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?"
In a vigil for the fallen, in a moment of grief that spread around the world, Obama conceded that none of his words would match the sorrow. But he declared to the community of Newtown: "You are not alone."
For Obama, ending his fourth year in office, it was another sorrowful visit to another community in disbelief. It is the job of the president to be there, to listen and console, to offer help even when the only thing within his grasp is a hug.
Privately, Obama told Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy that Friday was the most difficult day of his presidency.
The massacre of 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary on Friday elicited horror around the world, soul-searching in the United States, fresh political debate about gun control and questions about the incomprehensible - what drove the suspect to act.
Connecticut state police say multiple 30-round magazines and hundreds of bullets found at elementary school where 26 were killed.
State Police Lt. Paul Vance also said Sunday that authorities have publicly identified the gunman in the school rampage as Adam Lanza. They say his mother, Nancy, as was one of his victims.
Vance also detailed the guns found at the school. He says Lanza had two handguns, a Glock 10 mm and a Sig Sauer 9 mm, and a Bushmaster assault rifle that was used for nearly all his killings.
The Bushmaster is a type of gun commonly seen at competitions and was the type used in the 2002 sniper killings in the Washington area.
A fourth weapon, a shotgun, was found in the car Lanza drove to the school.
A father of one of the victims shared his daughter's story. You can read it here.
