Obama Sandy Hook Speech VIDEO: President Consoles the Nation With Vague Generalities

Impact

On Sunday, President Obama addressed an evening interfaith prayer vigil for the 20 children and six adults who were killed Friday in the horrific Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

"In the coming weeks, I'll use whatever power this office holds to lead an effort to prevent tragedies like this from happening again," said the president — stopping short of offering any specifics as to how to achieve this. 

The president said, "we can't accept tragedies like this to become routine" and reminded the presents that Newtown, Connecticut, is not alone since "our worlds, too, have been torn apart."   

Obama acknowledged "the hard questions" this terrible tragedy has brought up, and recognized "we're not doing enough" to keep our children safe — as he reminded the audience, and the country, this is the fourth time we gather to console a community devastated by mass shootings.  

The president also said, "no law can eliminate evil from the world" or prevent senseless acts like these from happening. However, he said that this — or the fact that "the politics are too hard" — shouldn't stand on the way of addressing the issue and taking action.