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           Obama to Speak at Interfaith Vigil in Newtown, Connecticut

   by Michael Bowman

   U.S. President Barack Obama is to visit a Connecticut town mourning the
   murder Friday of 20 children and six adults at an elementary school.
   Obama will speak at an interfaith vigil (at 7:00 pm EST) and meet with
   victims' families as well as emergency personnel who responded to the
   mass-shooting.
   Grieving residents of Newtown, Connecticut flocked to places of worship
   Sunday.  Robbie Parker paid tribute to his six-year-old daughter,
   Emilie, who was gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
   "She was an exceptional artist.  And she always carried around her
   markers and pencils, so she never missed an opportunity to draw a
   picture or make a card.  She was a mentor to her two little sisters,
   delighting in teaching them how to read, dance, and find the simple
   joys of life," said Robbie Parker.
   Parents of surviving students share in the heartbreak.  Lynn Wasik,
   whose daughter Alexis studies at Sandy Hook, spoke on Fox News Sunday.
   "I think I am still very numb," she said. "There is no way to make any
   sense of anything this person has done, not only to families, but
   [also] to a community, to a nation."
   The shooter, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, is believed to have killed his
   mother at home before shooting his way into the school.
   Accounts of heroism have emerged, of unarmed school administrators and
   teachers rushing Lanza and placing their bodies between the gunman and
   panicked children in their care.
   Lanza, who was armed with guns belonging to his mother, took his own
   life after a 10-minute rampage at Sandy Hook.  It was the latest in a
   series of mass-shooting incidents the United States has suffered in
   recent years, one that has sparked calls for tighter restrictions on
   firearms in the United States.
   ''
   Democratic Senator Richard Durbin spoke on Fox News Sunday.
   "Are there guns that really should not be sold across America?
   Military assault weapons, such as the one that was involved in this
   horrific incident in Connecticut?  Are there high-capacity ammunition
   clips that really have no value whatsoever when it comes to sporting,
   hunting, even self-defense?" asked Durbin.
   Gun rights supporters say the answer is not to infringe on Americans'
   right to bear arms.  Republican Congressman Louis Gohmert also appeared
   on Fox.
   "A free people should be an armed people.  It ensures against the
   tyranny of the government," he said.
   Gohmert argued that the problem is not a nation awash in firearms, but
   a citizenry that is not armed enough.  He said lives could have been
   saved at Sandy Hook if teachers carried guns to school.
   "Hearing the heroic stories of the principal, I wish to God she had had
   an M-4 [assault rifle] in her office.  So when she hears gunfire, she
   pulls it out, so she would not have to lunge, heroically, with nothing
   in her hands," he said.
   About half of U.S. households have at least one gun.  There are more
   than 200 million privately-owned firearms in the nation.  Friday,
   President Obama spoke of the need to address gun violence, but did not
   lay out any immediate recommendations for doing so.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/obama-to-visit-town-shattered-by-school-shooting/1566087.html