During a prayer vigil for the shooting victims in Newtown, Connecticut, President Obama vowed that he would ‘use whatever power this office holds’ to try to prevent another tragic shooting.
“Since I’ve been President, this is the fourth time we have come together to comfort a grieving community torn apart by a mass shooting,” he said, adding that the victims,’ “only fault was being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“We can’t tolerate this anymore. These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change,” he asserted.
Obama admitted that laws were unable to “eliminate evil from the world,” but that it was no excuse for refusing to address a growing problem.
“In the coming weeks, I will 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 said. “Because what choice do we have? We can’t accept events like this as routine.”
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?”
The president made his remarks at the Interfaith Prayer Vigil held at the Newtown High School.
