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President Obama visited Newtown, Connecticut last night and spoke at a memorial service for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting.

Saying he came “to offer the love and prayers of a nation,” President Obama opened his remarks by thanking local officials and quoting the Bible:

“Scripture tells us, ‘Do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly, we are being renewed day by day. For light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all, so we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven not built by human hands.'”

Earlier in the day President Obama met with families of the victims as well as first-responders. He has said that the day of the shooting was his worst day as the nation’s president.

As we previously reported, suspected gunman Adam Lanza killed his mother before going to Sandy Hook Elementary, where he killed 26 people, including 20 children.

During his stirring remarks, President Obama said that America must do more to address its problem of rampant gun violence.

“Can we honestly say that we’re doing enough to keep our children, all of them, safe from harm?” President Obama asked. “Can we claim, as a nation, that we’re all together there, letting them know they are loved and teaching them to love in return? Can we say that we’re truly doing enough to give all the children of this country the chance they deserve to live out their lives in happiness and with purpose?”

President Obama added:

“I’ve been reflecting on this the last few days, and if we’re honest with ourselves, the answer’s no. We’re not doing enough. And we will have to change. Since I’ve been president, this is the fourth time we have come together to comfort a grieving community torn apart by mass shootings, fourth time we’ve hugged survivors, the fourth time we’ve consoled the families of victims.”

“And in between, there have been an endless series of deadly shootings across the country, almost daily reports of victims, many of them children, in small towns and in big cities all across America, victims whose — much of the time their only fault was being at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“We can’t tolerate this anymore. These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change.”

Read more here.

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