Sombre one month milestone since deadly US school massacre
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Photos of Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre victims sits at a small memorial near the school on Jan 14, 2013 in Newtown, Connecticut. The town marked a month anniversay since the massacre of 26 children and adults at the school, the second-worst such shooting in U.S. history. -- PHOTO : AFP
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Summer Laugherty, 6, writes a pledge to do a good deed in honor of a victim of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, one month after the crime, at the St. Bernard School in New Washington, Ohio, Monday, Jan 14, 2013. Each student at the school is pledging to do 26 good deeds, one for each person killed in the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn. St. Bernard School principal Susan Maloy, inspired by the memories of those who lost their lives, has also decided to hold lockdown drills on the 14th of each month to refine a safety plan and increase school security. -- PHOTO : AP
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Sixth grade students Carson McCarthy, left, and Brandon Mann raise the American flag at the St. Bernard School in New Washington, Ohio, Monday, Jan 14, 2013. A month after the shootings of 20 students and six educators at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., St. Bernard School principal Susan Maloy, inspired by the memories of those who lost their lives, has decided to hold lockdown drills on the 14th of each month to refine a safety plan and increase school security. -- PHOTO : AP
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Owen Kenny, 5, says a lunchtime prayer at the St. Bernard School in New Washington, Ohio, Monday, Jan 14, 2013. One month after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., students at St. Bernard included the shooting victims and their families in their daily prayers. School principal Susan Maloy has also decided to hold lockdown drills on the 14th of each month to refine a safety plan and increase school security. -- PHOTO : AP
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Lighted angels hang from a tree in Monroe, Connecticut Jan 14, 2013, on the one-month anniversary of the shooting at Sandy Hook elementary School in Newtown that killed 20 children and six staff members. -- PHOTO : REUTERS
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The road to Sandy Hook Elementary School remains closed in Newtown, Connecticut Jan 14, 2013, on the one-month anniversary of the shooting that killed 20 children and six staff members. -- PHOTO : REUTERS
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Roses are seen at the entrance to Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut Jan 14, 2013, on the one-month anniversary of the shooting that killed 20 children and six staff members. -- PHOTO : REUTERS
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A memorial is displayed in a yard near the Sandy Hook Elementary School on the one-month anniversary of the mass shooting that left 26 dead, including 20 children in Newtown, Conn., Monday, Jan 14, 2013. -- PHOTO : AP
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White roses with the faces of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting are displayed on a telephone pole near the school on the one-month anniversary of the mass shooting that left 26 dead, including 20 children in Newtown, Conn., Monday, Jan 14, 2013. -- PHOTO : AP
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A small memorial of candycanes lie on the grass near Sandy Hook Elementary School on Jan 14, 2013 in Newtown, Connecticut. The town marked a month anniversay since the massacre of 26 children and adults at the school, the second-worst such shooting in U.S. history. -- PHOTO : AFP
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Ian and Nicole Hockley, parents of Sandy Hook School shooting victim Dylan, listen at a news conference at Edmond Town Hall in Newtown, Conn., Monday, Jan. 14, 2013. One month after the mass school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the parents joined a grassroots initiative called Sandy Hook Promise to support solutions for a safer community. -- PHOTO : AP
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Community members embrace at a press conference with parents of Sandy Hook Elementary victims on the one month anniversary of the Newtown elementary school massacre on Jan 14, 2013 in Newtown, Connecticut. Eleven families of Sandy Hook massacre victims came to the event one month after the shooting to give their support to Sandy Hook Promise, a new non-profit with the goal of preventing such tragedies in the future. -- PHOTO : AFP
Photos of Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre victims sits at a small memorial near the school on Jan 14, 2013 in Newtown, Connecticut. The town marked a month anniversay since the massacre of 26 children and adults at the school, the second-worst such shooting in U.S. history. -- PHOTO : AFP
Summer Laugherty, 6, writes a pledge to do a good deed in honor of a victim of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, one month after the crime, at the St. Bernard School in New Washington, Ohio, Monday, Jan 14, 2013. Each student at the school is pledging to do 26 good deeds, one for each person killed in the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn. St. Bernard School principal Susan Maloy, inspired by the memories of those who lost their lives, has also decided to hold lockdown drills on the 14th of each month to refine a safety plan and increase school security. -- PHOTO : AP
Sixth grade students Carson McCarthy, left, and Brandon Mann raise the American flag at the St. Bernard School in New Washington, Ohio, Monday, Jan 14, 2013. A month after the shootings of 20 students and six educators at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., St. Bernard School principal Susan Maloy, inspired by the memories of those who lost their lives, has decided to hold lockdown drills on the 14th of each month to refine a safety plan and increase school security. -- PHOTO : AP
Owen Kenny, 5, says a lunchtime prayer at the St. Bernard School in New Washington, Ohio, Monday, Jan 14, 2013. One month after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., students at St. Bernard included the shooting victims and their families in their daily prayers. School principal Susan Maloy has also decided to hold lockdown drills on the 14th of each month to refine a safety plan and increase school security. -- PHOTO : AP
Lighted angels hang from a tree in Monroe, Connecticut Jan 14, 2013, on the one-month anniversary of the shooting at Sandy Hook elementary School in Newtown that killed 20 children and six staff members. -- PHOTO : REUTERS
The road to Sandy Hook Elementary School remains closed in Newtown, Connecticut Jan 14, 2013, on the one-month anniversary of the shooting that killed 20 children and six staff members. -- PHOTO : REUTERS
Roses are seen at the entrance to Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut Jan 14, 2013, on the one-month anniversary of the shooting that killed 20 children and six staff members. -- PHOTO : REUTERS
A memorial is displayed in a yard near the Sandy Hook Elementary School on the one-month anniversary of the mass shooting that left 26 dead, including 20 children in Newtown, Conn., Monday, Jan 14, 2013. -- PHOTO : AP
White roses with the faces of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting are displayed on a telephone pole near the school on the one-month anniversary of the mass shooting that left 26 dead, including 20 children in Newtown, Conn., Monday, Jan 14, 2013. -- PHOTO : AP
A small memorial of candycanes lie on the grass near Sandy Hook Elementary School on Jan 14, 2013 in Newtown, Connecticut. The town marked a month anniversay since the massacre of 26 children and adults at the school, the second-worst such shooting in U.S. history. -- PHOTO : AFP
Ian and Nicole Hockley, parents of Sandy Hook School shooting victim Dylan, listen at a news conference at Edmond Town Hall in Newtown, Conn., Monday, Jan. 14, 2013. One month after the mass school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the parents joined a grassroots initiative called Sandy Hook Promise to support solutions for a safer community. -- PHOTO : AP
Community members embrace at a press conference with parents of Sandy Hook Elementary victims on the one month anniversary of the Newtown elementary school massacre on Jan 14, 2013 in Newtown, Connecticut. Eleven families of Sandy Hook massacre victims came to the event one month after the shooting to give their support to Sandy Hook Promise, a new non-profit with the goal of preventing such tragedies in the future. -- PHOTO : AFP
NEWTOWN, Connecticut (AFP) - A still-grieving Newtown, Connecticut marked the one-month milestone on Monday since a gunman massacred 20 school children here, a tragedy that has given new impulse to efforts to fight rampant US gun violence.
America has seen a flurry of initiatives in the weeks since the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown - an unthinkable blood-letting even by the standards of a nation growing all too accustomed to such horrors. The 20-year old shooter, Adam Lanza, wielded a semi-automatic military assault-style rifle, provoking debate on gun control and a promise from President Barack Obama to back a bill outlawing such weapons.
Obama told a press conference on Monday that his administration would unveil proposals this week based on recommendations from Vice-President Joe Biden who conducted a thorough look at policy in the wake of the Newtown shooting.
"My starting point is not to worry about the politics, my starting point is to focus on what makes sense, what works," Mr Obama said. "What should we be doing to make sure that our children are safe and that hear reducing the incidence of gun violence," he said.
