America hangs its head after Newtown shootings

America, and the small Connecticut community of Newtown, are in shock today following one of the worst gun rampages in US history. In total 27 people died, including 20 children, after a former pupil entered the school early on Friday with two handguns and proceeded to shoot on sight anyone he came across, before killing himself. Newtown is a wealthy, 300 year-old close-knit community of 27,000 people, the sort of place where everyone knows everyone else, but it seems no-one could have predicted that the quiet and shy 20-year-old Adam Lanza, who has been indentified as the killer, had the potential to do such a terrible thing. It seems Lanza, described as intelligent and well-behaved, was pushed by his mother to succeed academically, but his few former friends say they had no inkling such violence was hidden beneath the surface. It seems that his mother’s body was found in the family home. “We grieve for the families of those we lost and we keep in our prayers the parents of those who survived, because as blessed as they are to have their children home, they know that their child’s innocence has been torn away far too early. So we have to come together, we’re going to have to take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this from happening regardless of politics,” said President Barack Obama in his weekly televised address. While the president insists it is not the time for political points-scoring some have been quick to either defend gun ownership or renew calls for gun controls. But once the outrage has died down, the power of the gun lobby is such few expect any legislative response to this tragedy.