Obama promises 'meaningful action' after 27 killed in school shooting

An at times tearful President Barack Obama has promised "meaningful action" following the shooting of 26 people, including 20 children, at an elementary school in Connecticut (see video and transcript below).

The gunman  Adam Lanza, 20, reportedly shot himself at the scene, taking the toll to 27.

The massacre among the deadliest in US history, surpassed only by a 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech University, where a mentally ill student killed 32 people before turning his gun on himself.

President Obama delivered his remarks in the James S Brady Briefing Room, named for the press secretary who was shot and severely injured during an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.

"As a country we have been through this too many times ... We have endured too many of these tragedies," the President said, referencing recent mass slayings over the past year at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, and a rampage at a suburban Denver movie theater during a premiere for the latest Batman film.

Others have remembered the Columbine massacre that saw 12 students killed.

"We are going to have to come together and take meaninful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics," President Obama said.

But beyond the symbolism and emotion, the President did not detail what "meaningful action" would entail.

RAW DATA: TRANSCRIPT

Statement by the President on the School Shooting in Newtown, CT

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

3:15 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  This afternoon, I spoke with Governor Malloy and FBI Director Mueller.  I offered Governor Malloy my condolences on behalf of the nation, and made it clear he will have every single resource that he needs to investigate this heinous crime, care for the victims, counsel their families.

We’ve endured too many of these tragedies in the past few years.  And each time I learn the news I react not as a President, but as anybody else would -- as a parent.  And that was especially true today.  I know there’s not a parent in America who doesn’t feel the same overwhelming grief that I do.

The majority of those who died today were children -- beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old.  They had their entire lives ahead of them -- birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own.  Among the fallen were also teachers -- men and women who devoted their lives to helping our children fulfill their dreams.

So our hearts are broken today -- for the parents and grandparents, sisters and brothers of these little children, and for the families of the adults who were lost.  Our hearts are broken for the parents of the survivors as well, for as blessed as they are to have their children home tonight, they know that their children’s innocence has been torn away from them too early, and there are no words that will ease their pain.

As a country, we have been through this too many times.  Whether it’s an elementary school in Newtown, or a shopping mall in Oregon, or a temple in Wisconsin, or a movie theater in Aurora, or a street corner in Chicago -- these neighborhoods are our neighborhoods, and these children are our children.  And we're going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.

This evening, Michelle and I will do what I know every parent in America will do, which is hug our children a little tighter and we’ll tell them that we love them, and we’ll remind each other how deeply we love one another.  But there are families in Connecticut who cannot do that tonight.  And they need all of us right now.  In the hard days to come, that community needs us to be at our best as Americans.  And I will do everything in my power as President to help.

Because while nothing can fill the space of a lost child or loved one, all of us can extend a hand to those in need -- to remind them that we are there for them, that we are praying for them, that the love they felt for those they lost endures not just in their memories but also in ours.

May God bless the memory of the victims and, in the words of Scripture, heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds.