Newtown massacre anniversary brings fresh call for gun curbs
Anniversary of Connecticut school massacre sees renewed demands for Washington to act, with priest saying 32,000 have been shot dead since
Hundreds solemnly gathered in Washington's National Cathedral to mark the first anniversary of the Newtown school massacre and demand tougher action to halt gun violence in the United States.
Pop music icon Carole King performed her 1977 song on the piano at Thursday's late-afternoon vigil, which organisers hoped would pull the media spotlight away from the still-grieving New England town where 20 first-grade pupils and six teachers were killed. The anniversary of the killings falls today.
The event also heard a violin and piano rendition of by musician John Lennon, who was shot and killed in New York 33 years ago this month.
"We gather to say, 'No more'," said Reverend Mel Kawakami of the Newtown United Methodist Church, as the predominantly older gathering lit candles, sang hymns and shared stories of other incidents of gun violence.
Reverend Gary Hall, dean of the Episcopal cathedral, called on the nation's elected leaders "to find the moral courage and the political will" to enact tougher gun laws.
Find the moral courage and the political will to enact tougher gun laws
In the 12 months since Newtown, Hall said, 32,000 people have died in the United States in gun-related incidents.