BURLINGTON, Vt., Dec. 14 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement today after a gunman killed 26 people, 20 of them children, at a grade school in Newtown, Conn.:

“Today the people of Newtown, Conn., and all of America experienced a terrible tragedy. Our hearts and prayers go out to the families and their loved ones. As a nation, we must do all that we can to figure out how tragedies like this do not continue to occur.”