Following the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting , several politicians used the phrase " thoughts and prayers " in place of taking immediate legislative action . President Barack Obama called for " meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this regardless of the politics " , and New York mayor Michael Bloomberg challenged him to go further : " the country needs Obama to send a bill to Congress to fix this problem – and take immediate executive action . Calling for ' meaningful action ' is not enough . We have heard that rhetoric before . What we have not seen is leadership – not from the President and not from Congress . That must end today . This is a national tragedy and it demands a national response . " The resulting proposed federal legislation to control guns , including universal background checks , failed to pass Congress ; after the bipartisan Manchin-Toomey amendment failed on April 17 , 2013 , Obama called it " a pretty shameful day for Washington "
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting
Thoughts and prayers