Last funerals held for Newtown victims

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NEWTOWN, Conn., Dec. 22 (UPI) -- Funeral services were held Saturday for three little girls, the last victims of the Newtown, Conn., school massacre to be laid to rest.

About 2,000 people gathered Friday night on a Newtown soccer field for a candlelight vigil, USA Today reported. They honored the 20 students and six staffers at Sandy Hook Elementary School gunned down by Adam Lanza, 20, who also killed his mother and himself.

The First Cathedral, a non-denominational church in Bloomfield, Conn., was packed for a service for Ana Grace Marquez-Greene, The News-Times of Danbury reported. Josephine Gay, who celebrated her 7th birthday three days before she was killed, was remembered at a funeral mass at St. Rose of Lima Church in Newtown.

The service of Emilie Parker was held at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints stake center in Ogden, Utah. Her family moved from Utah to Ogden this year.

Many Connecticut lawmakers reacted angrily Friday to a statement by National Rifle Association Executive Director Wayne LaPierre, demanding federally funded armed guards in all schools, the Hartford Courant reported.

John McKinney, the Republican minority leader of the state Senate, whose district includes Sandy Hook, called LaPierre's statement "ill-timed," given that Newtown was still holding funerals.

"I also don't think his idea of undoing or repealing gun-free school zones is a good idea at all," McKinney said. "I, for one, don't believe in the notion that only way to protect yourself from a bad person with a gun is to have more good people with guns. I've always understood, and believe, that our Second Amendment is an integral part of our Constitution, and people should have the right to bear arms ... but I think we should have a fair conversation in this country about what the limits to those rights are."

U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, a Democrat who was elected to the Senate in November, responded with a tweet: "Walking out of another funeral and was handed the NRA transcript. The most revolting, tone-deaf statement I've ever seen."