WASHINGTON ——
The Newtown school massacre became the exclamation point for President Barack Obama's State of the Union Speech Tuesday night – as he concluded his address with a ringing call to let the nation's grief over the tragedy galvanize Congress for united action to reduce gun violence.

He didn't need to give the date – Dec. 14 – or say that 20 children and six women were killed that day at Sandy Hook Elementary School. He used only one word for all of that: Newtown.

"It has been two months since Newtown," Obama said eight minutes from the end of his one-hour speech. "I know this is not the first time this country has debated how to reduce gun violence. But this time is different. Overwhelming majorities of Americans – Americans who believe in the Second Amendment – have come together around common sense reform – like background checks that will make it harder for criminals to get their hands on a gun."