President Barack Obama promised on Wednesday to send broad proposals in January to US Congress for tightening gun laws and curbing violence after last week’s Connecticut massacre, according to US News .
Even before those proposals are drafted, Obama strongly suggested lawmakers reinstate a ban on military-style assault weapons, and close loopholes on gun control.
In his most detailed comments on gun control since Friday’s killing of 20 schoolchildren and six adults in Connecticut , Obama stated:
“The fact that this problem is complex can no longer be an excuse for doing nothing. The fact that we can’t prevent every act of violence doesn’t mean we can’t steadily reduce the violence.”
“The fact that this problem is complex can no longer be an excuse for doing nothing.” OFA.BO/mxPAjA
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) December 19, 2012
Obama has signaled for the first time in his presidency that he’s willing to spend political capital on the issue, and some high-ranking gun-rights advocates on Capitol Hill — Democrats and Republicans alike — have shown their willingness to enact changes. This is a big deal, as the US Congress has resisted such measures for years.
Still, considering the long history of opposition to tighter gun control laws, there is no certainty the legislation Obama backed Wednesday or the proposals he will send to Congress next month will become law. We can only hope the Newtown massacre will stay vivid in their minds as they consider it.
President Obama, considering his upcoming State of the Union Address, agrees with this sentiment:
“I would hope that our memories aren’t so short that what we saw in Newtown isn’t lingering with us, that we don’t remain passionate about it only a month later.”
Obama hopes the eight people killed by guns across the U.S. since the Newtown shooting – a 4-year-old girl and three law enforcement officers – will help keep the devastation fresh in legislators’ minds, says The Associated Press .
Obama offers this hope:
“I am also betting that the majority, the vast majority, of responsible law-abiding gun owners would be some of the first to say that we should be able to keep an irresponsible, law-breaking few from buying a weapon of war.”
