E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSPresident Obama was in Minneapolis- a city once known for a double digit murder rate - to promote his plan on curbing gun violence. He asked supporters to call on Congress to act. NBC's Peter Alexander reports.
Declaring “we're not going to wait until the next Newtown,” President Barack Obama appealed directly to the American public on Monday to pressure reluctant lawmakers in Congress to move forward with gun control legislation.
Obama flew to Minneapolis, Minn., to urge constituents to contact their representatives and press for a package of new gun laws, including a ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines, universal background checks for gun buyers and new rules targeting gun traffickers.
“We don’t have to agree on everything to agree it’s time to do something,” Obama said, standing in front of a group of uniformed law enforcement officers.
Obama’s campaign-like strategy is designed to maintain a sense of urgency for gun control measures in the wake of the elementary school shootings in Newtown, Conn., that killed 20 elementary school children and 6 adults.
Recommended: Kerry: 'I have big heels to fill'
But the president conceded Monday that his plans already face steep hurdles in Congress.
"Changing the status quo is never easy," Obama said. "This will be no exception.”
Obama’s remarks in Minneapolis reflected the political realities on Capitol Hill, where Democratic leadership aides privately say an assault weapons ban has little chance of passing. The fight will instead center on universal background checks and, some Democrats hope, high capacity magazines.
On Monday, Obama labeled universal background checks as “commonsense” and “smart” reforms that would earn bipartisan support.
“There's no reason why we shouldn't be able to get that done,” he said.
Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP
President Barack Obama gestures as he speaks about his gun violence proposals, Monday, Feb. 4, 2013, at the Minneapolis Police Department's Special Operations Center in Minneapolis, where he outlined his plan before law enforcement personnel.
There’s some evidence of that: While the National Rifle Association says it opposes universal background checks, Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma has been working with New York Sen. Chuck Schumer and other Democrats to craft background check legislation.
For the politically difficult elements of his proposals – the bans on weapons and magazines – Obama set a more modest goal: “That deserves a vote in Congress,” he said.
That’s about the extent of what Senate Democratic aides say they can muster. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who earned a “B” grade from the National Rifle Association, said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that he plans to allow the Senate Judiciary Committee to start writing a gun bill. If it doesn’t initially include the ban, senators could try to add it later in the process, as an amendment on the Senate floor.
Reid has no plans to introduce his own gun bill, a senior Democratic aide said Monday, instead leaving that process to the Judiciary Committee, led by Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. Still, aides acknowledged, including a gun ban in the overall package could prevent other, more popular gun regulations from passing Congress.
Democratic aides say Leahy hasn’t yet decided exactly what he’ll include in the bill, though he’s introduced a measure that would crack down on people who illegally buy guns to give or sell to others. Before the committee starts writing a bill, planned for later in February, there will be at least two more hearings – one this week in the Constitution Subcommittee and another full committee hearing after that.
Congress held its first hearings on gun control late last month, where National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre clashed with Democratic senators and emerged in opposition to universal background checks.
Obama referred to lobbyists like LaPierre in his remarks, though he didn’t mention the longtime gun advocate by name. He urged Americans to tell Congress if he didn’t speak for them.
“If we've got lobbyists in Washington claiming to speak for gun owners saying something different, we've got to go to the source,” Obama said. “We cannot allow those filters to get in the way of common sense… keep the pressure on your member of Congress to do the right thing.”
Speaking at the Minneapolis Police Department's Special Operations Center in Minneapolis, President Obama, says, "We don't have to agree on everything to agree it's time to do something." Watch his entire speech.
Leave a Comment:
When are we going to start discussing speeding. No one needs a car, motorcycle, or truck that can go over 65. How many lives are needlessly lost because vehicles can go faster that 65. All vehicles should have speed governors.
Need to ban shoe laces and belts also. And those subway trains kill lots of people too.
Good idea ask the car manufacturers about a govenor, I'm on board. But we have police and tickets to get you so, we already have that under control.
Dear Oblamama, suck my dick.
PauseBreak please send a microscope. Your private parts can't be seen with the naked eye.
Karl, then you can be the first to choke on my small parts.
Pull it out boy and I'll cut it off with one of those dangerous knives or maybe a dangerous hammer.
The insane asinine actions of a few mindless cowards and the effort of the news media to make it sound like its a daily occurrence does not and MUST not define my rights or any other law abiding citizens right to defend themselves and loved ones. We must not be forced to be a victim by the media or by our own government!
Personal Defense Weapons (PDW's) or assault rifles as Obama likes to call them are not the problem. The problem is "freedom" and the fact that in a free society there will be people who take advantage of that freedom to harm other people. Making us "less free" or taking guns away from law abiding citizens won't solve the problem.
By the way, where are all the liberals who were screaming about the Patriot Act and it's effect on our Bill of Rights?
Sure it will...by reducing the access to deadly weapons. You don't cease to make law because we will always have criminals who break them.
Tke note Republican gun lovers your fate, bullet to head. Take him alive? No. That is how we should handle Tea Party Repub;licans who start a revolution. I surrender..BLAM. OK.
You don't have a clue wallacet.
Ah, another peacenick with too much anger. Probably an angry white man living with his mother. That used to be a scornfull thing to be, but now it's SOP. You got your freedom, now shut up.
Another typical keyboard rambo. You'd piss yourself before you ever tried to take anyones guns away. Your first mistake is thinking anyone of us who chose to use our 2nd amendment rights would ever surrender. Now off to your closet troll!
NO. I am waiting for you Bambi killers to start that watering the liberty tree,
So far I have heard about seceding. Funny, asked Obama for permission. May I? The South did not ask permission.
Water that liberty tree? When?
Heroes of the right..Rush limbaugh, draft doger
Bill O'Riley, draft dodger
Ted, Bambi kiille Nugent, draft dodger
Sean Hannity sissy , never was in military
Glenn Beck , never served, drunk
I can see the right now with Rush the fat leading them like John Candy in Stripes. How's it going Eisenhower, I hope this is the mess hall 'cause I'm starved.
Lock up all males between the ages of 15-25. At 25, those that display violent tendencies, or a degree of unbalanced fear that makes them think they need guns in order to survive, have to stay. Those that are balanced and interested in promoting a harmonious society, can come out and join the rest of us.
And the society would be called narnia, where nobody works and everybody collects welfare.
What's wrong with that picture?
To bad the President and his Administration are ignoring the single greatest threat to our national security...the deficit and run away spending. Leon Panetta said it was the single biggest threat to national security yet his boss thinks some irrelevant gun law and political posturing is more important...go figure...another fine example of leading from behind.
And the unemployment rate jumped again as the labor participation rate declined again...again go figure.
Mr. President what about your recent promise to uphold the laws and Constitution of the country? Only when it suits you and your agenda we see.
A campaign is what Obama wants to appear as since a campaign carries no promise that he knows he can keep. Fortunately for the gun owning public our lawmakers are more common sense folk or at least want to appear tob so they can be relected next term. Again I haven't had any of my firearms jump up, run out the door and shoot anyone. If you're not smart enough to realize that then you wouldn't pass the backround check for a firearm because you would be smart enough to pass it. Gun control is being able to hit what your're shooting at and when I was in the military they applauded marksmen ship and called you sniper if you were good enough and after so many KILLS you were rewared, where can I find that in private practice? Train us and we will remember. Have a nice day.
How about a legal budget and some spending reductions by the government Mr. President? Why don't you spend more time talking to Harry Reid about the need to trim spending and develop a real budget? Stop wasting the tax payers money with unnecessary trips to blather on about something that you can't control no matter what law you pass.
Next
Has any one, ever heard Obama, set up a country wide task force to wipe out gangs, which do most of the gun shooting, in America, plus drug's, and a host of other crimes, I say work on them Obama, lets see you something good for the country. Quite making speeches, that the lib's love to hear, wether they amount to a hill of beans or not. GANG"S obama take them out
A campaign is what Obama wants to appear as since a campaign carries no promise that he knows he can keep. Fortunately for the gun owning public our lawmakers are more common sense folk or at least want to appear to be so they can be relected next term. Again I haven't had any of my firearms jump up, run out the door and shoot anyone. If you're not smart enough to realize that then you wouldn't pass the backround check for a firearm because you would be smart enough to pass it. Gun control is being able to hit what your're shooting at and when I was in the military they applauded marksmen ship and called you sniper if you were good enough and after so many KILLS you were rewared, where can I find that in private practice? Train us and we will remember. Have a nice day.
yeah ! oh was Obama's baby to release weapons directly to cartels and felons "fast & furious" punish the ones who are lawless not the law abiding ones quit trying to disassemble the constitution you bunch of commies now that it was released a couple of hand guns did the killing at that school & not a assault rifle IT WAS IN THE TRUNK OF THE CAR UNFIRED the perpetrator attempted to buy a rifle before and the back round check caught him and did not allow a sale . he had to kill his mother in order to get a weapon
Yesterday is was gays in the Boy Scouts today it is guns. This president wants to talk about anything but jobs and the debt. He apparently does not have the intellect to tackle the real issues. Maybe he should have gone to Chicago and held hands and sang peace songs with some of his homeboys. Better yet maybe his secret service guard should give up their guns and carry scissors like his homeland security people suggest we do.
Obama wants to ban Black guns, Pink Gay guns are OK.
Deer hunter...or is it Bambi killer? Big man...ooooo
hey wow i thought obama the ass was now a skeet shooting gun lover!!!!!......what happened????.....obama is a total ass...
This pompous, self righteous worthless excuse for a leader needs to keep his but nose out of this and leave it to the individual states. The big guns are already out there and he can't do a thing about that. New laws won't make sick PEOPLE stop shooting defenseless, law abiding people. Bummer crawl back under the rock you crawled out from.
It is time to do something. Impeach your sorry butt!
The media and progressive liberals keep hammering the notion that more Americans are supporting gun control, and that gun control is inevitable and coming soon, to incite a violent reaction from some fringe group, to foster the false narrative that gun owners in America are unbalanced and dangerous.
Any Government slimy enough to concoct Fast n Furious and then lie about it cannot be trusted. The regime currently in power is why we have the 2nd Amendment. Assault weapons level the playing field against tyranny.
Using dead children as a political prop is sick but it doesn't surprise me with this idiot in the White House. Many more people die from alcohol related deaths than guns so why not bring back prohibition? I guess Obama doesn't want to shut down his home brewing operation.
We don't like alcohol either and drunk drivers to me should be shot on site. Oh and I would volunteer to do it.
Unfortunately, since Americans are so divided, looks like civil war may be inevitable. I guess the only silver lining is most Liberals don't own guns :)
Make the first move then...boy and I underscore the word/..BOY. All I hear is talk, no action. We libs not scared of gum bumpers like you. Talk, talk, like a draft dodging radio talk show host.
So they are looking into more mental health facilities?
Your right jack8ss, RESIGN, and leave America alone. WE don't want your socialist government! Your idea's are un-American. Your NO president, you dishoner the office!
That's Right, But when are we going to wake up to that fact.
Far out man!
In the 51 days from the Newtown Schoolchild Slaughter until February the number of gun deaths in America is more than 1280.
That's 1280, a faster death rate than during the Vietnam war.
That's One Thousand Twelve Hundred Eighty people killed by guns in America.
In the 51 days since Newtown 193,800 abortions have been performed.
bicfj....you are so confused....
1280 people killed by a criminal using a gun as a weapon.....not by a gun on it's own....
1,280 sound scary, doesn't it folks? Until you realize that 1,152 of them were gang members and ex-convicts. Another 65 were also people with criminal records of some type.
If you're worried about less people getting killed then do something that makes sense. Like ending the era of low prosecution rates, light sentencing, early paroles, and ignoring mental health issues.
It's not the law-abiding citizens committing crimes, so let's not target nor punish them for the actions of the psychopaths that our judicial system has chosen not to punish.
Bicfj, sorry ,but that doesn't really tell us anything. What is the break down? Suicides, Homicides, Police shootings, drive by shootings, gang shootings, self defense shootings, etc.
Get those break downs and you will have something worth talking about.
Bicfj, sorry ,but that doesn't really tell us anything. What is the break down? Suicides, Homicides, Police shootings, drive by shootings, gang shootings, self defense shootings, etc.
Get those break downs and you will have something worth talking about.
Good, Vote now and get it over with. It's not like their's a chance of getting our guns.
The almighty guns dealers are robbing us blind with inflated prices and hoarding.
I am very mad that those back stabbing, lying, money hungry politicians are doing this to me. They are all crooks.