With families of Newtown victims in the audience and concerned American children by his side, President Obama formally unveiled his proposals to deal with gun violence Wednesday.
The plan focuses on four areas: Closing background check loopholes, banning military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, providing schools with safety resources, and increasing access to mental health services.
“This is our first task as a society: keeping our children safe,” he said. “This is how we will be judged, and their voices should compel us to change.”
Obama called on Congress to pass many of the broad measures, like closing the background check loophole, re-instituting the assault weapons ban, and limiting ammunition magazines to 10 rounds.
“Weapons designed for the theater of war have no place in the movie theater,” he said. Pointing out that even Ronald Reagan, who he described as “one of the staunchest defenders of the 2nd amendment,” agreed on tht point.
The president also announced 23 executive actions he’ll take to help reduce gun violence, including directing the CDC to conduct gun violence research and directing Attorney General Eric Holder to review categories of people prohibited from gun ownership to “make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.” That plan also includes a number of directives designed to help the mentally ill get proper treatment. The full list of executive actions provided by the White House includes: Obama encouraged concerned Americans to play a role in the debate by keeping pressure on Congress. “The only way we can change is if the American people demand it,” he said. “We’re going to need voices in those congressional districts where the tradition of gun ownership is strong to speak up. It can’t just be the usual suspects.”
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