US President Barack Obama has asked a team led by Vice President Joe Biden to offer "concrete proposals" to curb gun violence no later than January, following the killing of 26 people at a Connecticut primary school last week. Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Obama said he would push legislation "without delay" after he received the recommendations.He urged the US Congress to hold votes on the bill soon after it is proposed.
Obama said the issue of gun control was complex but that "if there is even one thing that we can do to prevent [shootings such as the Connecticut attack], we have a deep obligation - all of us - to try".He said meaningful action needed to be taken to curb an "epidemic of gun violence that plagues this nation every single day".
The president cited as a model for the new legislation a previous ten-year ban on assault weapons - military-style semi-automatics - that Congress allowed to expire in 2004. Notably, he said that he respected every US citizen's right to bear arms, but that there needed to be measures in place to ensure that only those who would use their guns "responsibly" would be allowed to purchase them.
"Look, like the majority of Americans, I believe that the second amendment guarantees an individual a right to bear arms," he said. "This country has a strong tradition of gun ownership handed down from generation to generation."
Obama said the issue of gun control was complex but that "if there is even one thing that we can do to prevent [shootings such as the Connecticut attack], we have a deep obligation - all of us - to try".He said meaningful action needed to be taken to curb an "epidemic of gun violence that plagues this nation every single day".
The president cited as a model for the new legislation a previous ten-year ban on assault weapons - military-style semi-automatics - that Congress allowed to expire in 2004. Notably, he said that he respected every US citizen's right to bear arms, but that there needed to be measures in place to ensure that only those who would use their guns "responsibly" would be allowed to purchase them.
"Look, like the majority of Americans, I believe that the second amendment guarantees an individual a right to bear arms," he said. "This country has a strong tradition of gun ownership handed down from generation to generation."
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