WASHINGTON, Jan 19: In the last weekly address of his first term on on Saturday, US President Barack Obama sought help from the American public for his efforts to curb gun violence.
Facing a stiff resistance from gun lovers, both in and outside the US Congress, Mr Obama urged Americans to persuade lawmakers to back his plan.
“This time, it can’t be up to them. It’s got to be up to you. If, like me, you want this time to be different, then I need your help to make it different,” said Mr Obama.
Earlier this week, President Obama unveiled a combination of proposed legislation and executive actions to halt gun violence in America. The proposals include a ban on semiautomatic assault rifles, mandatory background checks for all gun purchases, a ban on high-capacity magazines holding more than 10 rounds, and cracking down on illicit weapons trafficking.
“None of this will be easy,” Mr Obama said in his weekly address.
“Already, we’re seeing pundits, politicians, and special-interest lobbyists calling any attempt at commonsense reform an all-out assault on liberty — not because that’s true, but because that’s how they get higher ratings and make more money. And behind the scenes, they’re doing everything they can to protect the status quo.”
The White House is launching a public campaign to turn up the heat on Congress and has mobilised President Obama’s grassroots supporters to garner support for his package.
The move follows a tragic shooting incident in Newtown, Connecticut, which caused a nationwide repulsion against gun violence.
On Dec 14, a Newtown resident Adam Lanza shot his mother at home, and then killed 26 people (20 children and 6 staff) and himself at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
It was the second-deadliest school shooting in US history, after the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre.
“Ask your Member of Congress if they support universal background checks and renewing a ban on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. And if the answer is no, ask them why not. Ask them why an A-grade from the gun lobby is more important than keeping kids safe in a first grade classroom,” President Obama said.
The president also read from a letter he received in the wake of the Newtown school shooting from an 8-year old girl named Rachel. “She wrote: ‘Please do something so that bad people cannot get guns to kill other people. Children should be safe, especially in school.’”
“Rachel is counting on us. Let’s get this done for her, and let’s make this country a safer place for all our children to learn and grow,” Mr Obama said.
But Rachel’s appeal and Mr Obama’s proposals have had little impact on pro-gun activists who held rallies in 49 states on Saturday in favour of their right to own firearms.
A group called Guns Across America organised the rallies, held mostly at state capitals, with support from one of America’s most powerful political lobbies, the National Rifle Association.
They argued that their right to bear arms is enshrined in the Second Amendment to the US Constitution.
Gun-control advocates plan to counter the gun lovers with a National Gun Prevention Sabbath on Sunday when 150 places of worship will call on the faithful to advocate for an “actionable plan to prevent gun violence”.
People who have lost loved ones to gun violence will display their photographs.