NEW ORLEANS – President Barack Obama pledged on Wednesday to work with leaders of all political stripes to “arrive at a consensus” on how to reduce gun violence across the United States after the Colorado shootings highlighted the issue in an election year. Closing out a multiday trip that began in
Aurora, Colorado, where he met with families and victims of the movie theater massacre there, Obama told a mostly African-American audience that such tragedies are replayed on a smaller scale in cities throughout the country on a daily basis.
“Every day and a half the number of young people we lose to violence is about the same as the number of people we lost in that movie theater,” Obama said in remarks to the National Urban League, a group that works to promote civil rights and economic improvement for African-Americans.
“I’m going to continue to work with members of both parties and with religious groups and with civic organizations to arrive at a consensus around violence reduction.”
Discussing or even touching on the issue of gun control during an election year is risky, and Obama has been careful to avoid making proposals that could offend gun owners and rally his Republican opponents.
The President made a point of emphasizing his support for the US Constitution’s Second Amendment, which covers the right to bear arms.
“We recognize the traditions of gun ownership that passed on from generation to generation, that hunting and shooting are part of a cherished national heritage,” Obama said.
“But I also believe that a lot of gun owners would agree that AK-47s belong in the hands of soldiers, not in the hands of criminals. That they belong on the battlefield of war, not on the streets of our cities.”
Obama did not make any new proposals on gun control in his remarks, though he said background checks for people seeking to buy firearms were more thorough since he took office.
Republican Mitt Romney, Obama’s opponent in the Nov 6 election, said earlier this week that additional laws would not have stopped the massacre in Colorado.
The former governor of Massachusetts has backed gun control measures in the past.
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