Cutting into news coverage that would’ve focused on coverage of the National Rifle Association’s news conference, President Barack Obama posted an online video reaffirming the voice of gun control supporters nationwide. Obama acknowledged the hundreds of thousands signatures on “We the People” petitions opposing gun violence on the administration’s website.
‘We hear you,’” he told them in the video posted to the White House Youtube channel. “I will do everything in my power as president to advance these efforts because if there’s even one thing we can do as a country to protect our children; we have a responsibility to try.”
Obama went on to describe the upcoming measures that his administration has proposed, but asserted that he would not be able to implement change alone. The response to the petitions appears to be directed not only at the people who signed them, but also to gun lobbyists as well, suggesting that the push for gun control extends beyond the liberal agenda. Republican congressmen specifically have not commented on Obama’s proposals.
The NRA conference will feature the country’s most influential advocates of the second amendment, who will likely speak out against increasing gun control. In his video Obama addressed the voices of gun owners, who had also spoken out for increased gun security.
“It’s encouraging that many gun owners have stepped up this week to say there are steps we can take to prevent more tragedies like the one in Newtown, steps that both protect our rights and protect our kids,” he said,
NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre suggested on Friday, that schools should have armed guards akin to banks and sports stadiums, and asked Congress to invest in a program that would train such guards for schools, a plan that seemingly contradicts the American who signed the petitions and the president. “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun” he told the crowd during the conference’s opening hour.
