Obama Delivers Speech On Gun Control In Minneapolis

Flanked by members of law enforcement, Obama delivered a speech at the Minneapolis Police Dept. Monday to further push his gun control proposals.

The President urged citizens to put pressure on their representatives, telling them that true change needed to come from the American people. “There’s no legislation being proposed to subvert the Second Amendment,” he said. “Tell them…we’re not going to wait until the next Newtown.”

Obama described an emerging consensus in Congress about actions that need to be taken.

He said that gun trafficking laws to crack down on straw purchases had bi-partisan support in Congress. “That is not a liberal idea or a conservative idea; it’s not a Democratic or Republican idea. That is a smart idea,” Obama said.

He also made a push for universal background checks. “The vast majority of Americans, including a majority of gun owners, support requiring criminal background checks,” he said, and argued that there’s no reason a vocal lobby should get in the way of that.

The ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines deserved a vote in Congress as well, said Obama, adding that it’s possible a limit on magazine size could have prevented the Tucson shooter from killing six people.