Post date: Dec 14, 2013 12:18:29 PM
In his weekly address to the nation U.S. President Barack Obama says "we must change" as he calls for a renewed push for gun control on the anniversary of the Sandy Hook school shootings.
WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 14, 2013) (WHITEHOUSE.GOV) - U.S. President Barack Obama marked the anniversary of the Newtown school shootings on Saturday (December 14) by calling for tighter gun control and expanded mental health care.
"We haven't yet done enough to make our communities and our country safer," he said in his weekly address. "We have to do more to keep dangerous people from getting their hands on a gun so easily. We have to do more to heal troubled minds."Obama did not mention the shooting at a Colorado high school on Friday (December 13) where a student armed with a shotgun wounded at least two classmates before apparently taking his own life. The president's address is recorded in advance.
Obama is due later Saturday to observe a moment of silence at the White House and light candles in memory of the 20 children and six school workers who died in a shooting at a Connecticutelementary school a year ago.
"If we want to live in a country where we can go to work, send our kids to school, and walk our streets free from fear, we have to keep trying. We have to keep caring. We have to treat every child like they're ours. Like those in Sandy Hook, we must choose love. And together, we must and can change," said Obama.
Legislation that would have extended background checks for gun sales made online and at gun shows and to ban rapid-firing "assault" weapons failed to clear the U.S. Senate this year. Opponents argued it is essential to hold the line on protecting Americans' right to keep and bear arms guaranteed under the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
State legislatures have been more aggressive in enacting gun control legislation but those measures have faced some backlash.
Colorado passed gun control measures, but gun rights activists used recall elections to oust two state senators who backed them.
The White House has proposed spending $130 million to help teachers and other people who work with youth recognize the signs of mental illness and help people get treatment, but Congress has not yet allocated those funds.
So the administration will spend $50 million from its Health and Human Services budget to help community health centres hire more mental health professionals and provide more services and another $50 million (USD) from the Agriculture Department budget to improve mental health facilities in rural areas, the White House has said.