President Barack Obama pledged to not support, campaign or vote for any candidate — Democrat or otherwise — who does not support “common-sense gun reform” in a column published by the New York Times on Thursday night.
The column, published ahead of his town hall on gun regulation in America, said his goal to lessen gun violence will be a battle he’ll fight as both President and as a citizen.
“Even as I continue to take every action possible as president, I will also take every action I can as a citizen. I will not campaign for, vote for or support any candidate, even in my own party, who does not support common-sense gun reform,” Obama wrote. “And if the 90 percent of Americans who do support common-sense gun reforms join me, we will elect the leadership we deserve.”
Obama announced executive orders on Tuesday to address gun violence before he leaves office.
In the column, Obama called for a unification between gun owners and non-gun owners.
“We need the vast majority of responsible gun owners who grieve with us after every mass shooting, who support common-sense gun safety and who feel that their views are not being properly represented, to stand with us and demand that leaders heed the voices of the people they are supposed to represent,” he wrote.
He also called on gun manufacturers to bring guns up to the “high standards” American consumers have come to expect.
