President Obama revealed that the most frustrating issue he has worked on while in office has been his push for stricter gun control laws.
During an interview published on Thursday with the BBC, Jon Sopel asked Obama if he would have any unfinished business upon leaving office, such as on the issues of race or gun control.
While responding, Obama lamented how frustrated he has been in advocating for better gun laws in the U.S.
“You mentioned the issue of guns, that is an area where, if you ask me where has been the one area where I feel that I’ve been most frustrated and most stymied, it is the fact that the United States of America is the one advanced nation on earth in which we do not have sufficient, common-sense, gun-safety laws. Even in the face of repeated mass killings,” Obama told the BBC.
Though Obama has expressed his disappointment in U.S. politicians when it comes to gun laws, particularly in his reaction to the June shooting at a Charleston church, he told the BBC that he will continue to work on gun control issues as president.
“If you look at the number of Americans killed since 9/11 by terrorism, it’s less than 100. If you look at the number that have been killed by gun violence, it’s in the tens of thousands,” he said. “And for us not to be able to resolve that issue has been something that is distressing. But it is not something that I intend to stop working on in the remaining 18 months.”
