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.”
God bless this man.
I don’t actually remember him mentioning this issue at all until the Newton shootings. Before that, the only gun-related bill he saw was one to allow guns to be carried in to national parks (which he signed).
Overall I admire the president. But I do not recall any push for gun safety or regulation from him at ALL.
And think about it, he goes to these summits and hangs out with the leaders of the other advanced nations, and they’re his peers, OK? And he has to think about this disgusting blot on our national character. I think in that way a President is uniquely placed to feel troubled and ashamed about the situation.
I certainly remember his talking about it after Newtown. But he’s been generally reluctant to expend political capital where it won’t do any good, and in this case his involvement could even be counterproductive. My intuition is that this situation has to change from the bottom up. Moms and dads have to come into local council meetings and demand greater safety in their communities, and the local officials on up to the national level have to see the jig’s up, they can’t take NRA money any more, they can’t coddle the gun nuts, the voters are saying we want this and that or you’re gone. That’s when it’ll change IMHO.