After the U.S. Senate
Wednesday defeated a bill to require gun buyers to pass expanded background
checks, President Barack Obama angrily blamed a minority of senators and gun
owners groups for the setback. Both the president and the families of shooting
victims vowed to continue fighting.
In a highly unusual
move, President Obama allowed someone outside his administration to begin his
statement in the Rose Garden.
Mark Barden lost his
seven-year-old son Daniel four months ago, in a mass shooting at a school in
Connecticut. The president briefly put his hand on Barden’s shoulder as
he spoke.
“We will not be
defeated. We are not defeated, and we will not be defeated. We are
here now. We will always be here, because we have no other choice.
We are not going away,” Barden said.
When Obama took the
podium, the president, who is known for his cool demeanor, lashed out. He
accused both Republicans and Democrats who voted against the bill of political
cowardice.
“There were no coherent
arguments as to why we would not do this. It came down to politics-the
worry that that vocal minority of gun owners would come after them in future
elections,” the president said.
The president went on
to blame the National Rifle Association and other gun owners groups of
distorting the provisions of the legislation.
“But instead of
supporting this compromise, the gun lobby and its allies willfully lied about
the bill,” Obama said.
Afterward, an NRA
statement said the bill “would have criminalized certain private transfers of
firearms…requiring lifelong friends, neighbors and some family members to get
federal government permission to exercise a fundamental right”.
Republican Senator
Chuck Grassley, who voted against the bill, said expanded background checks
would not have prevented the Connecticut shootings.
The legislation was a
bipartisan compromise, intended to keep guns out of the hands of convicted
criminals and the mentally ill.
Fifty-four of the 100
senators voted for the initiative, but it fell short of the 60 votes needed for
passage.
Obama said he sees the
defeat of the bill as just “round one” in the battle for tighter gun control.
“I believe we are going
to be able to get this done. Sooner or later, we are going to get this
right. The memories of these children demand it, and so do the American
people,” Obama said.
Former Congresswoman
Gabby Giffords, who was shot while meeting with her constituents in Arizona in
2011, stood next to the president as he spoke. Before the event, she sent
messages on social media, saying the Senate ignored the will of the people.
Sources :
http://www.voanews.com/content/obama-reaction-gun-bill/1643792.html
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