Today President Obama attempted to increase the pressure on Congress to reach an agreement aimed at reducing gun violence in the US. He appealed to the memory of the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre when 20 children, most of which were only 6 years old, and 6 adults were gunned down by 154 rounds of ammunition in less than 5 minutes.
“We need everybody to remember how we felt 100 days ago and make sure that what we said at that time wasn’t just a bunch of platitudes — that we meant it,” Obama said at the White House in front of an audience that included family and friends of the victims of the December 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
“We have cried enough. We have known enough heartbreak,” Obama said. “Now is the time to turn that heartbreak into something real.”
The Senate is scheduled to vote on a legislative package next month that includes provisions such as expanded background checks. However, the legislation will not include an assault weapons ban or a limit on rounds of ammunition per magazine.
Perhaps frustrated by the apparent resistance to gun control reform, Obama appeared visibly emotional and irate as he attempted to rekindle the emotion that overwhelmed the country in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.
“The notion that two months or three months after something as horrific as what happened in Newtown happens and we’ve moved on to other things?” Obama said. “That’s not who we are. That’s not who we are. And I want to make sure every American is listening today.”
