Read Obama's Eloquent Takedown Of The NRA

Read Obama's Eloquent Takedown Of The NRA And Congressional Inaction After More Gun Violence
Americans die from guns because Congress is "terrified" of the NRA.

June 10, 2014 |




On Tuesday, President Obama made a forceful and eloquent statement about Congress's failure to stop America's epidemic of gun violence. Here is the statement in its entirely, as transcribed by the White House press pool.

"I have to say that people often ask me, you know, how’s it been being president and, you know, what are my -- you know, what am I proudest of and what are my biggest disappointments? And you know, I've got 2 1/2 years left. My biggest frustration so far is the fact that this society has not been willing to take some basic steps to keep guns out of the hands of, you know, people who, you know, can do just unbelievable damage.

"We're the only developed country on Earth where this happens. And it happens now once a week. And it's a one-day story. There's no place else like this.

"A couple of decades ago Australia had a mass shooting similar to Columbine orNewtown, and Australia just said, “well, that's it. We're not doing, we're not seeing that again,” and basically imposed very severe, tough gun laws, and they haven't had a mass shooting since. I mean, our levels of gun violence are off the charts. There's no advanced, developed country on Earth that would put up with this.

http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/read-obamas-eloquent-takedown-nra-and-congressional-inaction-after-more-gun-violence

Mournful and resigned, Obama concedes US won't act to stop gun violence anytime soon



President Barack Obama listens to a question submitted on Tumblr, read by Tumblr Founder and CEO David Karp, left, during a Tumblr forum, Tuesday, June 10, 2014, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Associated Press June 10, 2014 | 7:24 p.m. EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A year ago, on the day a gun control push in the Senate went down in flames, President Barack Obama stood with former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and parents of Newtown victims in the Rose Garden and declared, "This effort is not over."

On Tuesday, a mournful president conceded he was ashamed as an American and terrified as a parent that the United States can't find it in its soul to put a stop to rampant shooting sprees. Barring a fundamental shift in public opinion, Obama said, "it will not change."

snip

The president recalled seeing the father of one of those victims appear on television, pleading with society not to less his son's death be in vain.

"As a father myself I just — I couldn't understand the pain he must be going through and just the primal scream that he gave out," Obama said. "Why? Why aren't we doing something about this?"

http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2014/06/10/somber-obama-concedes-scant-progress-on-gun-deaths