US Presidency
2013

I know this is not the first time this country has debated how to reduce gun violence. But this time is different. Overwhelming majorities of Americans Americans who believe in the Second Amendment have come together around softheaded reform, like background checks that will make it harder for criminals to get their hands on a gun. Senators of both parties are working together on tough new laws to prevent anyone from buying guns for resale to criminals. Police chiefs are asking our help to get weapons of war and massive ammunition magazines off our streets, because these police chiefs, they're tired of seeing their guys and gals being outgunned. Each of these proposals deserves a vote in Congress. Now, if you want to vote no, that's your choice. But these proposals deserve a vote. Because in the two months since Newtown, more than a thousand birthdays, graduations, anniversaries have been stolen from our lives by a bullet from a gun more than a thousand. One of those we lost was a young girl named Hadiya Pendleton.