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| President Barack Obama is applauded prior to speaking about his gun violence proposals, Monday, Feb. 4, 2013, at the Minneapolis Police Department's Special Operations Center in Minneapolis, where he outlined his plan before law enforcement personnel. |
MINNEAPOLIS
(AP) -- President Barack Obama declared Monday on his first trip outside
Washington to promote gun control that a consensus is emerging for
universal background checks for purchasers, though he conceded a tough
road lay ahead to pass an assault weapons ban over formidable opposition
in Congress.
"We should restore the ban on
military-style assault weapons and a 10-round limit for magazines,"
Obama said in a brief speech, standing firm on his full package on
gun-control measures despite long odds. Such a ban "deserves a vote in
Congress because weapons of war have no place on our streets or in our
schools or threatening our law enforcement officers."
The
president spoke from a special police operations center in a city once
known to some as "Murderapolis" but where gun violence has dropped amid a
push to address it from city leaders. Officers stood behind him,
dressed in crisp uniforms of blue, white and brown.
The
site conveyed Obama's message that a reduction in violence can be
achieved nationally, even if Americans have sharp disagreements over gun
control. That includes among members of his own party in Washington.
Suggesting he won't get all he's proposing, he said, "We don't have to agree on everything to agree it's time to do something."
The
president unveiled his gun-control plans last month after the shootings
at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school. But many of the proposals face
tough opposition from some in Congress and from the National Rifle
Association.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid has said he wants to give the bans on assault weapons and
high-capacity magazines a vote. But he will not say whether he will
support either, and advocates and opponents alike predict they are
unlikely to pass.
Putting the controversial
measures up for a vote could put some Democratic senators in a tough
spot. That includes some from conservative-leaning states who are up for
re-election next year and face the prospect of voting against either
fervent gun-rights supporters or Obama and gun-control supporters in the
party's base.
Reid himself came in for
criticism for declining to stand with the president by Minneapolis'
Democratic mayor, R.T. Rybak, who accompanied Obama while he was in
town. "He's dancing around this issue and people are dying in this
country," Rybak said of Reid on MSNBC.
Democratic
lawmakers and aides, as well as lobbyists, say an assault weapons ban
has the least chance of being approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee
that is working up the legislation. They say a ban on high-capacity
magazines is viewed as the next least likely proposal to survive, though
some compromise version of it might, allowing more than the 10-round
maximum that Obama favors.
Likeliest to be
included are universal background checks and prohibitions against gun
trafficking, they say. One lobbyist said other possible terms include
steps to improve record keeping on resales of guns and perhaps
provisions that would make it harder for mentally ill people from
obtaining firearms.
Asked last week what was
likely to be in his committee's bill, committee Chairman Patrick Leahy,
D-Vt., said he didn't yet know but "I don't know how anybody can be
opposed to universal background checks." He added, "I think gun
trafficking, you've got to be able to close that. I don't know how
anybody, anybody can object to that."
Obama also was more upbeat on the prospects of universal background checks, including for purchases at gun shows.
"The
good news is that we're starting to see a consensus emerge about the
action Congress needs to take," he said. "The vast majority of
Americans, including a majority of gun owners, support requiring
criminal background checks for anyone trying to buy a gun. There's no
reason why we can't get that done."
He urged
Americans to call their members of Congress to push for his entire
package of stronger gun controls. "Tell them now is the time for
action."
"Changing the status quo is never
easy," Obama said. "This will be no exception. The only way we can
reduce gun violence in this country is if the American people decide
it's important, if you decide it's important, if parents and teachers,
police officers and pastors, hunters and sportsmen, Americans of every
background stand up and say, this time, it's got to be different. We've
suffered too much pain to stand by and do nothing."
The
White House says Obama is not writing off any part of his package
despite the long odds for the assault weapons ban in particular before
votes are scheduled or he takes his arguments on the road. Education
Secretary Arne Duncan, who has been helping push the gun control
package, said he and Obama spoke on the matter Sunday and agreed that
Washington in a vacuum is unlikely to move quickly.
"If
this is Washington trying to drive this by itself, it doesn't go very
far," Duncan said at a meeting with college presidents who have signed
on to help lobby Congress to take action to protect students.
The
White House said Obama made his maiden trip on the gun control package
to Minneapolis because the city has taken steps to tackle gun violence,
including a push for stricter background checks. The city launched a
program in 2008 aimed at providing more resources for at-risk youth and
helping rehabilitate young people who have already committed crimes.
In
January, Minneapolis also hosted a regional summit on gun violence for
elected officials from around the Midwest. The county's sheriff, Richard
Stanek, is a Republican who has been working with the White House to
develop a palatable set of gun regulations, with a particular focus on
strengthening background checks.
Ahead of
Monday's trip, the White House released a photo of the president skeet
shooting at Camp David, the presidential retreat, which prompted more
question about the president's experience with guns. White House press
secretary Jay Carney said he was not aware of Obama personally owning
any firearms. He said Obama has shot a gun elsewhere, although he didn't
know when or if he had done so- before becoming president. "He never
intended to suggest he had grown up as a hunter," Carney said.
Asked
whether the president shoots skeet or trap, Carney told reporters, "I'm
not an expert, and I don't think he would claim to be either." But he
said of the president's shooting skill, "I think he has gotten better."
On
Tuesday, four House members - two Republicans and two Democrats -
planned to announce bipartisan legislation making gun trafficking a
federal crime and strengthening penalties against people who legally buy
firearms but give them to others who are barred from purchasing them,
such as felons.
House GOP leaders have sent no signals that they intend to move imminently on gun legislation.
"The
committees of jurisdiction will look at the issues surrounding violence
in our society. And when the Senate produces a bill, we'll take a look
at it," said Michael Steel, spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner,
R-Ohio.
