Obama Talks Gun Control With Law Enforcement

President Barack Obama met with municipal police and political leaders Monday to discuss gun control and get their support to pass legislation through Congress.

Published

4 months ago

Categories

US

Topics

US Politics, United States, Gun Control

People

Barack Obama

Places

United States of America, Colorado, Connecticut, Washington, D.C., Newtown

Transcript

SHOTLIST: WASHINGTON, JANUARY 28, 2013, SOURCE: US POOL **NO RESALE for non-editorial purposes** SOUNDBITE 1 Barack Obama (man), President of the United States (English, 18 sec): "No group is more important for us to listen to than our law enforcement officials. They're where rubber hits the road, and so I welcome this opportunity to work with them, to hear their views in terms of what would make the biggest difference to prevent something like Newtown or Oak Creek from happening again." SOUNDBITE 2 Barack Obama (man), President of the United States (English, 8 sec): "But as we've indicated before, the only way that we're going to be able to do everything that needs to be done is with the cooperation of Congress." - VAR cutaways of the roundtable - end of Obama's remarks ---------------------- AFP TEXT STORY US-crime-politics-shooting-Obama Obama huddles with police chiefs on gun campaign =(PICTURE)= WASHINGTON, Jan 28, 2013 (AFP) - US President Barack Obama on Monday surrounded himself with top police chiefs and sheriffs to crank up pressure on Congress to back his drive for measures to cut down on gun violence. "I'm looking forward to a robust conversation. I know it's not a shy group, mainly because they deal with a life and death situation every single day," Obama said at the meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. "No group is more important to listen to than our law enforcement communities. They are where the rubber hits the road." Obama made measures to stem murderous firearms violence a centerpiece of his second term agenda, after America was traumatized by the massacre of 20 children and six adults at a school in Newtown, Connecticut in December. Monday's meeting included sheriffs and police chiefs from cities including Salt Lake City, Chicago and Aurora, Colorado, the site of a gun massacre at a movie theater last year. Also at the meeting was Newtown Police Chief Michael Kehoe. Obama this month took 23 executive actions and challenged Congress to pass new laws, including renewing a ban on assault weapons, and closing loopholes that permit 40 percent of gun sales to take place without background checks. Vice President Joe Biden, who drew up the administration's new gun control policy last week, was at Monday's meeting after last week taking the campaign into gun country in Virginia, to engage lawmakers and local leaders. Virginia, adjacent to Washington, illustrates the heavy political winds Obama, Biden and top gun control advocates in Congress are facing. The driving force in the gun lobby, the National Rifle Association, is headquartered in the state, and firearms can legally be carried openly. Republicans, and some conservative Democrats, also find a hearing for the argument that Obama's plans are simply a veiled attempt to infringe on Americans' constitutionally enshrined right to bear arms.