In Wake Of Charleston Massacre, Obama Again Sounds Gun Control Rallying Cry
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The mass shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, has generated another call for gun control from a frustrated President Barack Obama.
His efforts to overhaul the nation's gun laws have been thwarted time and time again by the powerful gun lobby, CBS2's Marcia Kramer reported.
CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller, who keeps records of such things, said Thursday marked the 14th time Obama had addressed the nation following a gun tragedy.
It was the 14th time the president had to speak about unspeakable loss that could have been prevented if the bad guys had been prevented from obtaining weapons.
It's a refrain we hear all too often here in New York City.
"Once again, innocent people were killed in part because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no trouble getting their hands on a gun," the president said.
Obama consoled the nation after another in a long list of senseless gun crimes. He had to do it after 13 people were killed at Fort Hood in 2009, after former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and 18 others were shot, including six killed, in Tucson in 2011, and after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting left 20 children and six adults dead. And the list goes on and on and on.
"But let's be clear: at some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries," Obama said.
And with gun crimes an all too frequent occurrence here in New York City -- murders and shootings often committed with guns brought here illegally from other states -- the president said we need a national solution.
"It is in our power to do something about it," Obama said.
But having tried and failed to pass a massive gun overhaul after the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, the deadliest mass shooting at a school in U.S. history, and after failing to win approval for such things as a universal background check system, and laws banning the sale and manufacture of certain types of semi-automatic guns and magazines with more than 10 rounds of ammunition, Obama seemed resigned to losing out to the powerful gun lobby, the NRA or National Rifle Association. The president admitted the current politics in Washington will continue to stymie gun-reform efforts.
"And at some point it's going to be important for the American people to come to grips with it," Obama said.
Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a noted advocate for gun control, did not comment, but his anti-gun group, Everytown For Gun Safety, demanded national solutions to reduce gun violence.
New Yorkers Against Gun Violence also called for Congress to act, Kramer reported.
