Obama, “The Gun Lobby May Hold Congress Hostage, But They Can Not Hold America Hostage.”

President Obama drilled Congress and the gun lobby during his White House remarks on gun violence. The President bluntly spoke the truth and called out Congress for being held hostage by the gun lobby at the expense of innocent American lives.

During his remarks on gun violence, the President said:

When it comes to an inherently deadly weapon, nobody argues that guns aren’t potentially deadly. Weapons that kill tens of thousands of Americans every year, Congress actually voted to make it harder for public health experts to conduct research into gun violence. Made it harder to collect data and facts, and develop strategies to reduce gun violence.

Even after San Bernardino, they refused to make it harder for terror suspects who can’t get on a plane to buy semiautomatic weapons.

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That’s not right.

That can’t be right.

So the gun lobby may be holding Congress hostage right now, but they can not hold America hostage.

We do not have to accept this carnage as the price of freedom.

Now I want to be clear; Congress still needs to act. The folks in this room will not rest until Congress does. Because once Congress gets on board with common sense gun safety measures, we can reduce gun violence a whole lot more, but we also can’t wait.

Until we have a Congress that is in line with a majority of Americans, there are actions within my legal authority that we can take to help reduce gun violence and save more lives. Actions that protect our rights and our kids.

During the speech, Obama repeatedly called out Republicans for failing to protect the American people by adopting common sense gun safety reforms. The President used previous Republican support for background checks to question how expanding background checks came to equal confiscation of guns.

Obama bluntly called it out. Congress is out of step with the American people because they are siding with the gun lobby over the public safety of innocent Americans.

President Obama has bravely taken on all foes during his presidency. He has saved the biggest for last, as he is taking on the gun lobby and the hypocrites in Congress who are owned by the weapons manufacturers.

The President is passionate about this issue, and one gets the sense that he is going to be relentless until steps are taken to save innocent American lives.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association