Obama calls for national solidarity
Source: Agencies |
December 16, 2012, Sunday
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PRESIDENT Barack Obama yesterday urged Americans to join in solidarity as they mourn the victims of a shooting rampage at a Connecticut elementary school, saying the hearts of parents across the country were "heavy with hurt" for the lives lost.
In his weekly radio and Internet speech, Obama also repeated a message he put forth on Friday, just hours after one of the worst mass shootings in US history, on the need to set aside politics and "take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this."
But Obama went no further than that, and again stopped short of specifically calling for tighter gun-control laws.
"We grieve for the families of those we lost. And we keep in our prayers the parents of those who survived," Obama said.
The shooting spree reignited a debate over gun-control in a country with a flourishing gun culture and a strong gun lobby, which has discouraged most politicians from efforts to address the easy availability of firearms.
Obama mostly steered clear of the issue during his successful re-election campaign this year, and it remains unclear whether he might be willing to take a more assertive approach now that he has secured a second term.
Ticking off recent shooting incidents, Obama said in yesterday's address: "As a nation, we have endured far too many of these tragedies in the last few years."
His response to previous high-profile shootings was to call for a national conversation on how to curb gun violence.
"This weekend, Michelle and I are doing what I know every parent is doing - holding our children as close as we can and reminding them how much we love them," he said.
"There are families in Connecticut who can't do that today. And they need all of us now," he said. "All of us can extend a hand to those in need - to remind them that we are there for them, that we are praying for them."
Obama had to struggle to control his emotions during his televised statement on Friday where his voice cracked and he wiped away tears.
In his weekly radio and Internet speech, Obama also repeated a message he put forth on Friday, just hours after one of the worst mass shootings in US history, on the need to set aside politics and "take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this."
But Obama went no further than that, and again stopped short of specifically calling for tighter gun-control laws.
"We grieve for the families of those we lost. And we keep in our prayers the parents of those who survived," Obama said.
The shooting spree reignited a debate over gun-control in a country with a flourishing gun culture and a strong gun lobby, which has discouraged most politicians from efforts to address the easy availability of firearms.
Obama mostly steered clear of the issue during his successful re-election campaign this year, and it remains unclear whether he might be willing to take a more assertive approach now that he has secured a second term.
Ticking off recent shooting incidents, Obama said in yesterday's address: "As a nation, we have endured far too many of these tragedies in the last few years."
His response to previous high-profile shootings was to call for a national conversation on how to curb gun violence.
"This weekend, Michelle and I are doing what I know every parent is doing - holding our children as close as we can and reminding them how much we love them," he said.
"There are families in Connecticut who can't do that today. And they need all of us now," he said. "All of us can extend a hand to those in need - to remind them that we are there for them, that we are praying for them."
Obama had to struggle to control his emotions during his televised statement on Friday where his voice cracked and he wiped away tears.
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