WH response to 2A petition: I sure feel safer now...
knowing that BHO is doing something about the senseless gun violence!
President Obama Believes in the Second Amendment. He Also Believes in Common Sense.
Thank you for your petition.
President Obama strongly believes that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to bear arms. That's never been in question.
But the right guaranteed by the Second Amendment carries with it certain responsibilities, and there are commonsense steps we can take right now to protect our children and keep our communities safe. For instance, we can close the loopholes in the background check system that make it too easy for criminals and other dangerous people to buy guns — an idea that has the support of 90 percent of people in the United States, by the way.
So here's what we're doing.
Fully consistent with our Second Amendment rights, we've put together a proposal to help prevent tragic mass shootings like those in Newtown, Aurora, Oak Creek, and Tucson. If you want to see the specifics of our plan, you should visit WhiteHouse.gov/NowIsTheTime.
And whether or not Congress passes gun safety legislation, President Obama is already taking steps to make our country safer with executive actions. He's strengthening the existing background check system, giving law enforcement officials more tools to prevent gun violence, ending the freeze on gun violence research, making schools safer, and improving access to mental health care. You can read more about that here.
While these are each important steps, they’re not a replacement for Congressional action. Passing commonsense gun safety legislation to expand background checks and to make gun trafficking a federal crime is essential.
So we'll continue to push to make that happen.
Tell us what you think about this petition and We the People.
