Obama and Biden unveil gun control agenda in White House speech – live

Another member of the liberal media has views on gun control:

Another Republican, congressman Tom Price of Georgia, one of the GOP hardliners in the House, isn't impressed with President Obama's proposals:

We know that the safe use and responsible ownership of firearms has time and time again safeguarded individual and public safety. In fact, guns are used more often to protect lives, not take lives. Steps to remove firearms from the hands of law-abiding citizens endangers those very citizens.

Republicans are solidly opposed to President Obama's proposals, it would appear from the response coming out of Washington.

Here's RNC chairman Reince Priebus:

President Obama's series of gun control measures amount to an executive power grab that may please his political base but will not solve the problems at hand. He paid lip service to our fundamental constitutional rights, but took actions that disregard the second Amendment and the legislative process. Representative government is meant to give voice to the people; President Obama's unilateral executive action ignores this principle.

Then there was this non-committal response from a spokesman for the Speaker of the House:

House committees of jurisdiction will review these recommendations. And if the Senate passes a bill, we will also take a look at that.

Here's the full 24 minutes of Biden and Obama speaking today, from PBS News Hour.

Chris Murphy, the Democratic senator from Connecticut – where Newtown is situated – has this to say about the NRA's risible statement:

I would honestly not be surprised if NRA proposes next that all school children be armed.

Quote of the day has to be from Sandy Phillips, the mother of Jessica Ghawi, one of the 12 people shot and killed in Aurora last year:

We must take action. If you think that this cannot happen to you, and that you will never be touched by gun violence, you are fooling yourself.

Think Progress has a handy summary of President Obama's proposals today – here's the top four:

1. Making background checks universal. Obama wants every single gun owner to go through a proper background check, so it can be determined whether they have a criminal history or diagnosed mental illness. He wants Congress to close the gun show loophole that allows people at gun shows, and private buyers of used weapons, to avoid getting checked. He will also, through executive action, urge private sellers to conduct background checks, even if they aren’t mandatory.

2. Improving state reporting of criminals and the mentally ill. While all states are required to report to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) people who should not have access to guns, some states are sluggish about putting the data into the system. Obama will put more money into the hands of the states so that they can improve their reporting systems, and issue stronger guidelines to let states know when they should report people. Obama will also, through Presidential Memorandum, work to make sure agencies are regularly entering data into NICS.

3. Banning assault weapons. This is likely the most difficult battle Obama will undertake. He wants to reinstate the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban, which outlaws military-grade weapons, like the AR-15 used by Newtown gunman Adam Lanza and by Aurora Theater gunman James Holmes. Obama wants Congress to pass the ban, and close some of the loopholes identified in its 1994 iteration.

4. Capping magazine clip capacity at 10 bullets. A military-grade weapon is dangerous, but so are its accessories: Obama proposes banning all extended magazine clips that hold over 10 bullets. Huge magazine clips allow a gunman to fire off hundreds of rounds without having to stop, even once, to reload. The high-capacity magazine ban was also part of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban.

The National Rifle Association issues its response to President Obama's actions today – and it's all about the children:

Throughout its history, the National Rifle Association has led efforts to promote safety and responsible gun ownership. Keeping our children and society safe remains our top priority.

The NRA will continue to focus on keeping our children safe and securing our schools, fixing our broken mental health system, and prosecuting violent criminals to the fullest extent of the law. We look forward to working with Congress on a bi-partisan basis to find real solutions to protecting America’s most valuable asset – our children.

Attacking firearms and ignoring children is not a solution to the crisis we face as a nation. Only honest, law-abiding gun owners will be affected and our children will remain vulnerable to the inevitability of more tragedy.

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence puts out a statement in he name of its president, Dan Gross, applauding the White House's effort:

We, at the Brady Campaign, are proud to have had the opportunity to share a comprehensive set of policy solutions with the White House Task Force and we are pleased to see our ideas reflected in the final recommendations.

We will work with the Administration over the coming days to give voice to the American public who so strongly support common sense legislative policies that can immediately prevent gun violence, such as universal background checks.

We also re-affirm the Brady Campaign's commitment to lead the way toward better public health and safety education programs regarding the almost 300 million guns already in the hands of mostly law-abiding citizens. I strongly believe that now it’s up to us to make real change happen.

Carolyn McCarthy is a Democratic House member from New York whose husband was killed and son was wounded in a shooting in 1993. After President Obama's address today she told the Guardian:

I have seen what a body looks like when someone is shot but this time it is different. What the president has done today is a start but there is a limit to what he can do and the rest is up to us in Congress to act on.

Sandy Hook Promise, a non-profit set up by members of the community of Newtown after the shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, has a statement from co-founder Tim Makris in response to today's events:

Sandy Hook Promise welcomes the broad focus of the President's proposals. We appreciate his decisive action to help address through Executive Order immediate opportunities for reform, and we applaud his broader commitment to finding meaningful common sense solutions to help prevent similar acts of violence in other communities in America. Hopefully this will begin a thoughtful debate in Congress on how best to prevent future incidents of gun violence.

However, a solution won’t happen just in Washington. We encourage everyone, citizens and politicians, to make and uphold the Sandy Hook Promise, to engage in a constructive national dialogue on all of the important issues involved. As an organization, our purpose is to ensure that we have that dialogue and take action, not just in Washington but in our communities and our homes.

The Guardian's Paul Harris writes on the NRA's reaction to President Obama's attempts to tighten gun controls, and its new ad accusing Obama of hypocrisy:

The tone of the ad has been typical of the NRA's stance since Newtown as it battles what it fears is a public backlash against its aggressive lobbying on behalf of gun owners and the large firearms industry. After New York state this week passed a slew of gun regulation measures the NRA issued a statement attacking governor Andrew Cuomo. "These gun control schemes have failed in the past and will have no impact on public safety and crime," the NRA said in a statement.

More reaction from Newtown, Connecticut, the site of the Sandy Hook school massacre last month, where the Guardian's Adam Gabbatt is talking to residents at a diner:

Brianna Carey, 19 said: "I completely agree with [Obama]".

"I understand people wanting to own guns for hunting or sport but I don't see why people need to have weapons that do that much damage.

"I respect the second amendment but when that was written they couldn't even understand that we would have weapons like today."

Carey, a college student has lived in Newtown her whole life. She said the prospect of stricter gun control laws was bitter-sweet.

"I'm glad that it's finally happening but it's heartbreaking that this had to happen for changes to be made."

The Guardian's Adam Gabbatt speaks to Newtown residents and finds some support for Obama's proposals today:

"Fantastic," said Richard Marotto, 40, on hearing Obama's proposals. He was at the Blue Colony Diner in Newtown with daughter Julia, a first grader at Sandy Hook elementary who had the day off on Wednesday due to snow. Marotto said many of Julia's classmates died on 14 December.

"There's no need for an assault weapon in the hands of the public," Marotto said. "Assault weapon last time I checked means bad, assault means bad."

Of universal background checks, Marotto said they should "absolutely" be introduced. "And the people that own these guns should want that too. It's making them look bad."

"I can't understand why they can't have a compromise. Any time there's a gun tragedy and they want to do a specific gun ban, these crazy people think they want to take all their guns away. Then they start citing the second amendment. Well the second amendment has well-regulated written into it and its not well-regulated right now."

Roy Hallquist, 83, was eating soup with his wife Betty, 81. "Those things I can handle," he said of the proposed ban on assault weapons and universal background checks.

"I was in the army, I fired weapons that were similar to that. I think they're for war, not for the average citizen."

Hallquist, who owns a rifle and two pistols, did have a word of
caution however, about this step towards stricter gun control. "Once they get started they could keep taking privileges away. More and more."

The White House has published the full text of the president's proposals [pdf] – and a hashtag #nowisthetime to take the message to social media.

There's a new White House website on preventing gun violence with smart interactive text and video, state of the art stuff.

At a conference call before Obama began speaking today, White House officials briefed the media on the details of the proposals, which included federal funding to allow local communities to hire 1,000 school resource officers and counselors, which would include trained police officers.On the issue of obstruction within Congress to the proposals, the White House officials said they had public opinion on their side:

There have been members of Congress in both parties that, in a reaction to the terrible tragedy that we all witnessed in Newtown, have publicly stated that they are reconsidering their policy views on these issues. And that is the reason why the president wants to push hard on this, that we do have an opportunity here.

Mentioning the parents of a seven-year-old girl who died at Sandy Hook elementary school, President Obama concludes by saying:

That most fundamental set of rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, fundamental rights that were denied to college students at Virginia Tech and high school students at Columbine and elementary school students in Newtown; and kids on street corners in Chicago on too frequent basis to tolerate; and all the families who never imagined they'd lose a loved one to a bullet, those rights are at stake. We're responsible.

You know, when I visited Newtown last month I spent some private time with many of the families who'd lost their children that day. And one was the family of Grace McDonnell. Grace's parents are here. Grace was seven years old when she was struck down, just a gorgeous, caring, joyful little girl. I'm told she loved pink. She loved the beach. She dreamed of becoming a painter.

And so just before I left, Chris, her father, gave me one of her paintings. And I hung it in my private study just off the Oval Office. And every time I look at that painting, I think about Grace, and I think about the life that she lived and the life that lay ahead of her. And most of all, I think about how when it comes to protecting the most vulnerable among us, we must act now, for Grace, for the 25 other innocent children and devoted educators who had so much left to give; for the men and women in big cities and small towns who fall victims to senseless violence each and every day; for all the Americans who are counting on us to keep them safe from harm.

Let's do the right thing. Let's do the right thing for them and for this country that we love so much.

Obama pauses to meet with some of the children at the event, before signing the executive orders mentioned earlier. (Not all of the 23 "executive actions" require his signature.)

President Obama then turns his attention to Congress specifically, saying:

The most important changes we can make, depend on congressional action. They need to bring these proposals up for a vote, and the American people need to make sure that they do. Get them on record. Ask your member of Congress if they support universal background checks to keep guns out of the wrong hands. Ask them if they support renewing a ban on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

And if they say no, ask them why not? Ask them what's more important? Doing whatever it takes to get a – an A grade from the gun lobby that funds their campaigns? Or, giving parents some piece of mind when they drop their child off to first grade?

The "A grade" refers to the lists that lobbyists put out rating a member of Congress on how they voted on pieces of legislation. Getting an A grade from the NRA involves voting against every piece of perceived gun control legislation, and voting in favour of anything that loosens gun controls.

President Obama mentions the deadly shooting in a movie theatre in Colorado earlier this year:

Weapons designed for the theater of war have no place in a movie theater. A majority of Americans agree with us on this. And, by the way, so did Ronald Reagan, one of the staunchest defenders of the Second Amendment, who wrote to Congress in 1994, urging them – this is Ronald Reagan speaking – urging them to listen to the American public and to the law enforcement community and support a ban on the further manufacture of military-style assault weapons.

And, finally, Congress needs to help, rather than hinder, law enforcement as it does its job. We should get tougher on people who buy guns with the expressed purpose of turning around and selling them to criminals. And we should severely punish anybody who helps them do this.

"Like most Americans, I believe the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to bear arms," says Obama. "I respect our strong tradition of gun ownership and the rights of hunters and sportsmen. There are millions of responsible, law-abiding gun owners in America who cherish their right to bear arms for hunting or sport or protection or collection."

And after calling his proposals "commonsense," Obama says:

And yet that doesn't mean any of this is going to be easy to enact or implement. If it were, we'd already have universal background checks. The ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines never would have been allowed to expire. More of our fellow Americans might still be alive, celebrating birthdays and anniversaries and graduations.

This will be difficult. There will be pundits and politicians and special interest lobbyists publicly warning of a tyrannical all- out assault on liberty, not because that's true, but because they want to gin up fear or higher ratings or revenue for themselves. And behind the scenes, they'll do everything they can to block any commonsense reform and make sure nothing changes whatsoever.

The only way we will be able to change is if their audience, their constituents, their membership says this time must be different, that this time we must do something to protect our communities and our kids.

Here is a list of the 23 executive actions that President Obama has said he will undertake today. They include:

Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.

Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.

Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.

Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.

Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.

Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations.

Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.

"If you want to buy a gun ... you should at least have to show you're not a felon. This is common sense," says President Obama.

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Next, President Obama calls for new legislation in Congress to ban the sale of military-style assault weapons, limiting the legal size of magazines and clips to 10 rounds, and for new laws to toughen sanctions against those selling guns to criminals:

First, it's time for Congress to require a universal background check for anyone trying to buy a gun.

The law already requires licensed gun dealers to run background checks, and over the last 14 years that's kept 1.5 million of the wrong people from getting their hands on a gun.

But it's hard to enforce that law, when as many as 40 percent of all gun purchases are conducted without a background check. That's not safe. That's not smart. That's not fair to responsible gun buyers or sellers.

If you want to buy a gun, whether it's from a licensed dealer, or a private seller, you should at least have to show you are not a felon or somebody legally prohibited from buying one. This is common sense. And an overwhelming majority of Americans agree with us on the need for universal background checks, including more than 70% of the National Rifle Association's members according to one survey. So there's no reason we can't do this.

Second, Congress should restore a ban on military-style assault weapons, and a 10 round limit for magazines.

Obama points out that more than 900 Americans have been killed in shootings in the month since the Sandy Hook killings.

In the month since 20 precious children and six brave adults were violently taken from us at Sandy Hook Elementary, more than 900 of our fellow Americans have reportedly died at the end of a gun – 900 in the past month.

And every day we wait the number will keep growing.

So I'm putting forward a specific set of proposals based on the work of Joe's task force. And in the days ahead I intend to use whatever weight this office holds to make them a reality.

Because while there is no law or set of laws that can prevent every senseless act of violence completely, no piece of legislation that will prevent every tragedy, every act of evil, if there's even one thing we can do to reduce this violence, if there's even one life that can be saved, then we've got an obligation to try.

Obama says as soon as he is finished speaking, he will sign executive orders to use "the weight of this office":

As soon as I'm finished speaking here I will sit at that desk and I will sign a directive giving law enforcement, schools, mental health professionals and the public health community some of the tools they need to help reduce gun violence.....

And while year after year, those who oppose even modest gun safety measures have threatened to de-fund scientific or medical research into the causes of gun violence, I will direct the Centers for Disease Control to go ahead and study the best ways to reduce it. And Congress should fund research into the effects that violent video games have on young minds.

We don't benefit from ignorance. We don't benefit from not knowing the science of this epidemic of violence.

Obama thanks Biden, and notes: "While reducing gun violence is a complicated challenge, protecting our children from harm shouldn't be a divisive one."

Obama begins by introducing children in the audience who wrote to the White House and the president in the wake of the Sandy Hook shootings.

"These are our kids," Obama says, "This is what they're thinking about."

And so what we should be thinking about, is our responsibility to care for them, and shield them from harm, and give them the tools they need to grow up, and do everything that they're capable of doing. Not just to pursue their own dreams, but to help build this country. This is our first task as a society, keeping our children safe. This is how we will be judged. And their voices should compel us to change.

Vice president Joe Biden is first up at the podium, alongside President Obama, as the announcement begins:

Before I begin today, let me say to the families of the innocents who were murdered 33 days ago, our heart goes out to you. And you show incredible courage being here. And the president and I are going to do everything in our power to honor the memory of your children and your wives with the work we take up here today.

"I have never seen the nation's conscience so shaken than by what happened at Sandy Hook," Biden says. "We have a moral obligation to diminish the prospect" that such a school shooting incident could happen again.

Biden introduces Obama.

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Here's the full statement by White House press secretary Jay Carney on the NRA's ad that uses Secret Service protection of President Obama's children in the gun control argument:

Most Americans agree that a president's children should not be used as pawns in a political fight. But to go so far as to make the safety of the President's children the subject of an attack ad is repugnant and cowardly.

In a sign that the political debate on gun control isn't going to get any more sane and rational, two local sheriffs in Oregon have written to the White House to announce that they will refuse to enforce any new gun laws or regulations that they regard as infringing on second amendment rights.

Crook County Sheriff Jim Hensley has written to vice president Joe Biden, KTVZ of central Oregon reports:

Hensley’s letter ... stated: “Any federal regulation enacted by Congress or by executive order of the President offending the constitutional rights of my citizens shall not be enforced by me or by my deputies, nor will I permit the enforcement of any unconstitutional regulations or orders by federal officers within the borders of Crook County, Oregon.”

“In summary, it is the position of this Sheriff that I refuse to participate, or stand idly by, while my citizens are turned into criminals due to the unconstitutional actions of misguided politicians,” Hensley concluded.

Asked why he sent the letter, Hensley said Tuesday night, “I believe strongly in the Second Amendment.”

“If the federal government comes into Crook County and wants to take firearms and things away from (citizens), I’m going to tell them it’s not going that way,” the sheriff said.

Linn County Sheriff Tim Mueller also wrote to the vice president, accusing politicians of “attempting to exploit the deaths of innocent victims by advocating for laws that would prevent honest, law abiding Americans from possessing certain firearms and ammunition magazines.”

The Guardian's Adam Gabbatt returns to Newtown, the scene of last months deadly shootings, to gauge response to the proposals to restrict firearms that President Obama will outline later today:

Driving towards Sandy Hook elementary school a large white banner has been draped across a bridge. "We're with you Newtown," it reads. "From your friends in Tucson, Arizona."

At the Starbucks cafe next to St Rose of Lima a trickle of customers filed in and out. Staff seemed to know some of them by name.

"I am a woman the same age as Mrs Lanza, the mother of Adam, and I own a few guns for protection," said Michele Bronson, 52.

"I think it's ok to own guns for protection, but not crazy military assault weapons. That's out of control.

"And I think [Obama] should have more severe background checks for people that are applying for gun permits, serious background checks, to the point of finger-printing."

Bronson, who lives and works in Sandy Hook, said she would support a closing of loopholes which currently allow people to buy firearms without background checks at gun shows or through private sales in some states.

"I think everybody should be able to have a background check."

Bronson said she and her partner both owned pistols. Asked about the NRA's vocal opposition to any change in gun ownership laws, she said "that's not right".

"That needs to change. That's serious. There's no reason that people have to carry assault rifles."

A man called Tom, who did not want to give his last name, pulled into the cafe's car park in an SUV, the car splashing through slushy puddles as it laboured up the steep drive.

"I'm still a firm believer in the second amendment," he said. "But I wouldn't have a problem with them banning semi-automatics."

Tom, 54, said he did not own firearms himself. He said changes to ownership legislation "absolutely should happen".

"I think we should have guns but they need to be controlled."

The White House has quickly put out a statement in response to the NRA web ad mentioned below – which uses President Obama's children as a political gimmick – calling it "repugnant and cowardly".

The NRA ad mentioned below appears on a new website set up by the pro-gun lobby group, NRA Stand and Fight.

An ill-conceived web ad has been put out by the NRA – accusing President Obama of being an "elitist hypocrite" for having his own children protected by armed security, while denying the same protection to others.

Some excerpts:

Are the president's kids more important than yours? Then why is he skeptical about putting armed security in our schools when his kids are protected by armed guards at their schools?

Mr Obama demands the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes, but he's just another elitist hypocrite when it comes to a fair share of security.

Gun control legislation may not pass through Congress as quickly as the White House would hope, based on the latest comments by Senator Patrick Leahy, the Democrat from Vermont who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee.At an event this morning Leahy said he envisions a series of hearings examining violence in popular media and how to keep guns safe, which may just add to the congressional logjam.

When President Obama makes his announcement on gun control measures today, he will be joined on stage by a group of children from across the US, who wrote to Obama in the aftermath of the Newtown shootings.

The White House has shared some of the letters with the Associated Press:

Three days after six teachers and 20 students were killed by a rampaging gunman at their elementary school in Newtown, Conn., an 8-year-old from Maryland pulled out a sheet of paper and wrote to President Barack Obama asking for "some changes in the laws with guns."

"It's a free country but I recommend there needs (to) be a limit with guns," Grant wrote in the Dec. 17 letter. "Please don't let people own machine guns or other powerful guns like that."

In the days after the shooting, children around the country apparently had the same idea as Grant. They put their feelings about the massacre on paper and sent those letters to a receptive White House.

"I am writing to ask you to STOP gun violence," wrote Tajeah, a 10-year-old from Georgia. "I am very sad about the children who lost their lives. So, I thought I would write to you to STOP gun violence."

Eleven-year-old Julia, who lives in the District of Columbia and dotted the "I'' in her name with a heart, wrote that she has four brothers and sisters and "I know I would not be able to bear the thought of losing any of them." She said it should be "very hard" for people to buy guns and closed by acknowledging that Obama can't make changes by himself.

"I know that laws have to be passed by Congress but I beg you to try very hard to make guns not allowed. Not just for me, but for the whole United States," Julia wrote, signing the letter with "my love and regrets." She will also be at the White House on Wednesday.

The Guardian's US interactive team has produced this excellent and concise graphic summary of current US gun control laws, on a state by state basis.

It shows how tighter state gun regulations are confined largely to the east and west coasts, as well as Illinois, with controls fading dramatically in the south and western interior of the US.

President Obama today reveals his plans to introduce a wide range of new regulations and laws on the sale and possession of firearms, the first serious attempt to do so in nearly 20 years.

Obama makes a televised address scheduled to start at 11.45am ET. In it, he will lay out his proposals, made in the wake of national reaction to the massacre in Newtown last month, as well as other deadly attacks such as that a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado, last year.

Here's the Guardian's latest news coverage of what Obama is likely to announce today:

Obama will unveil a plethora of new legislative proposals, together with 19 executive actions that he can introduce without congressional approval, at a White House event on Wednesday morning. The president will be flanked by children who have written into him about their desire for change in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, in which 27 people died including 20 young pupils.

The New York Times has more details:

The top priority of many gun control groups is to expand the background checks so that they apply to all buyers. All federally licensed firearms dealers are required to run background checks through the computerized databases that comprise the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. But the requirement does not cover guns that are sold at gun shows and in other private sales, which account for about 40 percent of gun purchases in the country.

We'll be covering Obama's statement, as well as analysis of the proposals, and rounding up the reaction – including, inevitably, that of America's strong gun lobby groups such as the National Rifle Association.