US President Barack Obama on Wednesday proposed a new assault weapons ban and mandatory background checks for all gun buyers, in a bid to channel national outrage over the Newtown school massacre into the biggest US gun-control push in generations.
Rolling out a wide-ranging plan for executive and legislative action to curb gun violence, Mr Obama set up a fierce clash with the powerful American gun lobby and its supporters in Congress, who are likely to resist what they see as an encroachment on constitutionally protected gun rights.
Mr Obama presented his agenda at a White House event in front of an audience that included children from across the country, a poignant reminder of the 20 first-graders killed alongwith six adults by a lone gunman on December 14 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
Mr Obama’s plan calls on Congress for a renewed ban on assault weapon sales that expired 2004, a requirement for criminal background checks on all gun purchases, including closing a loophole for gun show sales, and a new federal gun trafficking law.
The US President also announced 23 steps he will take immediately without congressional approval.