Tearful Obama Outlines steps to curb Gun Deaths.

President Barack Obama wept openly Tuesday as he delivered a forceful defense of new executive actions on gun violence, a set of modest proposals to tighten loopholes that likely face quick legal challenges and could be vulnerable to reversal by a Republican White House.
The president ran through a list of mass shootings that have happened during his time in office, and teared up as he recalled the schoolchildren gunned down in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012.

"First graders in Newtown. First graders," Obama said, pausing to collect himself. "Every time I think about those kids, it gets me mad."
Obama offered a new argument to counter gun rights enthusiasts, noting that mass shootings have taken place as Americans have tried to exercise other rights, such as attending worship services or watching a movie. The right to bear firearms is not more important than the right to worship freely or peaceably assemble, he said, and called upon Congress to be "brave enough to stand up to the gun lobby's lies."
“Every single year, more than 30,000 Americans have their lives cut short by guns. Thirty thousand. Suicides, domestic violence, gang shootouts, accidents. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have lost brothers and sisters or buried their own children," he said, flanked in the White House East Room by family members of victims.
In making his case, Obama brushed off criticism that he did not respect the Second Amendment, citing his past as a constitutional law professor.
"No matter how many times people try to twist my words around, I taught constitutional law, I know a little bit about this. I get it," he said. "But I also believe that we can find ways to reduce gun violence consistent with the Second Amendment."
"We do not have to accept this carnage as the price of freedom," Obama said.
The president also argued that common-sense safety measures used on other equipment should apply to guns as well.
"If we can set it up so you can’t unlock your phone unless you’ve got the right fingerprint, why can’t we do the same thing for our guns?” Obama said.

"If there’s an app that can help us find a missing tablet — which happens to me often the older I get,” Obama said to laughter, "if we can do it for your iPad, there’s no reason we can’t do it with a stolen gun. If a child can’t open a bottle of aspirin, we should make sure that they can’t pull a trigger on a gun.”
Despite the "general consensus" for what needs to be done, and support from many gun owners, Obama acknowledged gridlock.
"I'm not on the ballot again. I'm not looking to score some points. I think we can disagree without impugning other people's motives," he said. "But we do have to feel a fierce sense of urgency about it. In Dr. King's words, we need to feel the fierce urgency of now. Because people are dying and the constant excesses for inaction no longer do, no longer suffice. That's why we're here today, not to debate the last mass shooting but to prevent the next one."
As the details of Obama’s actions— and their limited nature — became clear, reactions of Republicans took on a tone that was more dismissive than alarm-raising. While some continued to attack Obama for going after law-abiding citizens’ Second Amendment rights, others pooh-poohed his actions as theater.
“Rather than focus on criminals and terrorists,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said, “he goes after the most law-abiding of citizens. His words and actions amount to a form of intimidation that undermines liberty.”
Despite such condemnation, there's little chance this GOP-controlled Congress can block the president's latest gun control moves. That's because there are no must-pass bills looming that Republicans could use as vehicles to force Democrats to undo Obama's actions. Furthermore, Senate Democrats would likely block any movement in the Senate on individual bills. And any stand-alone legislation that managed to pass the House and Senate would surely be vetoed by Obama.
Ryan said the GOP’s best chance to overturn the executive orders is to elect a Republican president in 2016.
Gun rights advocates argue that new restrictions aren’t necessary because gun homicide rates have dropped even as gun ownership has soared. National Rifle Association used blistering language to cast the moves as a way to distract from other more pressing problems, echoing GOP lines of attack.
"Once again, President Obama has chosen to engage in political rhetoric instead of offering meaningful solutions to our nation’s pressing problems,” said NRA Legislative Action Executive Director Chris W. Cox. “Today’s event also represents an ongoing attempt to distract attention away from his lack of a coherent strategy to keep the American people safe from terrorist attacks.”