Running through a long list of mass shootings that have occurred during his presidency, Obama declared there had been far “too many” incidents of tragic gun violence and blasted Congress for failing to take action.
“The United States of America is not the only country on earth with violent or dangerous people,” he said. “But we are the only advanced country on earth that sees this kind of mass violence erupt with this kind of frequency.”
“Somehow, we become numb to it and start thinking it’s normal,” he added.
“Hundreds of thousands of Americans have lost brothers and sisters or buried their own children. Many have learned to live with a disability or learned to live without the love of their lives,” Obama said.
“And instead of thinking about how to solve the problem, this has become one of our most polarized, partisan debates,” Obama said.
“We know we can’t stop every act of violence, every act of evil in the world. But maybe we could try to stop one act of evil, one act of violence,” he added. “We maybe can’t save everybody, but we can save some.”
“How did we get here?” Obama asked. “Each time this comes up, we are fed the excuse that common sense reforms might not have stopped the latest massacre or the one before that, so why bother trying."
“I reject that thinking,” he said to thunderous applause.
Obama then emotionally recalled the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre that left 20 children and six educators dead — the tragedy that initially prompted his calls for action.
“Every time I think about those kids it gets me mad,” Obama said, as tears rolled down his cheeks. “And by the way, it happens on the streets of Chicago every day.”
Obama then explained why he felt it necessary to take action on the issue alone.
“The gun lobby may be holding members of Congress hostage, but they cannot hold America hostage,” he said. “We do not have to accept this carnage as the price of freedom.”
“Until we get a Congress that is in line with our values, there are actions I can take, within my legal authority, to reduce gun violence to save more lives,” Obama said.
Those new restrictions, outlined for the first time Monday night by the White House, include background checks for guns bought from dealers online and at gun shows, as well as a mandate for extra staffing and funding for the several government agencies involved in monitoring the purchase of firearms.
Under the actions, the FBI will hire more than 230 additional examiners and other staff to process background checks 24 hours a day, the White House said.
In addition, the White House’s fiscal 2017 budget will include funding for 200 new Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents and investigators to help enforce gun laws. The ATF has also begun finalizing a rule to ensure dealers who ship firearms notify law enforcement if their guns are lost or stolen in transit.
Meanwhile, Obama also announced initiatives for improving mental health care, including a proposed $500 million investment to increase access to mental health care across the U.S.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch has also sent a letter to states highlighting the importance of receiving complete criminal history records and criminal dispositions of persons disqualified from buying firearms because of a mental illness.
The new actions also feature an upgrade to existing technology designed to help federal officials track the movement of weapons.
For example, Obama announced, the ATF established an Internet Investigation Center to track illegal online firearms trafficking and was allocated $4 million to enhance the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network.
Gun control has remained among the White House's highest priorities in recent years, with the President repeatedly pushing in vain for new legislation.
After the October slaughter of nine people by a lone shooter inside an Oregon college classroom, Obama sadly noted he had previously spoken after 14 mass shootings during his administration.
But opponents of gun control have consistently rejected the President’s calls for action — a message they hammered home immediately after his announcement Tuesday.
“President Obama’s executive orders will do nothing to improve public safety,” the NRA tweeted along with the hashtags “#2A” and “#fact.”
The group also claimed “no other organization in the world had done more to promote firearm safety than the #NRA” and alleged that “President Obama’s rhetoric does not match his record.”
Surging presidential candidate and gun enthusiast Ted Cruz, meanwhile, encouraged his Twitter followers to “fight back against @BarackObama’s unconstitutional #2A executive actions.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan, for his part, attacked Obama, suggesting the measures amounted to “intimidation that undermines liberty.”
"From day one, the president has never respected the right to safe and legal gun ownership that our nation has valued since its founding. He knows full well that the law already says that people who make their living selling firearms must be licensed, regardless of venue,” the Wisconsin Republican said in a statement. “Still, rather than focus on criminals and terrorists, he goes after the most law-abiding of citizens. His words and actions amount to a form of intimidation that undermines liberty.”
"No matter what President Obama says, his word does not trump the Second Amendment,” he added. “His executive order will no doubt be challenged in the courts. Ultimately, everything the president has done can be overturned by a Republican president, which is another reason we must win in November.”
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, another 2016 candidate, echoed that sentiment.
“It undermines the Second Amendment and it will do nothing to keep people safe,” he said of the measures. “Barack Obama is obsessed with undermining the Second Amendment.”
“This executive order is just one more way to make it harder for law-abiding people to buy weapons or to be able to protect their families,” he added. “It’s going to do nothing to prevent violence or crimes because criminals don’t buy guns that way.”
Gun control proponents, on the other hand, lauded the actions.
“Thank you, @POTUS, for taking a crucial step forward on gun violence. Our next president has to build on that progress — not rip it away,” Democratic 2016 front-runner Hillary Clinton tweeted. “We can protect the Second Amendment while protecting our families and communities from gun violence. And we have to.”
Gov. Cuomo called the measures “a critically needed step forward for our nation.”
“I applaud the President’s decision to take a stand and act, even as Congress continues to delay,” he said in a statement. “For too long, the American people have been without sensible gun control at the federal level. Thousands of lives have been cut short and countless families have been forced to bury their loved ones too soon — all due to gun violence.”
New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said the actions were “a critical step on the path to ending the fatal epidemic of gun violence in our nation."
"Tragedy after terrible tragedy has proven beyond doubt that the time for stringent federal gun control is long overdue,” she said in a statement. “We as a nation cannot and should not allow the lives of those we lost to be in vain.”