WASHINGTON — President Obama declared Wednesday that he would make gun control a “central issue” as he opens a second term, submitting broad new gun control proposals to Congress no later than January and committing the power of his office to overcoming political opposition in the wake of last week’s school massacre.
The president’s pledge came as House Republicans restated their firm opposition to enacting any new limits on firearms or ammunition, setting up the possibility of a philosophical clash over the Second Amendment early in Mr. Obama’s second term.
“This time, the words need to lead to action,” Mr. Obama said, referring to to past mass shootings that prompted outrage but led to little or no legislative changes.
He said the proposals would not be just about weapons. “We are going to need to work on making access to mental health care at least as easy as access to guns,” he said.
At an appearance in the White House briefing room, the president said he had directed Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to lead an interagency effort to develop in the next several weeks what the White House says will be a multifaceted approach to preventing similar mass shootings and the many other gun deaths that occur each year.
Mr. Obama, flanked by Mr. Biden, did not offer any specifics about the proposals. But he promised to confront the longstanding opposition in Congress that has previously blocked broad gun control measures.
“I will use all the powers of this office to help advance efforts aimed at preventing more tragedies like this,” Mr. Obama said. “It won’t be easy, but that can’t be an excuse not to try.”
The president said Mr. Biden’s group would make proposals for new laws and actions in January, and he said those will be “proposals that I then intend to push without delay.” Mr. Obama said of Mr. Biden’s effort: “This is not some Washington commission” that will take six months and be shelved.
He said the “conversation has to continue. But this time, the words need to lead to action. I urge the new Congress to hold votes on these new measure next year, in a timely manner.”
When asked about the fiscal negotiations, Mr. Obama said he would be reaching out to Congressional leaders on both sides to try to move the talks forward even as House Republicans were preparing to vote on their alternative proposals.
The deaths of 20 young children at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., appears to have softened opposition to gun control among some Democratic lawmakers, particularly in the Senate. But there has been little indication that Republicans who control the House of Representatives are willing to accept new restrictions.
Representative Robert W. Goodlatte, a Republican from Virginia and the incoming chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said Tuesday that had has no interest in moving any sort of gun control legislation through the chamber.
“We’re going to take a look at what happened there and what can be done to help avoid it in the future, but gun control is not going to be something that I would support,” Mr. Goodlatte told the Roll Call newspaper.
Representative Howard Coble, Republican of North Carolina, said in an interview that he thought the talk of gun control was “probably a rush to judgment” that missed the real issue.
“I think it’s more of a mental health problem than a gun problem right now,” he said. “Traditionally states that enact rigid, inflexible gun laws do not show a corresponding diminishment in crime. I think we need to be careful there. I think we need to look at how the mentally impaired get access to firearms.”
While he said he would want to study any proposal made by the president, he said the rest of the Judiciary Committee majority would probably agree with his views. “I suspect it would be pretty much what Chairman Goodlatte told you and what I told you,” he said.
Obama to Give Congress Plan on Gun Control Within Weeks
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Obama to Give Congress Plan on Gun Control Within Weeks
