US President Barack Obama wipes tears while delivering a statement on steps the administration is taking to reduce gun violence in the East Room of the White House in Washington on January 5, 2016. PHOTO: REUTERS
WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama on Tuesday described new steps his administration will take to tighten gun rules and urged Americans to vote for candidates who do more to prevent gun violence, wiping back tears as he remembered children who died in a mass shooting.
As Obama delivered a powerful address in the White House, surrounded by family members of people killed in shootings, his voice rose to a yell as he said the constitutional rights of Americans to bear arms needed to be balanced by the right to worship, gather peacefully and live their lives.
Under the changes, the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) will issue guidelines intended to narrow exceptions to a system that requires sellers to check with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to determine whether buyers have criminal records, are charged with crimes or have mental health conditions that would bar them from owning a gun. Any changes to gun rules in America are fraught with political risk.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 6th, 2016.
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