President Obama formally announced new gun control measures on Tuesday.
President Obama wiped away tears remembering the victims of mass shootings as he announced new gun control measures on Tuesday in a nationally televised speech from the White House.
Joined by advocates and the families of victims, Obama invoked his executive powers to enact new laws aimed at stopping firearm deaths across the country.
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The new rules require any business selling guns to register as a licensed gun dealer and carry out background checks on buyers. Sellers at gun shows and online retailers have previously avoided carrying out background checks by declining to register as licensed dealers.
"This is not a plot to take away everybody's guns," Obama said. "You pass a background check, you purchase a firearm. The problem is some gun sellers have been operating under a different set of rules."
After he was introduced by Mark Barden, whose son Daniel was killed in the Sandy Hook massacre, Obama named cities across the U.S. that have endured gun violence, including the Connecticut town where 20 children and six female educators died.
"Every time I think about those kids, it gets me mad," Obama said and wiped away tears.
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He also remembered the tragedy that affected Gabby Giffords, who was in attendance. The former Arizona congresswoman was shot five years ago in Tuscon. Six people were killed, including a nine-year-old girl.
"People are dying and the constant excuses for inaction no longer do, no longer suffice," he said.
He also called for new measures to stop accidental shootings, saying: "If a child can’t open a bottle of aspirin, we should make sure they can’t pull the trigger on a gun."
"We know we can't stop every act of violence, every act of evil in the world, but maybe we can try to stop one act of evil, one act of violence," he said. "We maybe can't save everybody, but we can save some."
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