In one of his most expansive responses yet to gun crime, President
Barack Obama on Wednesday embraced some degree of control on the sale of
weapons but said he would also seek a national consensus on combating
violence. He said responsibility for curtailing bloodshed also rests
with parents, neighbors and teachers to ensure that young people "do not
have that void inside them."
Speaking just six days
after the movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colo., that left 12 dead,
Obama pledged to work with lawmakers of both parties to stop violence,
not only the sudden massacres that have bedeviled the nation, but the
steady drip of urban crime that has cost many young lives.
"We
should leave no stone unturned and recognize that we have no greater
mission that keeping our young people safe," Obama said in a speech to
the National Urban League.
Obama called for stepped-up
background checks for people who want to purchase guns and restrictions
to keep mentally unbalanced individuals from buying weapons. He says
those steps "shouldn't be controversial, they should be common sense."
But
he also added: "We must also understand that when a child opens fire on
other children, there's a hole in his heart that no government can
fill."
Obama's speech represented a bookend to a four-day trip that began in
Colorado on Saturday when he visited with survivors of the theater
massacre.
For Obama, the address to the National Urban
League was a necessary overture to a voting bloc that overwhelmingly
backs him but that has sustained much of the brunt of the economic
downturn.
In his speech Obama promoted his economic and
health care policies, tailoring what has become a standard campaign
speech to his African-American audience. He drew attention to
initiatives that have helped Americans in general, and African-Americans
in particular.
But, as he did during his 2008 campaign, he also pressed personal responsibility.
He
said young Americans are competing against kids in Beijing and
Bangalore. "You know, they're not hanging out ... they're not playing
video games, they're not watching `Real Housewives,"' he said. "I'm just
saying. It's a two-way street. You've got to earn success."
Ahead
of Obama's remarks, the Urban League played a video showing photos of
famous African-Americans that culminated with images of the president
and his family the night of the 2008 election. The crowd of several
thousand responded with thunderous applause that was sustained as Obama
walked on stage and peppered with chants of "four more years."
Obama
spoke on the same day that the Senate gave him a political victory by
passing an extension of Bush-era tax cuts for households with less than
$250,000 in earnings. The president has made retaining current tax rates
for middle-class taxpayers a central piece of his economic policy while
rejecting Republican efforts to extend the current tax rates for all.
Under Obama's plan, taxes for wealthier Americans would rise. The Senate
measure, however, was expected to go no further because of the
Republican-dominated House.
While enthusiasm among some
Obama supporters has faded since 2008, support for America's first black
president remains high among African-Americans. In a recent Associated
Press-GfK poll, 82 percent of black adults said they would vote for
Obama. His approval rating among blacks was 87 percent.
Obama
skipped an appearance at the NAACP earlier this month, raising
questions about whether his campaign was taking black voters for
granted. The White House blamed a scheduling conflict and sent Vice
President Joe Biden to address the nation's oldest civil rights
organization.
Republican challenger Mitt Romney also
addressed the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People, raising eyebrows when he told the crowd: "If you want a
president who will make things better in the African-American community,
you are looking at him."
Obama announced that he would
sign an executive order on Thursday that creates a new office to bolster
the education of African-American students. The White House says the
office will coordinate the work of communities and federal agencies to
ensure that these youngsters are better prepared for high school,
college and career.
Obama also was raised campaign money
at two separate stops in New Orleans: an intimate 20-person event at the
cost of $25,000 per person, and a larger event at the House of Blues
for 400 people, with tickets starting at $250.
Obama
raised at least $6 million at events this week in California, Oregon and
Washington. The president started the trip Sunday with a stop in
Colorado to meet with survivors and families of the victims of last
week's movie theater massacre.
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