President unveils gun control measures, promotes access to mental health care

President Barack Obama proposed today universal background checks and bans on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, as well as almost two dozen executive orders including creating greater access to mental health care.

“In the month since 20 precious children and six brave adults were violently taken from us at Sandy Hook Elementary, more than 900 of our fellow Americans have reportedly died at the end of a gun … 900 in the past month,” Obama said at a press conference. “Every day we wait, that number will keep growing. I’m putting forward a specific set of proposals based on the work of [the Vice President’s] task force. While there is no law or set of laws that can prevent every tragedy, every act of evil, if there is even one thing we can do, if there is even one life to be saved, we have an obligation to try.”

Obama was joined by the Vice President Joe Biden and children who wrote letters to the White House following last month’s shooting in Newtown, Conn. The families of the victims of that incident also were present.

Obama’s directives included creating greater access to mental health care, providing schools with more resource officers and school counselors should they request them, and ensuring that insurance plans cover patients’ mental health care needs.

Biden has been leading a recent effort to reduce gun violence in the US, meeting with 229 groups, including victims groups, gun safety organizations, lawmakers, sportsmen and women and gun ownership organizations.

Obama’s proposals face steep opposition, even from within his own party. He needs congressional approval to ban assault weapons and magazines that carry more than 10 bullets, as well as universal background checks.

“It is a simple fact that there are limits to what can be done within existing law,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said Tuesday. “Congress has to act on the kinds of measures we’ve already mentioned because the power to do that is reserved by Congress.”

According to a recent Associated Press-GfK telephone survey, nearly six in 10 Americans adults support stricter gun laws in the aftermath of the Newtown tragedy. The poll also indicated that 40% of respondents said Democrats were more capable of handling gun laws vs. 34% who favored Republicans; 16% said neither party was capable of doing the job.

Some states already have acted to stem gun violence in advance of the president’s proposals. On Monday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed legislation — referred to as the New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act — that requires mental health care professionals to report to local officials if they are aware of any patient who is likely to harm themselves or others. Those reports will be crosschecked against an extensive gun registration database. If the patient possesses a gun, his or her license will be suspended and law enforcement officials will confiscate the weapon.

During the press conference, Obama acknowledged the challenges the administration will face in implementing the new directives.

“This will be difficult,” he said. “This will not happen unless the American people demand it.”