President Obama urged supporters on Saturday to "to go back at it" and purse gun control measures after mass shootings in Washington and Chicago in
the past week put the spotlight back onto the problem of gun violence in the United States.
Obama made passing tough gun laws a top priority after a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, in December, stunning the nation.
But Congress rejected his proposals to restrict sales of certain types of guns and require greater background checks. Gun-right groups opposed the measures, saying they would infringe on Americans' constitutional rights.
"We fought a good fight earlier this year, but we came up short, and that means we've got to get back up and go back at it," Obama told an awards dinner for the congressional Black Caucus Foundation.
"As long as there are those who fight to make it easy as possible for dangerous people to get their hands on guns, then we've got to work as hard as possible for the sake of our children....to do more work to make it harder," he said to applause.
The Obama administration has largely moved on to other priorities since the gun measures were defeated in Congress, but a recent spate of shootings has brought the issue back into the headlines.
Last Monday, a government contractor killed 12 people during rampage at the Washington Navy Yard before police killed him in a gun battle.
Obama made passing tough gun laws a top priority after a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, in December, stunning the nation.
But Congress rejected his proposals to restrict sales of certain types of guns and require greater background checks. Gun-right groups opposed the measures, saying they would infringe on Americans' constitutional rights.
"We fought a good fight earlier this year, but we came up short, and that means we've got to get back up and go back at it," Obama told an awards dinner for the congressional Black Caucus Foundation.
"As long as there are those who fight to make it easy as possible for dangerous people to get their hands on guns, then we've got to work as hard as possible for the sake of our children....to do more work to make it harder," he said to applause.
The Obama administration has largely moved on to other priorities since the gun measures were defeated in Congress, but a recent spate of shootings has brought the issue back into the headlines.
Last Monday, a government contractor killed 12 people during rampage at the Washington Navy Yard before police killed him in a gun battle.
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