Mark I want to thank you for your introduction I still remember the first time we met the time we spent together and uh the conversation we had about Daniel um and that changed me that day and My Hope earnestly has been that it would change the country five years ago this week a sitting member of Congress and 18 others were shot at at a supermarket in Tucson Arizona it wasn't the first time I had to talk to the nation in response to a mass shooting nor would it be the last Fort Hood Bingington Aurora o Creek New Town the Navy Yard Santa Barbara Charleston San Bernardino too many thanks to a great medical team in the love of her husband mark my my dear friend and colleague Gabby gords survived she's here with us today with her wonderful mom there thanks to a great medical team her wonderful husband mark uh who by the way the last time I met with Mark this is just a small aside uh you may know uh Mark's twin brother is in outer space he came to the office and I said how often are you talking to him he says well I usually talk to him every day but the call was coming in right before the meeting so I think I may have not answered his call which made me feel kind of bad that's a longdistance call so I told him if his brother Scott is calling today that he should take it turn the ringer on I was there with Gabby when she was still in the hospital and we didn't think necessarily at that point that she was going to survive and that visit right before Memorial about an hour later Gabby first opened her eyes I remember talking to Mom about that but I know the pain that she and her family have endured these past five years and the rehabilitation and the work and the effort to recover from from shattering injuries and then I think of all the Americans who aren't as fortunate every single year more than 30,000 Americans have their lives cut short by guns 30,000 suicides domestic violence gang shootouts accidents hundreds of thousands of Americans have lost brothers and sisters or buried their own children many have had to learn to live with a disability or learn to live without the love of their life a number of those people are here today they can tell you some stories in this room right here there are a lot of stories there's a lot of Heartache there's a lot of resilience there's a lot of strength but there's also a lot of pain and this is just a small sample the United States of America is not the only country on Earth with violent or dangerous people we are not inherently more prone to violence both we are the only Advanced country on Earth that sees this kind of mass violence erupt with this kind of frequency it doesn't happen in other Advanced countries it's not even close and as I've said before somehow we become numb to it and we start thinking that this is normal and instead of thinking about how to solve the problem this has become one of our most polarized partisan debates despite the fact that there's a general consensus in America about what needs to be done that's part of the reason why on Thursday I'm going to hold a town hall meeting in Virginia on gun violence because my goal here is to bring good people on both sides of this issue together for an open discussion I'm not on the ballot again I'm not looking to score some points I think we can disagree without imputing other people's motives or without being disagreeable we don't need to be talking past one another but we do have to feel a sense of urgency see about it in Dr King's words we need to feel the fierce urgency of now because people are dying and the constant excuses for inaction no longer do no longer suffice that's why we're here today not to debate the last m shooting but to do something to try to prevent the next [Applause] one to prove that the vast majority of Americans even if our voices aren't always the loudest or most extreme care enough about a little boy like Daniel to come together and take Common Sense steps to save lives and protect more of our children I want to be absolutely clear at the start I've said this over and over again uh this also becomes routine there's a ritual about this whole thing that I have to do I believe in the Second Amendment it's there written on the paper it guarantees a right to bear arms no matter how many times people try to twist my words around I talk constitutional law I know a little B about this I I get [Applause] it but I also believe that we can find ways to reduce gun violence consistent with the Second Amendment I mean think about it we all believe in the First Amendment the guarantee of Free Speech but we we accept that you can't yell fire in a theater we understand there are some constraints on our freedom in order to protect innocent people we cherish our right to privacy but we accept that you have to go through metal detectors before being allowed to board a plane it's not because people like doing that but we understand that that's part of the price of living in a civilized society and what's often ignored in this debate is that a majority of gun owners actually agree a majority of gun owners agree that we can respect the Second Amendment while keeping an irresponsible law-breaking Fe from inflicting harm on a massive scale today background checks are required at gun stores if a father wants to teach his daughter how to hunt he can walk into a gun store get a background check purchase his weapon safely and responsibly this is not seen as an infringement on the Second Amendment contrary to the claims of what [Music] some gun rights proponents have suggested this hasn't been the first step in some slippery slope to mass confiscation contrary to claims of some presidential candidates apparently before this meeting this is not a plot to uh take away everybody's guns you pass a background check you purchase a fire the problem is some gun sellers have been operating under a different set of rules a violent felon can buy the exact same weapon over the Internet with no background check no questions asked a recent study found that about one in 30 people looking to buy guns on one website had criminal records one out of 30 had criminal record we're talking about individuals convicted of serious crimes aggravated assault domestic violence robbery illegal gun possession people with lengthy criminal history buying deadly weapons all too easily and this was just one website within the span of a few months so we've created a system in which dangerous people are allowed to play by a different set of rules than a responsible gun owner who buys his or her gun the right way and subjects themselves to a background check that doesn't make sense everybody should have to abide by the same rules most Americans and gun owners agree and that's what we tried to change three years ago after 26 Americans including 20 children were murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary two United States senators Joe Mansion a Democrat from West Virginia and Pat Tumi a republican from Pennsylvania both gun owners both strong Defenders of our Second Amendment rights both with a grades from the NRA that's hard to get work together in good faith Consulting with folks like our vice president who's been a champion on this for a long time to write a common sense compromise bill that would have required virtually everyone who buys a gun to get a background check that was it pretty Common Sense stuff 90% of Americans supported that idea 90% of Democrats in the Senate voted for that idea but it failed because 90% of Republicans in the Senate voted against that idea how did this become such a partisan issue Republican President George W bush once said I believe in background checks at gun shows or anywhere to make sure that guns don't get into the hands of people that shouldn't have them Senator John McCain introduced a bipartisan measure to address the gun Soul uh Gun Show loophole saying we need this amendment because criminals and terrorists have exploited and are exploiting this very obvious Loof hole in our gun safety laws even the NRA used to support expanded background checks and by the way most of its members still do most Republican voters still do how did we get here how did we get to the place where people think requiring a comprehensive background check means taking away people's guns each time this comes up we are fed the excuse that Common Sense reforms like background checks might not have stopped the last Massacre or the one before that or the one before that so why bother trying I reject that [Applause] thinking we know we can't stop every act of violence Every Act of evil in the world but maybe we could try to stop one act of evil one act of violence some of you may recall at the same time that Sandy Hook happened a a disturbed person in China took a knife and tried to kill with a knife a bunch of children in China but most of them survived because they didn't have access to a powerful weapon we maybe can't save everybody but we could save some just as we don't prevent all traffic accidents but we take steps to try to reduce traffic accidents as Ronald Reagan once said if mandatory background checks could save more lives it would be well worth making it the law of the land the bill before Congress three years ago met that test unfortunately too many senators failed [Applause] theirs in fact we know that background checks make a difference after Connecticut passed a law requiring background checks and gun safety courses gun deaths decreased by 40% 40% meanwhile since Missouri repealed a law requiring comprehensive background checks and purchase permits gun deaths have increased to an almost 50% higher than the national average one study found unsurprisingly that criminals in Missouri now have easier access to guns and the evidence tells us that in states that require background checks law-abiding Americans don't find it any harder to purchase guns whatsoever their guns have not been confiscated their rights have not been infringed and that's just the information we have access to with more research we could further improve gun safety just as with more research we've reduced traffic fatalities enormously over the last 30 years we do research when cars food medicine even toys harm people so that we make them safer and you know what research science those are good things they work they do but think about this when it comes to an inherently deadly weapon a a no nobody argues that guns are potentially deadly weapons that kill tens of thousands of Americans every year Congress actually voted to make it harder for public health experts to conduct Research into gun violence made it harder to collect data and facts and develop strategies to reduce gun violence even after San Bernardino they've refused to make it harder for terrorist suspects who can't get on a plane to buy semi-automatic weapons that's not right that can't be right so the gun lobby may be holding Congress hostage right now but they cannot hold America hostage we do not have to accept this Carnage as the price of freedom [Applause] now I want to be clear Congress still needs to act the folks in this room will not rest until Congress does because once Congress gets on board with common sense gun safety measures we can reduce gun violence a whole lot more but we also can't wait until we have a congress that's in line with the majority of Americans there are actions within my legal Authority that we can take to help reduce gun violence and save more lives actions that protect our rights and our kids after Sandy Hook Joe and I work together with our teams and we put forward a whole series of executive actions to try to tighten up the existing rules and systems that we had in place but today we want to take it a step further so let me outline what we're going to be doing number one anybody in the business of selling Firearms must get a license and conduct background checks or be subject to criminal prosecutions it doesn't matter whether you're doing it over the Internet or at a gun show not where you do it but what you do we're also expanding background checks to cover violent criminals who try to buy some of the most dangerous Firearms by hiding behind trusts and corporations and various cutouts we're also taking steps to make the background check system more efficient under the guidance of Jim Comey the FBI our deputy director Tom Brandon uh AF ATF we're going to hire more folks to process applications faster and we're going to bring an outdated background check system into the 21st century and these steps will actually lead to a smoother process for law-abiding gun owners a smoother process for responsible gun dealers a stronger process for protecting the people from the public from dangerous people so that's number one number two we're going to do everything we can to ensure the smart and effective enforcement of gun safety laws that are already on the books which means we're going to add 200 more ATF agents and investigators we're going to require firearms dealers to report more or lost uh more lost or stolen guns on a timely basis we're working with Advocates to protect victims of domestic abuse from gun violence where too often where too often people are not getting the protection that they need number three we're going to do more to help those suffering from mental illness get the help that they need so high-profile mass shootings tend to shine a light on those few mentally unstable people who inflict harm on others but the truth is that nearly two in three gun deaths are from suicides so a lot of our work is to prevent people from hurting themselves that's why we made sure that the Affordable Care Act also known as Obamacare finally uh under that law made sure that uh treatment for mental health was covered the same as treatment for any other illness that's why we're going to invest $500 million to expand access to treatment across the country it's also why we're going to ensure that Federal mental health records are submitted to the background check system and remove barriers that prevent States from reporting relevant information if we can continue to destigmatize mental health issues get folks proper care and fill gaps in the background check system then we can spare more families the pain of losing a loved one to suicide and for those in Congress who so often rush to blame mental illness for mass shootings as a way of avoiding action on guns here's your chance to support these efforts pull your money where your mouth is number four we're going to boost gun safety technology you know today many gun injuries and deaths are the result of legal guns that were stolen or misused or discharged accidentally in 2013 alone more than 500 people lost their lives to gun accidents and that includes 30 children younger than 5 years old in the greatest most technologically advanced Nation on Earth there is no reason for this we need to develop new technologies that make gun safer if we can set it up so you can't unlock your phone unless you got the right fingerprint why can't we do the same thing for our guns if there's an app that can help us find a missing tablet which happens to me often the older I get if we can do it for your iPad there's no reason we can't do it with a stolen gun if a child can't open a bottle of aspirin we should make sure that they can't pull a trigger on a gun [Applause] right so we're going to advance research we're going to work with the private sector to update Firearms technology and some gun retailers are already stepping up by refusing to finalize a purchase without a complete background check or by refraining from selling semi-automatic weapons or high-capacity magazines and I hope that more retailers and more manufacturers join them because they should care as much as anybody about a product that now kills almost as many Americans as car accidents I make this point because none of us can do this alone I think Mark made that point earlier all of us should be able to work together to find a balance that declares the rest of our rights are also important second amendment rights are important but there are other rights that we care about as well and we have to be able to balance them because our right to worship freely and safely that right was denied to Christians in Charleston South Carolina and that was denied Jews in Kansas City and that was denied Muslims in Chapel Hill and seeks in Oak Creek they had rights to our right to Peaceful assembly that right was robbed from movie goers in Aurora and Lafayette our unalienable right to life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness those rights were stripped from college kids in blackburg in Santa Barbara and from high schoolers at Coline and and from first graders in New Town first graders and from every family who who never imagined that their loved one would be taken from our lives by a bullet from a gun every time I think about those kids it gets me mad and by the way it happens on the streets of Chicago every day so all of us need to demand a congress brave enough to stand up to the gun Lobby's lies all of us need to stand up and protect its citizens all of us need to demand Governors and legislators and businesses do their part to make our community safer we need the wide majority of respons gun owners who grieve with us every time this happens and feel like your views are not being properly represented to join with us to demand something better and we need voters who want safer gun laws and who are disappointed in leaders who stand in their way to Remember come election time I mean some of this is just simple math yes the gun lobby is loud and it is organized in defense of making it effortless for guns to be available for anybody anytime well you know what the rest of us you we all have to be just as passionate we have to be just as organized in defense of our kids this is not that complicated the reason Congress blocks laws is because they want to win elections and if you make it hard for them to win an election if they block those laws they'll change course I promise you [Applause] and yes it will be hard and it won't happen overnight it won't happen during this Congress it won't happen during my presidency but a lot of things don't happen overnight the woman's right to vote didn't happen overnight liberation of African-Americans didn't happen overnight LGBT rights has decades worth of work so just because it's hard that's no excuse not to try and if you have any any doubt as to why you should feel that Fierce urgency of now think about what happened three weeks ago zavon Dobson was a sophomore at Fulton High School in Knoxville Tennessee he played football beloved by his classmates and his teachers his own mayor called him one of their City's success stories the week before Christmas he headed to a friend's house to play video games he wasn't in the wrong place at the wrong time he hadn't made a bad decision he was exactly where any other kid would be your kid my kids and then gunman started firing and z who was in high school hadn't even gotten started in life Dove on top of three girls to Shield them from the bullets and he was shot in the head and the girls were spared he gave his life to save theirs an act of heroism a lot bigger than anything we should ever expect from a 15y old greater love hath no man than this that a man laay down his life for his friends we are not asked to do what zavon Dobson did we're not asked to have shoulders that big a heart that strong reactions that quick I'm not asking people to have that same level of courage or sacrifice or love but if we love our kids and care about their prospects and if we love this country and care about its future then we can find the courage to vote we can find the courage to get mobilized and organized we can find the courage to cut through all the noise and do what a sensible country would do that's what we're doing today and tomorrow we should do more and we should do more the day after that and if we do we'll leave behind a nation that's stronger than the one we inherited and worthy of the sacrifice of a young man like zavon thank you very much everybody God bless you thank you God bless