Obama to Unveil Plan to Curb Gun Violence

Posted January 16th, 2013 at 9:00 am (UTC-5)
Leave a comment

U.S. President Barack Obama will announce Wednesday what the White House describes as “concrete proposals” aimed at curbing gun violence in the United States.

The plan will likely propose bans on assault-style weapons, stricter background checks for gun sales and more efforts to boost mental health services.

The plan is based on recommendations from Vice President Joe Biden. He was appointed to study the issue and has met with various groups since last month's school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, left 20 young children and six adults dead.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney says Mr. Obama's plan will include measures that require Congressional approval, and actions the president can take on his own, through executive order.

Mr. Obama will unveil his initiative one day after New York state became the first in the United States to impose tougher gun-control measures in the aftermath of the Newtown school shootings.

Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the bill into law Tuesday, a short time after it won final approval in the legislature.

The bill expands the state's ban on assault-style weapons and requires background checks for anyone seeking to buy ammunition. It also puts limits on ammunition capacity and includes provisions intended to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill.

The National Rifle Association, the largest gun-rights lobbying group in the United States, says it supports keeping guns out of the hands of the mentally ill. But it issued a statement saying “gun-control schemes have failed in the past and will have no impact on public safety and crime.”