US President Barack Obama renewed calls for stricter gun control laws in his hometown of Chicago. Chicago has been plagued with series of deadly shootings and gun menace for a long time.
Speaking before Hyde Park Academy students in their navy uniform shirts in Chicago, Obama said 65 children were killed by gun violence last year in Chicago. "That's the equivalent of a Newtown every four months,'' Obama reiterated.
"This is not just a gun issue,'' Obama said. "It's also an issue of the kinds of communities that we're building, and for that we all share responsibility as citizens to fix it". As a result, he said: "Too many of our children are being taking away from us.''
Recent shooting victims have included Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old drum majorette gunned down less than 2km from Obama's home just days after she performed at the president's inauguration in Washington.
Gun control was not on Obama's agenda in his first term, but the president responded quickly to the December shooting of 20 children and six adults in Newtown, Connecticut.
He is pushing measures including background checks for all gun purchases and a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, even as both sides in the debate doubt he'll be able to achieve the full package.
Gun advocates have pushed back hard as always, arguing that such restrictions are an infringement on the second amendment of the constitution, which states that citizens have the right to bear arms.
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