Washington: Rising gun violence in the US will require a complex set of solution, the White House has said as clamour grew in the nation to outlaw guns in the wake of horrific shooting at a Connecticut elementary school, which many believe may be a tipping point for such a legislation.
Asserting that no single piece of legislation could address the issue, White House Press secretary Jay Carney said that it requires a complex set of solution.
“It’s a complex problem that will require a complex solution. No single piece of legislation, no single action will fully address the problem,” he said.
White House officials said that President Barack Obama would make preventing gun violence a second-term policy priority with aides saying that stricter gun laws would only be part of any effort.
In his address to the community in Newtown in Connecticut, Obama said that in the coming weeks he would use the power of his office to engage the American people and lawmakers, law enforcement, mental health experts, educators and others in an effort to try to prevent these kinds of terrible tragedies from happening in the future.
“The President has taken positions on common-sense measures that he believes should be taken to help address this problem, but he made clear that more needs to be done, that we as a nation have not done enough clearly to fulfil our number-one obligation, which is to protect our children,” Carney said.
Obama on Monday held a meeting with Vice President Joe Biden and some of his cabinet members to discuss ways the country should respond to the Newtown shooting. Besides the White House, there appears to be growing consensus in Congress on finding ways to curb rising gun violence in the US.
Earlier efforts by presidency and the Congress to put restrictions on guns had stumbled due to the powerful gun lobby.
But now, Obama, his aides said, has vowed to use “whatever power this office holds” to protect American children against gun violence, suggesting he may put his political muscle behind the move to put restrictions on guns.
Meanwhile, Senator Diane Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, on Monday pledged to revive a law banning assault weapons. (PTI)