President Barack Obama returned to Connecticut Monday to make an aggressive pitch for his gun-control agenda, saying that people should expect more from Congress on this issue.
Standing before a Hartford audience that included victims' families from Sandy Hook Elementary School, the president offered an emotional plea for lawmakers to "do the right thing," and, at the least, to allow a vote on several firearms measures.
Mr. Obama said the day of the Newtown shootings was the toughest of his presidency. "If we don't respond to this, that will be a tough day for me, too," he said.
With the prospects for many of the president's gun-control proposals diminished, Mr. Obama tried to ratchet up the pressure on lawmakers, suggesting that some were unduly concerned with winning favor from organizations such as the National Rifle Association.
"What's more important — our children or an 'A' grade from the gun lobby?" he said.
After the December school massacre in Newtown, Mr. Obama called for a range of gun-control measures, including a ban on certain types of semiautomatic rifles known as assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. On Monday, he made a quick pitch for those proposals, which are not expected to pass in Congress, but focused most of his speech on expanding background checks.
In the Senate, where debate on gun legislation could begin as early as this week, lawmakers continue to negotiate what precisely will be included in a bill. A bipartisan compromise on expanding background checks likely is Mr. Obama's last best hope of advancing gun-control legislation to the House.
Several Republican senators have said they plan to filibuster any gun proposal that reaches the Senate floor.
In Connecticut, Mr. Obama appeared incredulous – and increasingly frustrated – that some lawmakers would try to thwart these proposals with tactical maneuvers. He reminded that when he said in his State of the Union address that victims of gun violence deserve a vote, most members of Congress stood and applauded.
The president pointed to opinion polls showing strong public support for background checks, and he rejected the suggestion that a failure to pass legislation would be a political defeat for him.
"This isn't about me," Mr. Obama said. "This is not about politics. This is about these families."
