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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPresident Obama's response in debate regarding gun control
Full Transcript of the Second Debate
This is around 3/4 down in the transcript
OBAMA:
Were a nation that believes in the Second Amendment, and I believe in the Second Amendment. Weve got a long tradition of hunting and sportsmen and people who want to make sure they can protect themselves.
But there have been too many instances during the course of my presidency, where Ive had to comfort families who have lost somebody. Most recently out in Aurora. You know, just a couple of weeks ago, actually, probably about a month, I saw a mother, who I had met at the bedside of her son, who had been shot in that theater.
And her son had been shot through the head. And we spent some time, and we said a prayer and, remarkably, about two months later, this young man and his mom showed up, and he looked unbelievable, good as new.
But there were a lot of families who didnt have that good fortune and whose sons or daughters or husbands didnt survive.
So my belief is that, (A), we have to enforce the laws weve already got, make sure that were keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, those who are mentally ill. Weve done a much better job in terms of background checks, but weve got more to do when it comes to enforcement.
But I also share your belief that weapons that were designed for soldiers in war theaters dont belong on our streets. And so what Im trying to do is to get a broader conversation about how do we reduce the violence generally. Part of it is seeing if we can get an assault weapons ban reintroduced. But part of it is also looking at other sources of the violence. Because frankly, in my home town of Chicago, theres an awful lot of violence and theyre not using AK-47s. Theyre using cheap hand guns.
And so what can we do to intervene, to make sure that young people have opportunity; that our schools are working; that if theres violence on the streets, that working with faith groups and law enforcement, we can catch it before it gets out of control.
And so what I want is a is a comprehensive strategy. Part of it is seeing if we can get automatic weapons that kill folks in amazing numbers out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill. But part of it is also going deeper and seeing if we can get into these communities and making sure we catch violent impulses before they occur.
But there have been too many instances during the course of my presidency, where Ive had to comfort families who have lost somebody. Most recently out in Aurora. You know, just a couple of weeks ago, actually, probably about a month, I saw a mother, who I had met at the bedside of her son, who had been shot in that theater.
And her son had been shot through the head. And we spent some time, and we said a prayer and, remarkably, about two months later, this young man and his mom showed up, and he looked unbelievable, good as new.
But there were a lot of families who didnt have that good fortune and whose sons or daughters or husbands didnt survive.
So my belief is that, (A), we have to enforce the laws weve already got, make sure that were keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, those who are mentally ill. Weve done a much better job in terms of background checks, but weve got more to do when it comes to enforcement.
But I also share your belief that weapons that were designed for soldiers in war theaters dont belong on our streets. And so what Im trying to do is to get a broader conversation about how do we reduce the violence generally. Part of it is seeing if we can get an assault weapons ban reintroduced. But part of it is also looking at other sources of the violence. Because frankly, in my home town of Chicago, theres an awful lot of violence and theyre not using AK-47s. Theyre using cheap hand guns.
And so what can we do to intervene, to make sure that young people have opportunity; that our schools are working; that if theres violence on the streets, that working with faith groups and law enforcement, we can catch it before it gets out of control.
And so what I want is a is a comprehensive strategy. Part of it is seeing if we can get automatic weapons that kill folks in amazing numbers out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill. But part of it is also going deeper and seeing if we can get into these communities and making sure we catch violent impulses before they occur.
Source:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/10/16/full-transcript-of-the-second-presidential-debate/?print=1
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President Obama's response in debate regarding gun control (Original Post)
Dalai_1
Dec 2012
OP
jody
(26,624 posts)1. Interesting that Obama lumps together "criminals and the mentally ill" and also focuses on automatic
weapons.
monmouth3
(3,871 posts)2. You don't think most criminals are mentally ill?...n/t
jody
(26,624 posts)3. No! Do you think most mentally ill people should be treated as criminal? nt
monmouth3
(3,871 posts)4. Apples and oranges...n/t
jody
(26,624 posts)5. LOL goodbye