--- title: Barack Obama's Speech About Gun Control: Read the Transcript description: President Barack Obama teared up as he discussed the mass shootings that have plagued the country canonical: https://time.com/4168056/obama-gun-control-speech-transcript/ author: Victor Luckerson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-05T19:14:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:40:38.223Z article:section: Politics og:title: Transcript: Read Barack Obama's Speech on New Gun Control Measures og:description: Obama will implement plan through executive actions og:url: https://time.com/4168056/obama-gun-control-speech-transcript/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt44b3cb41cec3f261/6988779a3c1639eb4e45b6b0/gettyimages-503451562.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: President Obama Speaks In The East Room Of White House On Efforts To Reduce Gun Violence og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Transcript: Read Barack Obama's Speech on New Gun Control Measures twitter:description: Obama will implement plan through executive actions twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt44b3cb41cec3f261/6988779a3c1639eb4e45b6b0/gettyimages-503451562.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read Barack Obama's Speech on New Gun Control Measures > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=afe2d558-7ebc-43ae-b73d-268b29a703f9&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: TIME Raw: Obama Announces Gun Control Measure [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Raw: Obama Announces Gun Control Measure](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/AdUlAkP7.m3u8) (2:23)  _Published 2016-01-05_ by [Victor Luckerson](https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Jan 5, 2016 7:14 PM UTC by [Victor Luckerson](https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Jan 5, 2016 7:14 PM UTC President Barack Obama unveiled a new set of [executive actions](http://time.com/4167749/obama-gun-control-remarks/?xid=homepage) aimed at limiting gun violence in a press conference Tuesday from the White House. The efforts largely center on more stringent background checks. Here’s a full transcript of his remarks. --- > “” --- ## Transcript [ APPLAUSE ] The United States of America is not the only country on Earth with violent, or dangerous people. We are not, inherently, more prone to violence. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] But we are the only advanced country on earth that sees this kind of mass violence, erupt with this kind of frequency. We can respect the second amendment while keeping an irresponsible law breaking few from inflicting harm on a massive scale. Anybody in the business of selling firearms must get a license and conduct background checks, or be subject to criminal prosecutions. We're gonna do everything we can to ensure the smart and effective enforcement of gun safety laws that are already on the books. Which means we're gonna add 200 more ATF agents and investigators. We're gonna require firearms dealers to report more or less, more lost or stolen guns. We're gonna do more to help those suffering from mental illness get the help that they need. We need to develop new technologies to make guns safer. If we can set it up so you can't unlock your phone unless you got the right fingerprint, [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Why can't we do the same thing for our guns? Our inalienable right to life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness, those rights were stripped from college kids in Blacksburg and Santa Barbara. And from high schoolers at Columbine And from first graders in new town first graders and from every family who Who never imagined that their loved one would be taken from our lives by a bullet from a gun. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Every time I think about those kids, it gets me mad. 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