--- 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: 2026-02-22T13:47:54.347Z 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=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 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=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read Barack Obama's Speech on New Gun Control Measures by [Victor Luckerson](https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Jan 5, 2016 7:14 PM UTC  WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 05: With tears running down his cheeks, U.S. President Barack Obama talks about the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and about his efforts to increase federal gun control in the East Room of the White House January 5, 2016 in Washington, DC. WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 05: With tears running down his cheeks, U.S. President Barack Obama talks about the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and about his efforts to increase federal gun control in the East Room of the White House January 5, 2016 in Washington, DC.Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images 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. --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4168056/obama-gun-control-speech-transcript/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4168056/obama-gun-control-speech-transcript/"},"headline":"Read Barack Obama's Speech on New Gun Control Measures","datePublished":"2016-01-05T19:14:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:47:54.347Z","description":"Obama will implement plan through executive actions","url":"https://time.com/4168056/obama-gun-control-speech-transcript/","keywords":["White House","Barack Obama","Gun Control","Gun Violence","Speech","transcript"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt44b3cb41cec3f261/6988779a3c1639eb4e45b6b0/gettyimages-503451562.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Victor Luckerson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt44b3cb41cec3f261/6988779a3c1639eb4e45b6b0/gettyimages-503451562.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Obama Speaks In The East Room Of White House On Efforts To Reduce Gun Violence","caption":"President Obama Speaks In The East Room Of White House On Efforts To Reduce Gun Violence","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4168056/obama-gun-control-speech-transcript/","name":"Read Barack Obama's Speech on New Gun Control Measures"}}]}] ```