--- description: Failure to pass "common-sense gun-safety laws" during his presidency has ranked among his greatest frustrations, Barack Obama says title: Lack of Change in Gun Laws 'Distressing,' Obama Says image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt858874a816e7deff/69885c45428a9eb718cce512/481691588.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [White House](/tag/white-house/) ## White House Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Lack of Change in Gun Laws During His Presidency Has Been 'Distressing,' Obama Says by [Alissa Greenberg](/author/alissa-greenberg/) ## Alissa Greenberg Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 24, 2015 4:38 AM CUT  U.S. President Barack Obama greets guests during a surprise visit to First Lady Michelle Obama's event on higher education in the East Room of the White House July 23, 2015 U.S. President Barack Obama greets guests during a surprise visit to First Lady Michelle Obama's event on higher education in the East Room of the White House July 23, 2015Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [Alissa Greenberg](/author/alissa-greenberg/) ## Alissa Greenberg Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 24, 2015 4:38 AM CUT Failure to pass what he called “common-sense gun-safety laws” during his tenure in the White House has ranked among his greatest frustrations, Barack Obama has [told](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-33646704 "undefined") the BBC, in a wide-ranging interview covering much of the last years of his presidency. Obama said he felt he had made strides in many political arenas but that it was “distressing” not to have affected significant change in gun laws “even in the face of repeated mass killings.” With less than two years left in power, Obama said guns were the policy area that made him feel “most frustrated and most stymied. “If you look at the number of Americans killed since 9/11 by terrorism, it’s less than 100,” he said. “If you look at the number that have been killed by gun violence, it’s in the tens of thousands.” During a turbulent summer that saw nine African Americans [killed](http://time.com/3926112/charleston-shooting-latest/ "undefined") at a South Carolina prayer meeting in June, Obama told reporters that “politics in \[Washington\]” precluded most options for change in gun control policy. The BBC interview was conducted previous to the July 23 [shooting](http://time.com/3970576/shooting-louisiana-movie-theater/ "undefined") at a movie theater in Louisiana and did not touch on that event. \[[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-33646704 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3970580/obama-guns-gun-control/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3970580/obama-guns-gun-control/"},"headline":"The Lack of Change in Gun Laws During His Presidency Has Been 'Distressing,' Obama Says","datePublished":"2015-07-24T04:38:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:38:03.125Z","description":"The President spoke of feeling \"most frustrated and most stymied\" over the issue","url":"https://time.com/3970580/obama-guns-gun-control/","keywords":["White House","Obama","Gun Control","Guns","u.s. politics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt858874a816e7deff/69885c45428a9eb718cce512/481691588.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alissa Greenberg","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alissa-greenberg/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt858874a816e7deff/69885c45428a9eb718cce512/481691588.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Michelle Obama Hosts 2015 Beating The Odds Summit At White House","caption":"Michelle Obama Hosts 2015 Beating The Odds Summit At White House","creditText":"Mark Wilson—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/3970580/obama-guns-gun-control/","name":"The Lack of Change in Gun Laws During His Presidency Has Been 'Distressing,' Obama Says"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Five Years of Obama's State of the Union","description":"Watch 5 years of Obama’s State of the Union addresses in 90 seconds.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/kvaKb5nc/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-01-19T19:19:23.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kvaKb5nc.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3970580/obama-guns-gun-control/","duration":"PT1M29S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3970580/obama-guns-gun-control/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```