--- title: President Obama to Host Town-Hall Meeting on Gun Violence description: President Barack Obama announced he'll hold a town hall meeting on guns Thursday canonical: https://time.com/4165623/obama-town-hall-gun-violence/ author: Charlotte Alter article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-03T16:02:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:56:39.386Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Obama to Hold Town-Hall Meeting on Gun Violence og:description: After he meets with Loretta Lynch to discuss executive action. og:url: https://time.com/4165623/obama-town-hall-gun-violence/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt60e2d663ed840be4/698877520b72e3ba646e77a5/gettyimages-502016172.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 Visits San Bernardino og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama to Hold Town-Hall Meeting on Gun Violence twitter:description: After he meets with Loretta Lynch to discuss executive action. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt60e2d663ed840be4/698877520b72e3ba646e77a5/gettyimages-502016172.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Obama to Hold Town-Hall Meeting on Gun Violence ## Video: TIME Raw: Obama on San Bernardino Shooting [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Raw: Obama on San Bernardino Shooting](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PHu3n3vE.m3u8) (1:29)  _Published 2015-12-02. TIME Raw: Obama on San Bernardino Shooting_  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Jan 3, 2016 4:02 PM UTC  U.S. President Barack Obama speaks to the media at Indian Springs High School on Dec. 18, 2015, in San Bernardino, Calif. Obama was in town to meet privately with the families of the victims of the San Bernardino terrorist attack U.S. President Barack Obama speaks to the media at Indian Springs High School on Dec. 18, 2015, in San Bernardino, Calif. Obama was in town to meet privately with the families of the victims of the San Bernardino terrorist attackWally Skalij—LA Times/Getty Images  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Jan 3, 2016 4:02 PM UTC President Barack Obama has announced he’ll hold a town-hall meeting on guns Thursday, after he meets with Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Monday about possible executive actions to curb gun violence. The meeting will focus on gun violence in the wake of the Dec. 2 San Bernardino shooting that killed 14 people. In the weeks since the shooting, Obama has shifted his focus to the American response to the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), the New York _Times_ [reports, ](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/04/us/obama-to-hold-town-hall-meeting-on-gun-violence.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&%5Fr=0)but this town-hall meeting will signify a return to his original reaction to the shooting, which was to emphasize the need for stricter gun restrictions. The meeting will be aired at 8 p.m. on CNN on Thursday night. The President also called for more action on gun violence in his [weekly address](https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/01/01/weekly-address-making-america-safer-for-our-children). “It would be better for our security if it was harder for terrorists to purchase very powerful weapons,” Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters in a [press briefing](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/04/us/obama-to-hold-town-hall-meeting-on-gun-violence.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&%5Fr=0) Saturday, adding that citizens arming themselves would likely not prevent future terrorist attacks. “That’s why they have a government,” Rhodes said. “They have a government to provide security against the threat of terrorism.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4165623/obama-town-hall-gun-violence/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4165623/obama-town-hall-gun-violence/"},"headline":"President Obama to Hold Town-Hall Meeting on Gun Violence","datePublished":"2016-01-03T16:02:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:56:39.386Z","description":"After he meets with Loretta Lynch to discuss executive action","url":"https://time.com/4165623/obama-town-hall-gun-violence/","keywords":["Guns","Obama","Gun Control","Terrorism","Gun Violence","ISIS","loretta lynch"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt60e2d663ed840be4/698877520b72e3ba646e77a5/gettyimages-502016172.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlotte Alter","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt60e2d663ed840be4/698877520b72e3ba646e77a5/gettyimages-502016172.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Obama Visits San Bernardino","caption":"President Obama Visits San Bernardino","creditText":"Wally Skalij—LA Times/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/guns/","name":"Guns"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4165623/obama-town-hall-gun-violence/","name":"President Obama to Hold Town-Hall Meeting on Gun Violence"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME Raw: Obama on San Bernardino Shooting","description":"TIME Raw: Obama on San Bernardino Shooting","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/PHu3n3vE/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-12-02T22:09:33.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PHu3n3vE.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4165623/obama-town-hall-gun-violence/","duration":"PT1M29S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4165623/obama-town-hall-gun-violence/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```