Obama to unveil gun control plan in wake of school attack

US President Barack Obama is today set to unveil long-awaited proposals to reform gun control laws in the United States. The President’s gun control plan is due to be announced at 11:45 Eastern Time (16:45 GMT) according to the BBC and is expected to face stiff opposition from gun lobbyists and members of Congress.

The decision to unveil proposals to reform deeply rooted gun laws follows the mass shooting that took place last month at Sandy Hook in Newton, Connecticut. The President has previously suggested he supports the introduction of a ban on assault weapons and ammunition and, in the wake of the Connecticut shooting, indicated his willingness to change current gun legislation.

Indeed, in his address to the nation back in December, Obama stated: “Since I’ve been President, this is the fourth time we have come together to comfort a grieving community torn apart by a mass shooting [… ] We can’t tolerate this anymore. These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change”.

While many, including expatriate Piers Morgan, have publicly supported legislation reform the decision to restrict access to guns, if pursued by Obama, faces huge opposition throughout the US.

Despite warnings from the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health that “gun violence is one of the leading causes of premature mortality in the US” and that “the higher prevalence of gun ownership and much less restrictive gun laws are important reasons why violent crime in the US is so much more lethal”, there are many that argue attempts to change the laws directly infringes upon the nation’s right to bear arms as laid out in the Second Amendment of the American Constitution.

With calls to protect the nation from further mass shootings on the one hand and calls to protect the right to bear arms on the other, Obama faces a rocky road in his attempt to change the laws.

Sarah Aston