"We haven't yet done enough to make our communities and our
country safer," the president said in his weekly address. "We
have to do more to keep dangerous people from getting their
hands on a gun so easily. We have to do more to heal troubled
minds."
The president did not mention the shooting at a Colorado high
school on Friday where a student armed with a shotgun wounded at
least two classmates before apparently taking his own life. The
president's address is recorded in advance.
Obama is due later Saturday to observe a moment of silence at
the White House and light candles in memory of the 20 children
and six school workers who died in a shooting at a Connecticut
elementary school a year ago.
Legislation that would have extended background checks for gun
sales made online and at gun shows and to ban rapid-firing
"assault" weapons failed to clear the U.S. Senate this year.
Opponents argued it is essential to hold the line on protecting
Americans' right to keep and bear arms guaranteed under the
Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
State legislatures have been more aggressive in enacting gun
control legislation but those measures have faced some backlash.
Colorado passed gun control measures, but gun rights activists
used recall elections to oust two state senators who backed
them.
The White House has proposed spending $130 million to help
teachers and other people who work with youth recognize the
signs of mental illness and help people get treatment, but
Congress has not yet allocated those funds.
So the administration will spend $50 million from its Health and
Human Services budget to help community health centers hire more
mental health professionals and provide more services and
another $50 million from the Agriculture Department budget to
improve mental health facilities in rural areas, the White House
has said.
(Reporting by Mark Felsenthal; editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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