WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama kept up pressure on Congress Monday to pass tough new gun legislation, seeking help
from law enforcement leaders in three communities that have suffered the horrors of mass shootings.
At a White House meeting, Obama said that no
group is more important in the gun debate and he said he recognizes the
issue
"elicits a lot of passion all across the country." But Obama also
said he believes Congress will respond to appeals from police.
"Hopefully if law enforcement officials who are dealing with this stuff every single day can come to some basic consensus
in terms of steps that we need to take," he said, "Congress is going to be paying attention to them, and we'll be able to
make progress."
The president's meeting comes as he tries to build support for gun control legislation that will be difficult to get through
Congress. He urged Congress to pass an assault weapons ban, limit high capacity magazines and require universal background
checks.
Obama campaign manager Jim Messina has
indicated he will be using the power of the president's still intact
political organization
to mobilize support for the legislation. Messina traveled to New
York City last week to meet with aides to Mayor Michael Bloomberg
at City Hall, according to a person familiar with the discussion,
speaking on a condition of anonymity since the meeting was
private. Bloomberg has tightened gun laws in the city and founded
Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a coalition that now has more
than 800 mayors pushing for national legislation.
Obama met in the Roosevelt Room with the
heads of the Major Cities Chiefs Association and the Major County
Sheriffs Association,
members of his Cabinet and chiefs that responded to the worst
shootings of 2012. That includes Aurora, Colo., where 12 were
killed in July; Oak Creek, Wis., where six died in a Sikh temple
assault: and Newtown, Conn., scene of the most recent mass
tragedy that left 20 first-graders dead.
Obama also said that Washington needs to
take mental health issues and school safety more seriously and should
help law enforcement
agencies hire more police, make sure they get the training they
need and give rural forces the resources they need to deal
with emergencies.
"Many of them also recognize that it's not only the high profile mass shootings that are of concern here," the president said.
"It's also what happens on a day in day out basis in places like Chicago or Philadelphia where young people are victims of
gun violence every single day."