http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIMydWxseps

National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre is interrupted by protesters from Code Pink. (photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

President Obama responds to 'We the People' petitions to combat gun violence, 12/21/12. (image: White House)

Obama Preempts NRA News Conference With Video on Gun Control

22 December 12

President Obama posts video response to gun control advocates, telling them, 'We hear you.'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIMydWxseps

resident Obama responded directly on Friday to the Americans who have signed petitions calling on the White House to combat gun violence, saying "we hear you" in a video message posted online.

In the days following the elementary school massacre in Newtown, Conn., Obama said hundreds of thousands of people have called for action on the administration's "We the People" petition website.

"So I just wanted to take a minute today to respond and let you know, 'We hear you,'" Obama said in his video response.

After stressing his belief in the Second Amendment right to bear arms, Obama repeated the steps his administration has announced in recent days to begin tackling the problem.

That includes pushing Congress to ban the sale of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips and to close legal loopholes that could allow criminals to buy a gun.

Obama also noted that he's appointed Vice President Biden to lead a task force to present him with a wide-ranging set of proposals that will include strengthening school safety, improving mental health care and addressing violence in popular culture.

"I will do everything in my power as president to advance these efforts because if there's even one thing we can do as a country to protect our children, we have a responsibility to try," he said in the video.

The "We the People" website was created by the Obama administration to give Americans a direct way to petition the federal government. The petitions on the site have ranged from a request for the White House beer recipe to calls for various states to secede from the United States.

Obama's unusual direct response appeared to be an attempt to harness the energy of the petitioners for his cause.

"You've started something, and now I'm asking you to keep at it," he said, urging them to organize, speak up and call their members of Congress "as many times as it takes."

President Obama's response was to the following 32 petitions posted on the administration's "We the People" petition website:

stop crime before it starts by funding mental health facilities instead of prisons.
6,167 Signatures
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launch a federal investigation in to the relationship between school shootings and psychiatric drugs.
6,635 Signatures
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Build a federally-funded mental healthcare system in the United States that offers treatment, education, and advocacy.
12,226 Signatures
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Make Mental Health a National Emergency
10,668 Signatures
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Place Security Guards in Schools Nationwide: The Safe & Sound Schools Initiative
2,991 Signatures
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Allow individual School Districts and/or schools the ability to train staff to be School Marshalls.
1,999 Signatures
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Keep guns in America! No weapons ban!
4,334 Signatures
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Employ competent veterans as armed security guards for America's schools
2,568 Signatures
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hire military veterans as armed resource officers in all public schools throughout America.
2,252 Signatures
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No more gun control.
3,519 Signatures
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Immediately sign Executive Order banning sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines until Congress acts on this
3,755 Signatures
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