Obama praises Senate committee for gun vote

The following statement was made by President Barack Obama on March 14 after the Senate Judiciary Committee approved stricter gun-ownership regulations, including a renewed assault-weapons ban, on a 10-8 party-line vote.

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I thank the Senate for taking another step forward in our common effort to help reduce gun violence by advancing a bill that would reinstate and strengthen a ban on the sale of military-style assault weapons and set a 10-round limit for magazines.

These weapons of war, when combined with high-capacity magazines, have one purpose — to inflict maximum damage as quickly as possible. They are designed for the battlefield, and they have no place on our streets, in our schools or threatening our law enforcement officers.  

The Senate has now advanced legislation addressing three of the most important elements of my proposal to help reduce the epidemic of gun violence in this country. Now the full Senate and the House need to vote on this bill, as well as the measures advanced in the past week that would impose serious penalties on anyone who buys a gun as part of a scheme to arm criminals, improve school safety, and help keep guns out of the hands of criminals, people with a severe mental illness, and others who shouldn’t have them. Each of these proposals deserves a vote.