[h=3]By LAURA MECKLER[/h]WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama said Wednesday the nation needs to start talking about tougher gun laws. That might be the end of the conversation.
The White House offered no specific follow-up. Neither did congressional leaders, who say they have no plans to pursue legislation, which faces broad congressional opposition.
Republicans generally oppose such laws; Democrats years ago concluded gun control was a losing issue that divided their party.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday the Senate wouldn't have a debate on gun control, much less a vote. In the House, Republican Speaker John Boehner of Ohio reiterated his opposition to new laws.
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, was noncommittal when asked if Democrats would get behind legislation to restrict the sale of large magazines or assault rifles. "There are important voices on both sides of this issue," she said.
In 2009, as House speaker, Ms. Pelosi rejected a suggestion from Attorney General Eric Holder that Congress reinstate the ban on assault weapons that expired in 2004, saying the government should focus on enforcing existing laws.
Since last week's shooting rampage in Aurora, Colo., White House aides have pointed to this legislative reality in explaining why Mr. Obama has no plans to push for action to restrict gun sales or require background checks for private gun sales such as those at gun shows.
Yet, in the president's address Wednesday evening to the National Urban League, a civil-rights group, he spoke at length about the need for new measures to curb gun violence. Mr. Obama singled out AK-47 assault weapons, saying taking them off the streets was one of several "common sense" measures that shouldn't be controversial.
"Too often, those efforts are defeated by politics and by lobbying and eventually by the pull of our collective attention elsewhere," Mr. Obama said.
At the White House Thursday, Mr. Obama ducked a question from a reporter about whether new laws were necessary. "I'm sure we'll have more of an opportunity to talk about this," he said.
Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said the speech reminded him of an newspaper essay Mr. Obama wrote in the wake of the 2011 shootings in Tucson, Ariz., that left six dead and injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and others. "He called for a national dialogue and then his voice was never heard in that dialogue," he said.
Gun-control advocates say public opinion is shifting in their direction in the wake of last week's shootings.
"The thing that's different in the shooting is there's no real loophole to point to," given that alleged shooter James Holmes bought his guns legally, said Kristen Rand, legislative director for the Violence Policy Center, which advocates for gun-control measures.
One poll this week by an advocacy group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, found support for some gun-control measures.
But when the nonpartisan Pew Research Center for the People and the Press asked Americans about the issue in April—for the first time in nearly two decades of polling—more people said it was more important to protect the rights of Americans to own guns than said it was to control gun ownership, by a score of 49% to 45%.
Like other Republicans, presidential challenger Mitt Romney this week rejected the idea that tougher gun laws could have prevented the deadly rampage in Colorado, saying that a legislative remedy wouldn't stop people who want to cause harm.
A spokesman for the National Rifle Association, the gun-owners lobby group, declined to comment on legislative options or Mr. Obama's remarks.
Write to Laura Meckler at [email protected]
The White House offered no specific follow-up. Neither did congressional leaders, who say they have no plans to pursue legislation, which faces broad congressional opposition.
Republicans generally oppose such laws; Democrats years ago concluded gun control was a losing issue that divided their party.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday the Senate wouldn't have a debate on gun control, much less a vote. In the House, Republican Speaker John Boehner of Ohio reiterated his opposition to new laws.
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, was noncommittal when asked if Democrats would get behind legislation to restrict the sale of large magazines or assault rifles. "There are important voices on both sides of this issue," she said.
In 2009, as House speaker, Ms. Pelosi rejected a suggestion from Attorney General Eric Holder that Congress reinstate the ban on assault weapons that expired in 2004, saying the government should focus on enforcing existing laws.
Since last week's shooting rampage in Aurora, Colo., White House aides have pointed to this legislative reality in explaining why Mr. Obama has no plans to push for action to restrict gun sales or require background checks for private gun sales such as those at gun shows.
Yet, in the president's address Wednesday evening to the National Urban League, a civil-rights group, he spoke at length about the need for new measures to curb gun violence. Mr. Obama singled out AK-47 assault weapons, saying taking them off the streets was one of several "common sense" measures that shouldn't be controversial.
"Too often, those efforts are defeated by politics and by lobbying and eventually by the pull of our collective attention elsewhere," Mr. Obama said.
At the White House Thursday, Mr. Obama ducked a question from a reporter about whether new laws were necessary. "I'm sure we'll have more of an opportunity to talk about this," he said.
Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said the speech reminded him of an newspaper essay Mr. Obama wrote in the wake of the 2011 shootings in Tucson, Ariz., that left six dead and injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and others. "He called for a national dialogue and then his voice was never heard in that dialogue," he said.
Gun-control advocates say public opinion is shifting in their direction in the wake of last week's shootings.
"The thing that's different in the shooting is there's no real loophole to point to," given that alleged shooter James Holmes bought his guns legally, said Kristen Rand, legislative director for the Violence Policy Center, which advocates for gun-control measures.
One poll this week by an advocacy group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, found support for some gun-control measures.
But when the nonpartisan Pew Research Center for the People and the Press asked Americans about the issue in April—for the first time in nearly two decades of polling—more people said it was more important to protect the rights of Americans to own guns than said it was to control gun ownership, by a score of 49% to 45%.
Like other Republicans, presidential challenger Mitt Romney this week rejected the idea that tougher gun laws could have prevented the deadly rampage in Colorado, saying that a legislative remedy wouldn't stop people who want to cause harm.
A spokesman for the National Rifle Association, the gun-owners lobby group, declined to comment on legislative options or Mr. Obama's remarks.
Write to Laura Meckler at [email protected]