video transcript

ROUGH CUT - NO REPORTER NARRATION President Barack Obama announced a series of gun-control measures on Wednesday - including proposals for enhanced background checks and a ban on military-style assault weapons - that are aimed at reducing gun violence after the shooting of 20 children and six adults at a school in Connecticut last month. A White House summary of Obama's plan calls this "the single most important thing we can do to prevent gun violence and mass shootings." Federally licensed firearms dealers now are required to run background checks on gun buyers, but studies estimate that nearly 40 percent of all sales are made by private sellers who are exempt from the requirement. Obama also called for strengthening the federal ban on sales of military-style assault weapons that was in effect 1994-2004. A 2010 survey by the Police Executive Research Forum found that more than one-third of police departments reported an increase in criminals' use of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines since the prohibition ended. Obama pointed to the Aurora gunman's use of a high capacity magazine in the attack that killed 12 people and wounded dozens of others. "Weapons designed for the theater of war have no place in a movie theater," Obama said.