Tearful Obama unveils gun measures

WASHINGTON - Summoning the ghosts of nearly two dozen children killed three years ago in their Connecticut classrooms, President Barack Obama said Tuesday he was pressing ahead with new firearms restrictions unilaterally because the level of gun violence in the United States has robbed so many Americans of their basic right to gather safely.

'First-graders, in Newtown,” he said, pausing as he contemplated the 20 children and six adults killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School. 'First-graders.”

'And from every family who never imagined that their loved one would be taken from our lives by a bullet,” the president said, pausing again as he flicked away a few tears. 'Every time I think about those kids, it makes me mad. And by the way, it happens on the streets of Chicago every day.”

Although the gun measures Obama outlined are modest, he may have succeeded in what he said he wanted to do in the wake of a mass shooting in Roseburg, Ore., three months ago: politicize the issue of guns so that it becomes a prominent issue ahead of the 2016 election.

The president said his decision to exercise his executive authority - a move that has infuriated many Republicans - was an effort to prevent more violence.

'I'm not on the ballot again, I'm not looking to score some points.” he said. 'We understand there are some constraints on our freedom in order to protect innocent people.”

The package includes 10 provisions, White House officials said, including:

' Requiring more gun sellers - especially those who do business on the Internet and at gun shows - to be licensed and conduct background checks on buyers.

' Devoting $500 million more in federal funding to treating mental illness, a move that could require congressional approval.

' Requiring that firearms lost in transit between a manufacturer and a seller be reported to authorities.

' Adding 230 additional examiners and other personnel to help the FBI process background checks 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

' And establishing a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives center to investigate illegal gun trafficking online.

By limiting the scope of the background checks measure - the administration is clarifying what it means to be 'engaged in the business” of selling firearms - it may have bolstered the measure's legal defensibility at the expense of having a far-reaching impact.

None of the proposals would have stopped the sale of guns used in recent high-profile mass shootings in the United States.

And though most of the actions the president outlined can take place unilaterally, lawmakers could raise the prospect of blocking the implementation of some through the funding process.

However, even some of the lawmakers most-opposed to the policies, such as Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said they would be difficult to halt since Congress agreed on a budget deal last month to keep the government running through September.

'Once you give up the ability to let spending expire, you need 60 votes to defund something - and now, there aren't 60 votes to defund anything,” Paul said.

The National Rifle Association and other gun rights advocates have pledged to fight the measures, even as they described the administration's push as minimal.

Indeed, Obama's actions are much more modest than the ones he has urged Congress to pass with no success.

And a Republican successor in the White House could repeal the actions next year.

But aides and activists say that Obama, once reluctant to speak about the issue, will use his last year in office to launch a yearlong campaign urging states and localities to do what they can to curb gun violence, which leads to 30,000 deaths in the United States each year.

The McClatchy Washington Bureau contributed to this report.