Obama calls for ban on assault weapons in weekly address

President Obama called for gun law reform in his weekly address, saying the U.S. needs to make it harder for killers to get assault weapons following the mass shooting in Orlando, Fla., last weekend. 

{mosads}”Being tough on terrorism, particularly the sorts of homegrown terrorism that we’ve seen now in Orlando and San Bernardino, means making it harder for people who want to kill Americans to get their hands on assault weapons that are capable of killing dozens of innocents as quickly as possible,” Obama said.

A ban on the sale of assault weapons expired in 2004, and both Obama and presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton have called for its reinstatement.

Senators will vote Monday on several gun control proposals after Democrats waged a near 15-hour filibuster to force a debate on the issue.

None of those bills, however, would ban assault weapons; the focus has been mostly on keeping people under government suspicion of terrorism from buying guns and expanding background checks.

Obama also vowed the U.S. would ultimately “destroy” the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS or ISIL).

“We are and we will keep doing everything in our power to stop these kinds of attacks, and to ultimately destroy ISIL,” Obama said. “The extraordinary people in our intelligence, military, homeland security, and law enforcement communities have already prevented many attacks, saved many lives, and we won’t let up.”