United States

The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting

Gun violence was once again at the centre of the national dialogue after 20 children and 6 adults were killed in a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut on December 14, 2012. (The shooter also killed himself and his mother that day.) Obama echoed the widespread public concern by asking Congress to enact new gun-control legislation that would mandate universal background checks for gun purchases, eliminate the sales of assault weapons and magazines containing more than 10 rounds of ammunition, provide for enhanced protection in schools, and put renewed focus on the treatment of mental illness. As Obama sought to marshal support for such legislation, the National Rifle Association and other gun-rights advocates actively campaigned against it. In April 2013 the Senate debated and then took preliminary votes on a gun-control bill and a series of amendments that by consent of both parties needed a filibuster-proof supermajority of 60 votes before the bill would be submitted for formal passage. Notwithstanding polls that indicated overwhelming public support for universal background checks, a measure that called for greatly expanded background checks failed to garner sufficient support (winning only a simple majority, 54–46). Although the vote generally followed party lines, a handful of Republicans supported the measure and a few Democrats opposed it. All the related amendments also failed, and the bill was withdrawn.

Sandy Hook Elementary School shootingA Connecticut State Police officer leading children out of the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, after a mass shooting at the school on December 14, 2012.Shannon Hicks—Newtown Bee/AP