requiring pack groundbackground checks and gun safety courses, gun deaths decreased by 40%. 40%. [ applause ] meanwhile since missouri repealed a law requiring comprehensive background checks and purchase permits, gun deaths have increased to an almost 50% higher than the national average. one study found unsurprisingly that criminals in missouri now have easier access to guns. and the evidence tells us that in states that require background checks, law-abiding americans don't find it any harder to purchase guns whatsoever. their guns have not been confiscated, their rights have not been infringed. and that is just the information we have access to. with more research, we could further improve gun safety just as with more research, we've

enormously over the last 30 years. we do research when cars, food, medicine, even toys harm people so that we make them safer. and you know what, research finds those are good things, they work. [ applause ] they do. but think about this. when it comes to an inherently deadly weapon, nobody argues that guns are potentially deadly. weapons that kill tens of thousands of americans every year, congress actually voted to make it harder for public health experts to conduct research into gun violence. made it harder to collect data and facts.

reduce gun violence. even after san bernardino, they refused to make it harder for terror suspects who can't get on a plane to buy semiautomatic weapons. that is not right. that can't be right. so the gun lobby may be holding congress hostage right now, but they cannot hold america hostage.

[ applause ] i want to be clear, congress still needs to act. the folks in this room will not rest until congress does. because once congress gets on board with common sense gun safety measures, we can reduce gun violence a whole lot more. but we also can't wait. until we have a congress that is in line with the majority of americans, there are actions within my legal authority that we can take to help reduce gun violence and save more lives. actions that protect our rights

after sandy hook, joe and i worked together with our teams and we put forward a whole series of executive actions to try to tighten up the existing rules and systems that we had in place. but today, we want to take it a step further. so let me outline what we'll be doing. number one, anybody in the business of selling firearms must get a license and conduct background checks or be subject to criminal prosecutions. [ applause [ it didn'toesn't matter whether you're doing it over the internet or a gun show. it's not where you do it, but

we're also expanding background checks to cover violent criminals who try on buy some of the most dangerous firearms by hiding behind trusts and corporations and various cutouts. we're also taking steps to make the background check system more efficient. under the guidance of jim comey and the fbi and our deputy director at atf, we'll hire more folks to process applications faster and we'll bring an outdated background check system into the 21st century. [ applause ] and these steps will actually lead to a smoother process for law-abiding gun opener s owners, a smoother process for gun dealers and stronger process for

dangerous people. so that's number one. number two, we will do everything we can to ensure the smart effective enforcement of gun safety raws that are already on the books. which means that we will add 200 more than atf agents and investigator, we will require firearms dealers to report more lost or stolen guns on a timely basis, we're working with advocates to protect victims of domestic abuse from gun violence where too often -- [ applause ] -- where too often people are need. number three, we will do more to help those suffering from mental illness get the help that they need. so high profile mass shootings tend to shine a light on those few mentally unstable people who

truth is that nearly two in three gun deaths are from suicides. so a lot of our work is to prevent people from hurting themselves. that's why we made sure that the affordable care act, also known as obamacare, finally -- [ applause ] -- under that law made sure that treatment for mental health was covered the same as treatment for any other illness. and that's why we will invest $500 million to expand access to treatment across the country. [ applause ] it's also why we'll ensure that federal mental health records are submitted to the background check system and remove barriers that prevent states from reporting relevant information. if we can continue to destigmatize mental health issues, get folks proper care,

check system, then we can spare more families the pain of losing a loved one to suicide. and for those in congress who so often rush to blame mental illness for mass shootings, as a way of a voiding action on guns, here is your chance to support these efforts, put your money where your mouth is. [ applause ] number four. we're going to boost gun safety technology. today many gun injuries and deaths are the result of legal guns that were stolen or misused or discharged accidentally. in 2013 alone, more than 500 people lost their lives to gun accidents and that includes 30 children younger than five years old. in the greatest most technologically advanced nation on earth, there is no reason for this.

technologies that make them safer. if we can set it up so you can't unlock your phone unless you got the right fingerprint, why can't we do the same thing for our guns. [ applause ] if there is an app that can help us find a missing gsing tablet, which happens to me often the older i get, if we can do it for your ipad, there is no reason we can't do it with a stolen gun. if a child can't open a bottle of aspirin, we should make sure that they can't pull a trigger on a gun. [ applause ]

so we're going to advance research, we're going to work with the private sector to update firearms technology. some gun retailers are already stepping up by refusing to finalize a purchase without a complete background check or by refraining from selling automatic weapons and high capacity magazines, and i hope more retailers and manufacturers join them because they should care as much as anybody about a product that now kills almost as many americans as car accidents. i make this point because none of us can do this alone. i think mark made that point earlier. all of us should be able to work together to find a balance that declares the rest of our rights are also important. second amendment rights are

we care about, as well. and we have to be able to balance them. because our right to worship freely and safely, that right was denied to christians in charleston, south carolina. and that was denied jews in kansas city. and that was denied muslims in chapel hill. and sikhs in oak creek. they have rights, too. [ applause ] our right to peaceful assembly, that right was robbed from movie-goers in aurora and la fayette. our unalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, those rights were

it is in san bernardino and from high schoolers in columbine. and from first graders in newtown newtown. first graders. and from every family who never imagined that their loved one would be taken from our lives by a bullet from a gun. every too many time i think about those kids, it gets me mad. and by the way, it happens on the streets of chicago every

[ applause ] so all of us need to demand a congress brave enough to stand up to the gun lobby's lie, all of us need to stand up and protect its citizens. all of us need to demand governors and ledge latsgislators and businesses do their part to make our community safer. we need the wide majority of responsible gun owners who grieve with us every time this happens and feel like your views are not being properly represented to join with us to demand something better. [ applause ] and we need voters who want safer gun laws and who are disappointed in leaders who stand in their way to remember

[ applause ] some of this is just simple math. yes, the gun lobby is allow and it is organized in defense of making it effortless for guns to be available for anybody anytime. the rest of us have to be just as passionate, we have to be just as organized in defense of our kids. this is not that complicated. the reason congress blocks laws is because they want to win elections. and if you make it hard for them to win an election if they block those law, they will change

[ applause ] and, yes, it will be hard. and it won't happen overnight. it won't happen during this congress. it won't happen during my presidency. but a lot of things don't happen overnight. a woman's right to vote didn't happen overnight. liberation of african-americans didn't happen overnight. lgbt rights was decades worth of work.

that's no excuse not to try. and if you have any doubt as to why you should feel that fierce urgency as of now, think about what happened three weeks ago. zavion dobson was a sophomore in knoxville, he played football, beloved by his classmates and his teachers. his own mayor called they will stories. the week before christmas, he headed to a friend's house to play video games. he wasn't in the wrong place at the wrong time. he hadn't made a bad decision. he was exactly where any other kid would be. your kid, my kid.

and zavion who was in high school hadn't even gotten started in life, dove on top of three girls to shield them from the bullets. and he was shot in the head. and the girls were spared. and he gave his life to save theirs. an act of heroism a lot bigger than anything we should ever expect from a 15-year-old. greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. we are not asked to do what zavion dobson did. we're not asked to have shoulders that big, a heart that strong, reactions that quick. i'm not asking people to have

sacrifice or love. but if we love our kids and care about their prospects, and it if we love this country and care about its future, then we can find the courage to vote, we can find the courage to get mobilized and organized, we can find the courage to cut through all the noise and do what a sensible country would do. that's what we're doing today and tomorrow we should do more and we should more the day after that and if we do, we'll leave behind a nation stronger than the one we inherited and worthy of the sacrifice of a young man like zavion. thank you very much, every. god god bless. >> president obama in an key

address announcing executive actions to further his goal to gun control working around congress. essentially expanding background checks requiring those who sell guns to be federally licensed as gun dealers, specifically talking about some of the online sales he believes worked around the requirements of back ground checks. the president at one point fighting back tears, tears actually flowing as he went down the litany of the various mass shootings that have occurred over the last several years. we should note there has been immediate reaction. speaker paul ryan issued a statement calling the president's executive order an effort to undermine the second amendment. he says in a statement no matter what president obama says, his word does not trump the second amendment. we will conduct vigilant oversight. his executive order will no doubt be challenged in the

from speaker paul ryan about the president's executive action. chris jansing our senior white house correspondent has been watching along with us from the north lawn. we have seen the president certainly emotional on this topic before, chris. but not quite like what we saw the last few minutes. >> reporter: never like this, not the depth of this emotion. you'll remember that after newtown, he had said that was the worst day of his life. he was deeply affected by it. he was introduced by the father of a 7-year-old who was killed there. and when he brought up newtown and he brought up the deaths of those 20 children, first graders, you saw that frustration and that emotion come to the surface. this was never expected to be a detailed -- do we have that? let's show the president. so the president really was always expecting to make this about the common sense of this, to have an appeal to people, to

we remember what it felt like after newtown when the people who had gone into a movie theater in aurora lost their live, when people who were in a lost their lives. but this was a deeply emotional appeal that i think takes this fight to a very different place in front of an audience of people who feel very much like he does. >> the president using the term common sense over and over again and saying this is not a plot to take away everybody's guns. there is a lot of reaction to all of this, of course we'll have it for you coming up tonight on nbc nightly news and nbcnews.com.

good day.meaghan norman followed the preisdent speech and will have more in a few minutes. two midlands politicians are out on bond after turning themselves in on separate charges involving their taxes. former columbia city councilman brian dequincey newman and current richland county councilman kelvin washington are charged with failure to file tax returns. our michal higdon was at their hearing and joins us with the details. the bond hearing lasted about 30 minutes and finished just over an hour ago. kelvin washington was brought up first and was charged with 3 counts of willful failure to file a tax return. washington is accused of failing to file state tax returns for 2012, 2013, and 2014...totalling nearly half a million dollars of income during he was given a personal recognizance bond of 15 brian newman was next and charged with two

return for 2012 and 2013...failing to report just over 200-thousand dollars of his income. he was granted a 10- thousand dollar p-r bond. now these are misdemeanor charges and were filed as a result of the department of revenue's investigation into the use of the penny transportation tax funds... according to newman's attorney these charges are only a personal matter. "this is not a penny sales tax issue. this is a personal tax issue by mr. newman. he remains steadfast that he did everything he could and did not violate public trust or put in jeopardy his position on the city council." at 2pm today newman is expected to appear at the richland county courthouse. newman's attorney says he plans to resolve the entire situation by the end of the day by paying his taxes. live in the studio, michal higdon, wis news 10. a short time ago president

addressed the nation on executive actions to help curb gun violence. wis' meaghan norman was monitoring that press conference. she joins us in the newsroom with the latest. len, president obama says our country has become numb to gun violence and it's time to find a solution. president obama and vice president joe biden stood with 12 people who all lost loved ones to gun violence including jennifer pinckney -- the widow of slain state senator and emanuel ame pastor clementa pinckney. he listed about more than half a dozen of shootings he's had to address over his presidency. he says part of the solution is comprehensive background checks those purchasing guns whether it be from gun shows or local dealers. the president says it's not about taking away people's second amendment right -- which many opponents argue --- but about finding ways to stop the lost -- particularly when it to children.

president obama urged congress to act but says the nation can't wait which is why he is taking executive action. that action includes licensing all gun dealers. he also spoke of getting help to those suffering from mental illnesses by investing 500 million dollars to expand treatment. and- expanding gun safety

the president is continuing the conversation on gun control in a president's executive actions tonight on the news starting at 4. a blustery and cold start in the midlands, as we take a live look over the capital city. tim miller is tracking the temperatures in the first alert weather center and has the latest. abundant sunshine today will look pretty however, it won't help much with the temperature as we'll only see highs in the middle to upper 40s. winds will subside during the day. clear and cold tonight, lows

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