Just before his trip to East Africa, President Barack Obama sat down with North American BBC Editor Jon Sopel and discussed some pressing topics which included:
The next step of the Iran nuclear deal
The UK and IS air strikes
Obama's legacy
Unfinished business
When the discussion reached the last topic of, 'unfinished business,' President Obama revealed that his biggest frustration was the lack of common sense gun laws in the United States.
"...if you ask me where has been the one area where I feel that I've been most frustrated and most stymied it is the fact that the United States of America is the one advanced nation on earth in which we do not have sufficient common-sense, gun-safety laws. Even in the face of repeated mass killings.
And you know, if you look at the number of Americans killed since 9/11 by terrorism, it's less than 100. If you look at the number that have been killed by gun violence, it's in the tens of thousands. And for us not to be able to resolve that issue has been something that is distressing. But it is not something that I intend to stop working on in the remaining 18 months."
To read the full interview transcript, visit: BBC.com
Given *firearm deaths in the U.S. may soon supersede motor vehicle deaths, it's no wonder this would be a major concern for the President, and he is not alone. Depending on how the question is framed, most Americans are in favor of more gun sense and stronger gun laws. So what's stopping laws from being passed? For the most part it's Republican obstruction and the NRA/National Rifle Association.
What can the public do? With social media networks, we're able to speak out, boycott, protest, and petition. To learn more, visit Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense In America and Everytown.org. They are two of the leading organizations actively advocating gun sense in the United States.
*Mortality
Motor vehicle traffic deaths
Number of deaths: 33,804
Deaths per 100,000 population: 10.7
All firearm deaths
Number of deaths: 33,636
Deaths per 100,000 population: 10.6
Source: Deaths: Final Data for 2013, table 18
Data Sources: CDC/Centers For Disease Control And Prevention