London, Feb. 5 (ANI): President Barack Obama has renewed personal call for ban on assault weapons, despite doubts that Congress will vote to ban the military-style weapons, which have been used in a series of mass-shootings in the US in recent years.
In his first election campaign-style rally to build popular support for tighter gun controls, Obama said that it was 'good news' that a consensus was emerging on Congress on the need for universal background checks on gun purchases to curb gun violence.
According to the Telegraph, speaking in Minneapolis, Obama, however, tacitly acknowledged that the new consensus in Congress did not yet include an assault weapons ban.
He said that 'the country should not stop with background checks, but should restore the ban on military- style assault weapons and a 10-round limit for magazines'.
Senate Democrats are expected to table a bill in the coming weeks containing many of the gun control measures called for by Obama, but the legislation is not expected to include an assault weapons ban.
According to the report, Harry Reid, the leader of the Democrat-controlled Senate, appeared unenthusiastic about the prospects of an assault weapons ban in an interview with ABC News on Sunday, but said he favoured finding a way to put the ban to a vote that would be largely symbolic.
Obama spoke after attending a meeting with police officers and community leaders in Minneapolis, a model city for gun-control advocates where youth initiatives and other measures cut gun deaths by 40 percent in recent years.
By enlisting police support, Obama appeared to be reprising a campaign tactic used by Bill Clinton who was the president in 1994 when a 10-year assault weapons ban was passed, only to be allowed to lapse in 2004.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives, where many members are backed by the powerful National Rifle Association lobby group, is expected to reject any attempt to ban assault weapons, the report added. (ANI)
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