President Barack Obama said Tuesday that his chief frustration as president is that American society has refused to adopt stronger gun control measures.
“People ask me what I’m proudest of and what are my biggest frustrations as president,” Obama said. “My biggest frustration is that this society hasn’t been willing to take some basic steps to keep guns out of the hands of people who can do damage."
"We’re the only developed country where this happens. And it happens weekly," he continued. "Our levels of gun violence are off the charts."
FILE - U.S. President Barack Obama. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The president suggested that an individual's ability to purchase large amounts of ammunition has resulted in mass shootings.
“You know, the United States does not have a monopoly on crazy people. It’s not the only country that has psychosis. And yet, we kill each other in these mass shootings at rates that are exponentially higher than any place else,” Obama said, according to BuzzFeed. “Well, what’s the difference? The difference is, is that these guys can stack up a bunch of ammunition in their houses and that’s sort of par for the course.”
[sharequote align="center"]"The country has to do some soul searching about this."[/sharequote]
He added, "The country has to do some soul searching about this."
Obama's comments came in response to a question just hours after a deadly shooting claimed the life of a student at an Oregon high school.
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