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Agence France-Presse

US President Barack Obama made fighting gun violence his chief resolution for 2016 in a New Year's Day address, calling it a major piece of “unfinished business” for his White House administration.
The US leader announced he would meet with Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Monday, his first day back at work after the year-end break, “to discuss our options” in reducing the toll of deaths and injuries from firearms.
As he marked the start of his final year as president, Obama expressed regret at the little progress made in the past seven years towards remedying the firearm “epidemic” that claims more than 30,000 lives in America each year, over half of them suicides.
“My New Year's resolution is to move forward on our unfinished business as much as I can,” he said.
“That's especially true for one piece of unfinished business, that's our epidemic of gun violence.”

With time running out on his presidency, and with little prospect of reaching common ground with Congress on the highly contentious guns issue, Obama is expected to resort to the use of executive powers that would allow him to unilaterally impose certain new anti-gun measures.
The United States is one of the most gun-loving countries in the world, with more guns than inhabitants, according to a recent Congressional Research Service report.
In his New Year's address, the president said measures to be discussed with Lynch will focus on “keeping an irresponsible, dangerous few from inflicting harm on a massive scale.”
According to CNN and the New York Times, which cited gun control advocates familiar with the administration’s plans, Obama is expected to announce executive action to expand background checks on gun sales before his State of the Union address on January 12.

Reports said the measures imposed by the president could include tighter restrictions on reporting guns lost or stolen in transport, as well new licensing restrictions on small gun sellers.
Obama is taking the action against the backdrop of a relentless succession of shootings, which cast him each time in the role of “consoler-in-chief” to a grieving nation.
The president has made increasingly plain his frustration at the bloodshed, faulting Congress for its lack of action to curb gun violence.
“Last month, we remembered the third anniversary of Newtown,” Obama said in his address, referring to a December 2012 mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school that left 20 young children and six adults dead.
“This Friday, I'll be thinking about my friend Gabby Giffords, five years into her recovery from the shooting in Tucson,” he said, speaking of a former US congresswoman and victim of another of the nation’s spasms of gun violence.
“All across America, survivors of gun violence and those who lost a child, a parent, a spouse to gun violence are forced to mark such awful anniversaries every single day, and yet Congress still hasn't done anything to prevent what happened to them from happening to other families,” the president said.
“Three years ago, a bipartisan, commonsense bill would have required background checks for virtually everyone who buys a gun,” he said, recalling that such a measure - ultimately blocked in the Senate - had the support of the vast majority of the American public, including gun owners.
“Since then, tens of thousands of our fellow Americans have been mowed down by gun violence. Tens of thousands,” Obama said.
The issue of gun control has polarised the US legislature and divided the nation, with Americans holding radically different views on the pros and cons of gun ownership.
The depth of the schism could be seen in new laws that went into effect on Friday in Republican-red Texas and its political polar opposite states of California and Oregon.
The new gun law in California would make it easier for courts to seize the firearms of people deemed to present a danger to themselves or others.
In its west coast neighbour, the liberal state of Oregon, a measure took effect barring anyone convicted of certain domestic abuse offences from having guns or ammunition.
Gun-friendly Texas, meanwhile, on Friday introduced an “open carry” law meaning gun owners no longer will be required to conceal their weapons when packing heat.


Obama’s 2016 mission: Impose new gun control measures

FILE - In this Jan. 26, 2015 file photo, a demonstrator helps hold a large "Come and Take It" banner at a rally in support of open carry gun laws at the Capitol, in Austin, Texas. Texas, the second-most populous state, is joining 44 other states in allowing at least some firearm owners to carry handguns openly in public places. Under the Texas law, guns can be carried by those with licenses and only in holsters. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

President Barack Obama delivers a statement at Indian Springs High School after meeting with families affected by the mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 18, 2015, in San Bernardino. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Terry Holcomb,executive director of Texas Carry, happily displays his customized holster as he walks to the Capitol for a rally, Friday, Jan. 1, 2016, in Austin, Texas. Open Carry Texas and Texas Carry held a rally on the south steps of the Texas State Capitol Friday to celebrate Texas becoming an open carry state. After the rally some participates took a short walk down Congress Avenue. (Ralph Barrera /Austin American-Statesman via AP) AUSTIN CHRONICLE OUT, COMMUNITY IMPACT OUT, INTERNET AND TV MUST CREDIT PHOTOGRAPHER AND STATESMAN.COM, MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

A demonstrator helps hold a large "Come and Take It" banner at a rally in support of open carry gun laws at the Capitol, in Austin, Texas. Photo: AP

California police shoot dead two suspects in ‘assault-style clothing’ after 14 die in gun rampage at holiday banquet

A still image from a video footage courtesy of Nbcla.com shows people lining up as first responders respond to shooting at the California Department of Developmental Services Inland Regional Center, one of 21 facilities serving people with developmental disabilities, in San Bernardino, California December 2, 2015. Three people were killed and as many as 20 were wounded on Wednesday when at least one person opened fire at a social services agency in the Southern California city of San Bernardino, authorities and a witness said. REUTERS/NBCLA.COM/Handout FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. NO SALES. MANDATORY CREDIT NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE

This still image from video courtesy of CBS News shows police in San Bernardino, California on December 2, 2015 surrounding a bullet-riddled SUV during an apparent shootout with suspects believed responsible for a mass shooting that left at least 14 people dead. As many as three gunmen opened fire at a center for the disabled killing at least 14 people and wounding 17 others before fleeing the scene. AFP PHOTO / CBS NEWS == RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE / MANDATORY CREDIT: "AFP PHOTO / CBS NEWS" / NO MARKETING / NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS / DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS==

First responders gather on a nearby street corner as victims are treated outside a Southern California social services center in San Bernardino, Calif., where authorities said multiple people were shot Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015. (KTTV via AP)

Rescue crews tend to the injured in the intersection outside the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California in this still image taken from video December 2, 2015. At least 20 people were reported injured in an active shooter situation, according to news reports. REUTERS/NBCLA.com/Handout via Reuters NO SALES. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE

A still image from video courtesy of CBS News shows police in San Bernardino, California surrounding an SUV during an apparent shootout with suspects believed responsible for a mass shooting that left at least 14 people dead. Photo: AFP

A record 185,345 US residents applied to buy guns on Black Friday

Open carry gun activists participate in a march on November 16, 2015 in Ferguson, Missouri. About a dozen supporters of gun rights gathered in Ferguson November 16 for what organizers hoped would be a racially integrated open-carry march to demonstrate that Second Amendment rights are for everybody. AFP PHOTO / MICHAEL B. THOMAS

Open-carry gun activists participate in a march on November 16, 2015 in Ferguson, Missouri, exercising their right to bear arms. Photo: AFP

Gunfire injures 16 people at New Orleans party where music video was being filmed

People await transport to a hospital after a shooting in New Orleans on Sunday, Nov. 22, 2015. (Michael DeMocker/NOLA.com The Times-Picayune via AP) MAGS OUT; NO SALES; USA TODAY OUT; THE BATON ROUGE ADVOCATE OUT; THE NEW ORLEANS ADVOCATE OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

Paramedics with New Orleans EMS remove a man from the scene following a shooting in New Orleans on Sunday, Nov. 22, 2015. (Michael DeMocker/NOLA.com The Times-Picayune via AP) MAGS OUT; NO SALES; USA TODAY OUT; THE BATON ROUGE ADVOCATE OUT; THE NEW ORLEANS ADVOCATE OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

People await transport to a hospital after the shooting in New Orleans. Photo: The Times-Picayune via AP

Gunman massacres nine at Oregon college before being slain in shootout with police

Police search students outside Umpqua Community College in Roseburg. Photo: AP

A patient is wheeled into the emergency room, following a deadly shooting at Umpqua Community College, in Roseburg. Photo: AP

Police officers search Umpqua Community College after the shooting. Photo: AFP 

Friends and family are reunited with students at the local fairgrounds after a deadly shooting at Umpqua Community College. Photo: AP

A shooting was reported at Umpqua Community College in Roseberg. Photo: TNS

Obama makes a statement about the Oregon shootings from the White House. Photo: Reuters

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