Calls for more gun control

President Obama at the Urban League on Wednesday:

But I also believe that a lot of gun owners would agree that AK-47s belong in the hands of soldiers, not in the hands of criminals -- (applause) -- that they belong on the battlefield of war, not on the streets of our cities. I believe the majority of gun owners would agree that we should do everything possible to prevent criminals and fugitives from purchasing weapons; that we should check someone’s criminal record before they can check out a gun seller; that a mentally unbalanced individual should not be able to get his hands on a gun so easily. These steps shouldn’t be controversial. They should be common sense. . . .

From The Hill newspaper:

“I support what the president said yesterday,” Pelosi told reporters in the Capitol. “I thought his comments were very thoughtful [and] provided leadership when he said we need to build a national consensus to reduce violence in our country.” . . . “With the schedule we have, we’re not going to get into a debate on gun control,” [Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.)] told reporters. "But I'm very happy, I'm glad the president made this statement, because it's something that needs to be done. But we're not going to address gun control." . . .

Mayor Bloomberg on police striking:

Well, I would take it one step further. I don't understand why the police officers across this country don't stand up collectively and say, we're going to go on strike. We're not going to protect you. Unless you, the public, through your legislature, do what's required to keep us safe.' After all, police officers want to go home to their families. And we're doing everything we can to make their job more difficult but, more importantly, more dangerous, by leaving guns in the hands of people who shouldn't have them, and letting people who have those guns buy things like armor-piercing bullets. The only reason to have an armor-piercing bullet is to go through a bullet-resistant vest. The only people that wear bullet-resistant vest are our police officers. And that's true across this whole country. So we should -- at some point we have to understand this as our children or our grandchildren or us. But for the police officers, it's much more immediate. Because when you or I hear shots, we run away. They run towards it. . . .