Barack Obama: “I could not persuade enough of the country and certainly…”

“I understand shooting for sport, or I understand wanting to have a firearm for protection potentially at home. I don't really understand what it is that we're doing in allowing semiautomatic weapons in people's hands. But I couldn't. I could not persuade enough of the country and certainly enough of Congress to prioritize [gun control]. that. But that doesn't mean you stop trying. You stay at it. And there have been a lot of injustices and bad ideas in the world that lasted a pretty long time.” (16:03–16:11)

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.