(reopens FGN 3)

"Overwhelming majorities of Americans � Americans who believe in the 2nd Amendment � have come together around commonsense reform � like background checks that will make it harder for criminals to get their hands on a gun," Obama said. "Senators of both parties are working together on tough new laws to prevent anyone from buying guns for resale to criminals. Police chiefs are asking our help to get weapons of war and massive ammunition magazines off our streets, because they are tired of being outgunned," he said. "Each of these proposals deserves a vote in Congress. If you want to vote no, that's your choice. But these proposals deserve a vote. Because in the two months since Newtown, more than a thousand birthdays, graduations, and anniversaries have been stolen from our lives by a bullet from a gun," he said. "One of those we lost was a young girl named Hadiya Pendleton. She was 15 years old... Just three weeks ago, she was here... Performing for her country at my inauguration. And a week later, she was shot and killed in a Chicago park after school, just a mile away from my house," he said. "Hadiya's parents, Nate and Cleo, are in this chamber tonight, along with more than two dozen Americans whose lives have been torn apart by gun violence. They deserve a vote," said the US President.