President Obama and Richard Martinez
Courtesy Photo

With tears streaking down his face, President Barack Obama announced on Tuesday executive order plans to tighten sales of firearms by expanding background checks to gun shows and online dealers. He criticized Congress for failing to pass tougher restrictions in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre and other mass shootings, including those at Virginia Tech and in Isla Vista. “Our unalienable right to life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness ​— ​those rights were stripped from college kids in Blacksburg and Santa Barbara,” he stated. Directly behind Obama stood Richard Martinez, whose son, UCSB student Christopher Michaels-Martinez, was fatally shot during the 2014 killings.

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