President Barack Obama Breaks Down in Tears While Announcing Plan for Gun Control

By
White House

President Barack Obama couldn't hold in his emotions on Tuesday, while recalling all of the recent victims of mass shootings.

Obama announced his plans to tighten gun control despite opposition from Congress during a live address from the White House. While referencing the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting in Connecticut in December 2012, the president became visibly emotional.

"Second Amendment rights are important, but there's other rights that we care about as well, and we have to be able to balance them," Obama said. "Because our right to worship freely and safely -- that right was denied to Christians in Charleston, South Carolina, and that was denied Jews in Kansas City, and that was denied Muslims in Chapel Hill, and Sikhs in Oak Creek -- they had rights, too."

WATCH: Amy Schumer Speaks Out on Gun Violence -- 'These Shootings Have Got to Stop'

"Our right to peaceful assembly, that right was robbed from moviegoers in Aurora, and Lafayette," he added, referencing the theater shootings during screenings of The Dark Knight Rises in 2012, andTrainwreck last July.

Obama even broke down in tears as he recalled the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, when 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children and six staff members.

"First graders. ... Every time I think about those kids, it makes me mad," Obama said, wiping his face.

Obama's series of executive actions intended to combat gun violence includes a regulatory change designed to make it harder for gun buyers to avoid background checks. Improved mental health care is also in the plan.

"We are the only advanced country on Earth that sees this kind of mass violence erupt with this kind of frequency," Obama said. "It doesn't happen in other advanced countries. It's not even close."

WATCH: Kim Kardashian Goes on Passionate Twitter Rant for Gun Control

Plenty of celebrities have been outspoken about advocating for gun control recently, including Amy Schumer, who was personally affected when a gunman opened fire and killed two during a screening of Trainwreck last July in Lafayette, Louisiana. Last month, she again tweeted about gun control after the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, which left 14 people dead.

"These shootings must stop," Schumer wrote. "I did not write take away all guns. Just for background checks. Take a breath and help stop gun violence #stopgunviolence."

Watch below: