U.S. President Barack Obama urged Congress not to block a vote on gun control legislation and told families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims that he is as "determined as ever" to honor their children with tougher laws. Obama's gun control proposals have run into resistance in Congress, leaving their fate in doubt. Efforts by Senate Democrats to reach compromise with Republicans over expanding required federal background checks have yet to yield an agreement, according to a report of the Associated Press. Majority Leader Harry Reid brought gun control legislation to the Senate floor on Monday, though actual debate did not begin. There are 53 Senate Democrats and two independents who lean toward them, meaning Republican support ultimately will be needed to reach 60 votes to move ahead, according to a report of the Associated Press. On Monday, President Obama returned to the state where a gunman killed 20 young children and six educators in Newtown last December in one of the worst school shootings ever in the U.S. Connecticut state lawmakers last week passed one of the strictest gun control laws in the country. President Obama rode to the speech with Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who signed his state's tougher gun control legislation into law Thursday with the Sandy Hook families standing behind him.
