On January 16 , 2013 , one month after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting , Obama signed 23 executive orders and outlined a series of sweeping proposals regarding gun control . He urged Congress to reintroduce an expired ban on military-style assault weapons , such as those used in several recent mass shootings , impose limits on ammunition magazines to 10 rounds , introduce background checks on all gun sales , pass a ban on possession and sale of armor-piercing bullets , introduce harsher penalties for gun-traffickers , especially unlicensed dealers who buy arms for criminals and approving the appointment of the head of the federal Bureau of Alcohol , Tobacco , Firearms and Explosives for the first time since 2006 . On January 5 , 2016 , Obama announced new executive actions extending background check requirements to more gun sellers . In a 2016 editorial in the '' New York Times '' , Obama compared the struggle for what he termed " common-sense gun reform " to women 's suffrage and other civil rights movements in American history
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting
Barack Obama