'Whatever Power This Office Holds'

President Obama last night at a memorial service in Newtown, Ct.:

If there’s even one step we can take to save another child or another parent or another town from the grief that’s visited Tucson and Aurora and Oak Creek and Newtown and communities from Columbine to Blacksburg before that, then surely we have an obligation to try.

In the coming weeks, I’ll use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens, from law enforcement, to mental health professionals, to parents and educators, in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this, because what choice do we have? We can’t accept events like this as routine.

Are we really prepared to say that we’re powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard?

Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom?

The politics of gun control may indeed be an impediment. But given Obama's "obligation to try" language, it will be interesting to see if he tries to take action independent of Congress, using his power as chief executive, to order action on the part of federal agencies aimed at limiting gun violence.