WASHINGTON – The politics of guns leapt to the top of the presidential race with President Barack Obama embracing some degree of control of weapons sales and Republican Mitt Romney seeming to suggest an alleged mass killer in Colorado had obtained his weapons illegally — even though he hadn't.
Speaking Wednesday night to a mostly black audience in New Orleans, Obama said he would seek a consensus on combating violence. He said some responsibility also rests with parents, neighbors and teachers to ensure that young people "do not have that void inside them."
Romney told NBC News that many of the weapons deployed by the shooting suspect in the Colorado theater massacre were possessed illegally and that changing laws wouldn't prevent gun-related tragedies. Authorities say the firearms were obtained legally.
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