Ban on assault weapons deserves a vote: Obama

US President Barack Obama said that each of his proposed steps to reduce gun violence should get a vote in Congress, even an assault weapons ban that both parties agree stands little chance at passing.

Senate Democrats dropped the ban from the bill they plan to debate next month out of concern it could sink the whole package. Still, Obama says he’s pushing for it.

In his weekly radio and Internet address released on Saturday, Obama says the US has changed in the three months since the December school shooting in Newtown, Conn. He says Americans support the ban, plus limits on high-capacity ammunition magazines, school security funding and a crackdown on gun trafficking.

“Today there is still genuine disagreement among well-meaning people about what steps we should take to reduce the epidemic of gun violence in this country. But you, the American people, have spoken,” Obama said.