President Barack Obama was set to make the political argument for tightening gun rules on Tuesday, drawing on the anger and frustration he has felt during his presidency about mass shootings in the United States.

In remarks from the White House set for 11:40 a.m. EST, Obama will discuss executive action he is taking to require more gun sellers to get licenses and more gun buyers to undergo background checks.

He will be joined by people who have lost family members to gun violence, as well as gun owners who support the new measures.

Obama has often said his toughest time in office was grappling with the December 2012 massacre of 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.

“The day that we traveled up to Newtown, two days after that massacre, was the worst day of his presidency. Just thinking about it makes me tear up,” Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to Obama, said on MSNBC.

After that tragedy, the Democratic president failed to persuade Congress to toughen U.S. gun laws. He has blamed lawmakers for being in the thrall of the powerful National Rifle Association gun lobby group.

Subsequent mass shootings at a Charleston, South Carolina, church, a community college in Oregon, and the December shooting in San Bernardino, California by a couple inspired by Islamist militants have stiffened Obama’s resolve to try to use his executive authority to do more to tighten access to guns.

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Source: Roberta Rampton, http://www.reuters.com