Barack Obama says public attitudes around gun rights have to be reshaped

Former President Barack Obama says public attitudes around gun rights have to be reshaped.

“CBS Mornings” co-host Nate Burleson visited the former president in Chicago to take a look at the important work of the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, an Obama Foundation program that tries to help create change and opportunity for boys and young men of color in communities across the country. 

The alliance has started a new initiative where cities and towns that have had success reducing violence and increasing graduation rate have been chosen to share their best practices with other communities. 

In an interview with Burleson, Obama offered some ideas on the topic of gun violence.

“Now, part of that work has to be done not just in those communities that already want to do something about gun violence. We have to also actively reach out to communities where gun ownership is an important tradition, right?” Obama said. 

“Guns are as common as garden tools in certain communities,” Burleson responded.

“So, us being able to listen to and speak to those traditions while saying, ‘Yes, but that’s not incompatible with us doing something about just the flood of military-grade weapons on the streets. We can do something about that,'” Obama said. “What MBK is also about is recognizing that it’s not an either/or question – either we eliminate all guns, or there’s nothing we can do about violence. It’s a recognition [that] it’s a both/and problem.”

Watch more of Nate Burleson’s interview with former President Barack Obama on Tuesday, May 16, on “CBS Mornings.”

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Nate Burleson

Nate Burleson is a co-host of “CBS Mornings.”