President Barrack Obama has vowed to to tackle the problem of gun violence in the United States.
In his first weekly address of 2016, Mr Obama said he would meet Attorney General, Loretta Lynch, to discuss possible actions.
He said he would seek to use his executive powers as President because the US Congress had failed to address the problem.
Analysts say that there will be a backlash from gun activists and Republicans.
But Mr Obama told Americans that he had received too many letters from parents, teachers and children, to sit around and do nothing.
“We know that we can’t stop every act of violence,” the president said. “But what if we tried to stop even one? What if Congress did something – anything – to protect our kids from gun violence?”
In December 2015, a Texas police chief warned the President that trying to disarm Americans could spark a revolution.
Previous efforts to introduce stricter gun control laws had repeatedly foundered despite the large number of people dying in gun attacks.
A joint Democrat-Republican bill following the 2012 shooting of 20 children and six adults at a primary school in Connecticut failed to get the 60 votes needed to broaden background checks and ban assault weapons.
