Hours after President Obama posted his response to the petitions posted to the White House's "We The People" website regarding gun control, YouTube and Facebook users have flooded the web with opinions and thoughts regarding the petitions.
The petition, posted on the "We the People" site on Dec. 14, after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that took the lives of nearly 30 people, including 20 children, called for the Obama administration to "produce legislation that limits access to guns."
"While a national dialogue is critical, laws are the only means in which we can reduce the number of people murdered in gun related deaths," the petition reads.
So far, the petition has amassed more than 197,000 signatures from across the nation.
"We started We the People so that you could directly petition your government on the matters you care about the most, so that you could make your voice heard," Obama said in his response. "And in the days since the heartbreaking tragedy in Newtown, Conn., hundreds of thousands of you from all 50 states have signed petitions asking us to take serious steps to address the epidemic of gun violence in this country."
While President Obama implied that he did not want to take away guns from all gun owners, he did say that he would call on Congress to enact common sense legislation including banning the sale of military-style assault weapons and high capacity ammunition clips, while tightening loopholes that would prevent criminals from getting a hold of guns.
"The fact is most gun owners in America are responsible," he said in his video. "They buy their guns legally and they use them safely. It's encouraging that many gun owners this week have stepped up to say there are steps we can take to prevent more tragedies like the one in Newtown, steps that both protect our rights and protect our kids."
On YouTube, reactions have been varied (with spelling errors included).
"To our Commander-In-Chief I would like to say thank your for responding and being so encouraging," wrote Gloria Ferrer. "This is such a complicated and emotional time for everyone. I know that there is a lot of pain that needs attention so that no one will desire to hurt others. I know that it is more than just weapons. There are deep seeded pains causing all of this chaos. No simple strategy will solve it all but there is hope that some things can change and the murders can be prevented. Thank you Mr. President."
"More guns, more gun violence. Less guns, less gun violence," wrote YouTube user iDixon.
"Why is something that's obvious and self-evident in the rest of the modern world an issue in the USA?" wrote user Daniel Söderström.
Not everyone, of course, agreed with the idea of gun control.
"Go on infringe on the constitution. Pretty soon all of it will be up for infringement. Free speech will be the next thing to go," wrote YouTube user Matt Murphy.
"why do i need an assault weapon? because sometimes a handgun will not be adequate. like when china invades US soil," wrote user thewheeliekid.
YouTube user "whyutubeaccount" responded, "lol China invades US soild? Stop watching Red Dawn."
On President Obama's Facebook page, the responses again showed that lines were being drawn over the issue.
Matt Hasseman wrote, "Leave guns in law abiding citizens hands!..Us folk down in the hollers have to defend ourselves from the meth head thieves! Get some dagone armed security in schools.. use non lethal weaponry and discuss to our children the importance of LIFE!"
"Assault weapon ban is good, Just look at columbine, Tim mcveigh and 911," countered Lalo Pena.
"I would like to take away the right to protest gun ownership and the freedom of speech against gun rights. Let's start a petition for that and see how many of these liberals will [b]e offended," posted Dan Starn.
Facebook user Paul Ebel disagreed, writing that there is a "need to get rid of military themed weapons. Need to reduce clip sizes to 6 rounds max. Need to make sure those that do have these military themed weapons, if they lose a part or it breaks they can't get it fixed. In other words, bring sense back to guns."
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