President Obama has formally unveiled his proposals to reform the nation’s gun laws more than a month after the shooting massacre in Newtown. On Wednesday, Obama called for reinstating the ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, expanding background checks for gun buyers, improving the delivery of mental health services, and allowing schools to hire up to 1,000 school resource officers and counselors. Obama presented his plan alongside Vice President Joe Biden, who headed the White House task force appointed after Newtown.

President Obama: “In the month since 20 precious children and six brave adults were violently taken from us at Sandy Hook Elementary, more than 900 of our fellow Americans have reportedly died at the end of a gun — 900 in the past month. And every day we wait, that number will keep growing. So I’m putting forward a specific set of proposals based on the work of Joe’s (Biden) task force. And in the days ahead, I intend to use whatever weight this office holds to make them a reality.”

The White House plan is expected to meet stiff resistance from House Republicans and even some Senate Democrats in states with loose restrictions on firearms. In a statement, the National Rifle Association vowed to challenge Obama with what it called “the fight of the century.” In his remarks, Obama called on the American people to help him push gun control through Congress.

President Obama: “This will not happen unless the American people demand it. If parents and teachers, police officers and pastors, if hunters and sportsmen, if responsible gun owners, if Americans of every background stand up and say, 'Enough. We've suffered too much pain and care too much about our children to allow this to continue,’ then change will — change will come.”