Obama Pledges to Work with Congress on Violence

President Barack Obama is pledging to work with lawmakers of both parties to stop violence in the wake of the Colorado movie theater massacre.

In remarks Wednesday night in New Orleans to the National Urban League, Obama called for stepped-up background checks for people who want to purchase guns and restrictions to keep the mentally unbalanced from buying weapons.

Obama says those steps, in his words, "shouldn't be controversial, they should be common sense."

Obama honored the victims of the Colorado shootings and those killed in less high-profile incidents.

The National Urban League is a largely African-American civil rights group. Obama is seeking to maintain his high support among black voters as he seeks to hold the White House.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)