A few months ago, in response to too many tragedies -- including the shootings of a United States Congresswoman, Gabby Giffords, who’s here today, and the murder of 20 innocent schoolchildren and their teachers -- this country took up the cause of protecting more of our people from gun violence. 几个月前，面对一次又一次悲剧，包括今天在场的美国国会议员加比·吉福兹遇袭，以及二十名无辜学童和他们的老师遇害，我国开始认真讨论如何保护更多人民免受枪支暴力侵害。
Families that know unspeakable grief summoned the courage to petition their elected leaders -- not just to honor the memory of their children, but to protect the lives of all our children. And a few minutes ago, a minority in the United States Senate decided it wasn’t worth it. They blocked common-sense gun reforms even while these families looked on from the Senate gallery. 饱受难以言说之痛的家庭鼓起勇气，向民选领导人请愿。他们不仅要纪念自己的孩子，也要保护我们所有孩子的生命。然而就在几分钟前，美国参议院的一小部分议员认为这不值得。他们阻挡了合乎常识的枪支改革，而这些家庭当时就在参议院旁听席上看着。
By now, it’s well known that 90 percent of the American people support universal background checks that make it harder for a dangerous person to buy a gun. We’re talking about convicted felons, people convicted of domestic violence, people with a severe mental illness. Ninety percent of Americans support that idea. Most Americans think that's already the law. 如今，大家都知道，百分之九十的美国人支持普遍背景审查，让危险人物更难买到枪。我们说的是已被定罪的重罪犯、有家庭暴力前科的人，以及患有严重精神疾病的人。百分之九十的美国人支持这一主张。大多数美国人还以为法律早已这样规定。
And a few minutes ago, 90 percent of Democrats in the Senate just voted for that idea. But it’s not going to happen because 90 percent of Republicans in the Senate just voted against that idea. 就在几分钟前，参议院百分之九十的民主党议员投票赞成这一主张。但它仍无法实现，因为参议院百分之九十的共和党议员投了反对票。
A majority of senators voted "yes" to protecting more of our citizens with smarter background checks. But by this continuing distortion of Senate rules, a minority was able to block it from moving forward. 多数参议员投了赞成票，支持通过更明智的背景审查保护更多公民。但由于参议院规则不断被扭曲，少数议员仍得以阻止法案继续推进。
I’m going to speak plainly and honestly about what’s happened here because the American people are trying to figure out how can something have 90 percent support and yet not happen. We had a Democrat and a Republican -- both gun owners, both fierce defenders of our Second Amendment, with “A” grades from the NRA -- come together and worked together to write a common-sense compromise on background checks. And I want to thank Joe Manchin and Pat Toomey for their courage in doing that. That was not easy given their traditional strong support for Second Amendment rights. 我要坦率、诚实地说清这里发生了什么，因为美国人民想知道，为什么一项获得百分之九十支持的措施仍无法通过。两名议员，一位民主党人、一位共和党人，都是持枪者、宪法第二修正案的坚定捍卫者，都得到全国步枪协会的“甲等”评级。他们携手拟定了一个关于背景审查的合理妥协方案。我要感谢乔·曼钦和帕特·图米展现的勇气。考虑到他们一直坚定支持第二修正案权利，这样做并不容易。
As they said, nobody could honestly claim that the package they put together infringed on our Second Amendment rights. All it did was extend the same background check rules that already apply to guns purchased from a dealer to guns purchased at gun shows or over the Internet. So 60 percent of guns are already purchased through a background check system; this would have covered a lot of the guns that are currently outside that system. 正如他们所说，没人能诚实地宣称这项方案侵犯了宪法第二修正案权利。它只是把向枪支经销商购枪时适用的背景审查规则，扩展到枪展和互联网购枪。目前约百分之六十的枪支交易已经经过背景审查，这项措施会把许多现处于制度之外的交易也纳入其中。
Their legislation showed respect for gun owners, and it showed respect for the victims of gun violence. And Gabby Giffords, by the way, is both -- she’s a gun owner and a victim of gun violence. She is a Westerner and a moderate. And she supports these background checks. 他们的法案既尊重持枪者，也尊重枪支暴力受害者。顺便说一句，加比·吉福兹兼具这两种身份：她是持枪者，也是枪支暴力受害者。她来自美国西部，政治立场温和，她支持这些背景审查措施。
In fact, even the NRA used to support expanded background checks. The current leader of the NRA used to support these background checks. So while this compromise didn’t contain everything I wanted or everything that these families wanted, it did represent progress. It represented moderation and common sense. That’s why 90 percent of the American people supported it. 事实上，就连全国步枪协会过去也支持扩大背景审查。该协会现在的领导人以前也支持这些措施。虽然这份妥协方案并未包含我或这些家庭希望的全部内容，但它确实代表着进步，体现了温和与常识。这就是百分之九十的美国人支持它的原因。
But instead of supporting this compromise, the gun lobby and its allies willfully lied about the bill. They claimed that it would create some sort of "big brother" gun registry, even though the bill did the opposite. This legislation, in fact, outlawed any registry. Plain and simple, right there in the text. But that didn’t matter. 可是，枪支游说团体及其盟友没有支持这份妥协方案，反而故意就法案撒谎。他们声称法案会建立某种“老大哥”式枪支登记册，事实上法案的规定恰恰相反：它明文禁止任何此类登记册。条文写得明明白白，但这对他们毫无影响。
And unfortunately, this pattern of spreading untruths about this legislation served a purpose, because those lies upset an intense minority of gun owners, and that in turn intimidated a lot of senators. And I talked to several of these senators over the past few weeks, and they’re all good people. I know all of them were shocked by tragedies like Newtown. And I also understand that they come from states that are strongly pro-gun. And I have consistently said that there are regional differences when it comes to guns, and that both sides have to listen to each other. 不幸的是，散布法案谎言的做法达到了他们的目的。这些谎言激怒了一小部分态度激烈的持枪者，进而吓住了许多参议员。过去几周，我同其中几位议员谈过。他们都是好人，我知道纽敦等地的悲剧也让他们震惊。我也明白，他们来自强烈支持持枪的州。我一贯指出，各地对枪支的看法确有差异，双方都必须倾听彼此。
But the fact is most of these senators could not offer any good reason why we wouldn’t want to make it harder for criminals and those with severe mental illnesses to buy a gun. There were no coherent arguments as to why we wouldn’t do this. It came down to politics -- the worry that that vocal minority of gun owners would come after them in future elections. They worried that the gun lobby would spend a lot of money and paint them as anti-Second Amendment. 但事实是，这些参议员中的大多数都说不出一个充分理由，解释为什么不该让罪犯和患有严重精神疾病的人更难买到枪。他们拿不出合乎逻辑的反对理由。归根结底，这是政治问题：他们担心那一小部分声音响亮的持枪者会在将来的选举中针对他们，担心枪支游说团体投入大量金钱，把他们描绘成反对第二修正案的人。
And obviously, a lot of Republicans had that fear, but Democrats had that fear, too. And so they caved to the pressure, and they started looking for an excuse -- any excuse -- to vote "no." 显然，许多共和党人有这种恐惧，民主党人也有。于是他们屈服于压力，开始寻找任何能让自己投反对票的借口。
One common argument I heard was that this legislation wouldn’t prevent all future massacres. And that’s true. As I said from the start, no single piece of legislation can stop every act of violence and evil. We learned that tragically just two days ago. But if action by Congress could have saved one person, one child, a few hundred, a few thousand -- if it could have prevented those people from losing their lives to gun violence in the future while preserving our Second Amendment rights, we had an obligation to try. 我听到的一个常见说法是，这项立法无法阻止未来所有的大规模枪击事件。这是真的。从一开始我就说过，没有任何单一法案能阻止一切暴力与邪恶。就在两天前，我们又痛苦地认识到这一点。但如果国会采取行动，既能保护第二修正案权利，又可能让一个人、一个孩子，或者几百、几千人在未来免遭枪支暴力夺去生命，我们就有义务尝试。
And this legislation met that test. And too many senators failed theirs. 这项法案达到了这个标准，而太多参议员却没有通过他们自己的考验。
I've heard some say that blocking this step would be a victory. And my question is, a victory for who? A victory for what? All that happened today was the preservation of the loophole that lets dangerous criminals buy guns without a background check. That didn’t make our kids safer. Victory for not doing something that 90 percent of Americans, 80 percent of Republicans, the vast majority of your constituents wanted to get done? It begs the question, who are we here to represent? 有人说，阻挡这一步是一场胜利。我想问：是谁的胜利？胜在什么地方？今天发生的，只是保住了一个允许危险罪犯不经背景审查就买到枪的漏洞。这没有让孩子们更安全。对一件百分之九十的美国人、百分之八十的共和党人、你们选区绝大多数人都希望办成的事，拒绝采取行动，也算胜利吗？这让人不得不问：我们究竟在代表谁？
I've heard folks say that having the families of victims lobby for this legislation was somehow misplaced. "A prop," somebody called them. "Emotional blackmail," some outlet said. Are they serious? Do we really think that thousands of families whose lives have been shattered by gun violence don’t have a right to weigh in on this issue? Do we think their emotions, their loss is not relevant to this debate? 我还听人说，让受害者家属为这项立法奔走游说不合适。有人把他们叫作“道具”，有媒体称之为“情感勒索”。他们是认真的吗？难道我们真认为，成千上万生活被枪支暴力摧毁的家庭，无权就这个问题发声？难道他们的情感和失去亲人的痛苦与这场辩论无关？
So all in all, this was a pretty shameful day for Washington. 总而言之，今天对华盛顿来说是相当可耻的一天。
But this effort is not over. I want to make it clear to the American people we can still bring about meaningful changes that reduce gun violence, so long as the American people don’t give up on it. Even without Congress, my administration will keep doing everything it can to protect more of our communities. 但这项努力并未结束。我要向美国人民说明，只要大家不放弃，我们仍能促成有意义的改变，减少枪支暴力。即便没有国会，我的政府也会继续尽一切所能保护更多社区。
We’re going to address the barriers that prevent states from participating in the existing background check system. We’re going to give law enforcement more information about lost and stolen guns so it can do its job. We’re going to help to put in place emergency plans to protect our children in their schools. 我们会消除阻碍各州参与现有背景审查系统的障碍，让执法部门掌握更多失窃和遗失枪支的信息，更好地履职，并帮助学校制定保护孩子的应急预案。
But we can do more if Congress gets its act together. And if this Congress refuses to listen to the American people and pass common-sense gun legislation, then the real impact is going to have to come from the voters. 但如果国会能振作起来，我们还可以做得更多。倘若本届国会拒绝倾听美国人民的声音，拒绝通过合乎常识的枪支立法，那真正的改变就必须由选民推动。
To all the people who supported this legislation -- law enforcement and responsible gun owners, Democrats and Republicans, urban moms, rural hunters, whoever you are -- you need to let your representatives in Congress know that you are disappointed, and that if they don’t act this time, you will remember come election time. 所有支持这项法案的人，无论是执法人员、负责任的持枪者、民主党人、共和党人、城市里的母亲，还是乡村的猎人，都应告诉自己的国会议员：你们感到失望；如果他们这次不行动，到了选举时你们会记得。
To the wide majority of NRA households who supported this legislation, you need to let your leadership and lobbyists in Washington know they didn’t represent your views on this one. 支持这项法案的全国步枪协会会员家庭占了绝大多数。你们应该告诉协会领导层和华盛顿的游说人员，他们这次没有代表你们的观点。
The point is those who care deeply about preventing more and more gun violence will have to be as passionate, and as organized, and as vocal as those who blocked these common-sense steps to help keep our kids safe. Ultimately, you outnumber those who argued the other way. But they're better organized. They're better financed. They’ve been at it longer. And they make sure to stay focused on this one issue during election time. And that's the reason why you can have something that 90 percent of Americans support and you can't get it through the Senate or the House of Representatives. 关键是，真心希望阻止越来越多枪支暴力的人，必须像那些阻挡保障孩子安全的合理措施的人一样，充满热情、组织起来、大声发言。归根结底，你们的人数比反对者多，但他们组织得更好、资金更充足，在这件事上经营得更久，而且在选举期间始终紧盯这一个议题。这就是为什么一项得到百分之九十美国人支持的措施，仍无法在参议院或众议院通过。
So to change Washington, you, the American people, are going to have to sustain some passion about this. And when necessary, you’ve got to send the right people to Washington. And that requires strength, and it requires persistence. 要改变华盛顿，美国人民就得持续关心这件事。必要时，你们还得把合适的人送到华盛顿。这需要力量，也需要坚持。
And that's the one thing that these families should have inspired in all of us. I still don't know how they have been able to muster up the strength to do what they’ve doing over the last several weeks, last several months. 而这些家庭最应该激励我们的，正是这份力量。我至今不知道，他们是如何在过去数周、数月里汇聚起勇气，做出这一切的。
And I see this as just round one. When Newtown happened, I met with these families and I spoke to the community, and I said, something must be different right now. We’re going to have to change. That's what the whole country said. Everybody talked about how we were going to change something to make sure this didn't happen again, just like everybody talked about how we needed to do something after Aurora. Everybody talked about we needed change something after Tucson. 我认为这只是第一回合。纽敦悲剧发生后，我见过这些家庭，也对当地社区说过：从现在起，事情必须有所不同，我们必须改变。全国人民当时都这么说。每个人都在谈论要改变些什么，确保悲剧不再发生，就像奥罗拉悲剧之后大家说要做些什么、图森悲剧之后大家说需要改变一样。
And I’m assuming that the emotions that we’ve all felt since Newtown, the emotions that we’ve all felt since Tucson and Aurora and Chicago -- the pain we share with these families and families all across the country who’ve lost a loved one to gun violence -- I’m assuming that's not a temporary thing. I’m assuming our expressions of grief and our commitment to do something different to prevent these things from happening are not empty words. 我相信，纽敦、图森、奥罗拉和芝加哥发生枪支暴力后我们感受到的悲痛，以及我们与全国各地失去亲人的家庭共同承受的痛苦，不会转瞬即逝。我相信，我们表达的哀伤，以及采取不同措施、防止这类事件再次发生的承诺，并非空话。
I believe we’re going to be able to get this done. Sooner or later, we are going to get this right. The memories of these children demand it. And so do the American people. 我相信我们能够把这件事办成。我们迟早会做对。那些孩子的记忆要求我们这样做，美国人民也要求我们这样做。
Thank you very much, everybody. 非常感谢大家。