Obama, Biden unveil gun control plan

8:50 AM PT: The event will begin momentarily.

8:53 AM PT: Vice President Joe Biden starts the announcement by invoking the Sandy Hook tragedy and pledging to take action in the memory of those killed.

8:54 AM PT: Biden: "We all know we have a moral obligation to diminish the prospect of something like this happening again."

8:55 AM PT: Biden: "The world has changed, and it's demanding action. It's in this context that the president asked me to put together recommendations." Biden says he sat down with 229 groups'not individuals, but groups'ranging from police to hunters to religious officials to develop these recommendations.

8:56 AM PT: Biden says the some elements of the president's policy will take effect immediately, and some will take time. (Presumably this is executive orders vs. legislation.)

8:57 AM PT: Now President Obama has taken the podium. "Let me begin by thanking our Vice President Joe Biden."

8:59 AM PT: President Obama is introducing us to four of the children who wrote him to support gun control after Sandy Hook. They are on stage with him, along with their parents. A desk is set up in front of them, presumably where he will sign executive orders.

9:01 AM PT: President Obama points out that more than 900 people have died from gunfire since Sandy Hook.

9:03 AM PT: Obama says he will sign an executive order to strengthen the background check system, help schools hire "resource officers" (I think this means armed guards but am not sure), help mental health professionals conduct background checks, and instruct the CDC to study mechanisms to reduce gun violence. In total, he says, he'll sign 23 executive orders.

9:04 AM PT: Obama says he will also call for Congress to act. He says he wants "a universal background check for anyone trying to buy a gun."

9:05 AM PT: Obama says that the background checks shouldn't be limited to licensed gun dealers'it should also apply to private sellers.

9:05 AM PT: Obama also urges Congress to ban assault weapons and to limit magazine capacity to 10 bullets.

9:06 AM PT: "A majority of Americans agree with this, and by the way, so did Ronald Reagan."

9:07 AM PT: Obama also calls for more funding for law enforcement.

9:08 AM PT: Obama says nothing about what he's talking about violates the Second Amendment.

9:10 AM PT: Obama says that he knows this will be difficult. Gun control opponents will accuse him of seeking "tyrannical" policies, he says. Obama says the only way to defeat those voices will be for the people who listen to those voices reject their fear-mongering.

9:10 AM PT: "This will not happen unless the American people demand it."

9:13 AM PT: "With rights come responsibilities. ... We don't live in isolation, we live in a society. A government of, by, and for the people."

9:17 AM PT: President Obama concludes by saying "Let's do the right thing" and proceeds to sign the 23 executive orders he mentioned earlier. Here's a synopsis of them from the White House.