On Tuesday, January 5, President Barack Obama began his last year in office by doing something that is nothing short of extraordinary: crying. Crying because his feelings were hurt? No. Crying because he didn’t get the toy he wanted? No. The President was crying because he was expressing the emotion that many Americans are struggling with daily: sadness over the never ending gun violence in the country, and frustration that Congress has done nothing to stop it.

Introduced by Mark Barden, father of Sandy Hook victim Daniel Barden, Obama spoke for almost 45 minutes about the issue of gun violence in America, and his plans, to be enacted through his executive actions, to increase gun control. He began by listing the mass shootings the people of this country have witnessed, and then acknowledged Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, a survivor of gun violence turned gun control advocate.

He discussed that his intentions are not to diminish Second Amendment rights, and now that he is not running for re-election, we’ve seen an Obama not afraid of making jabs and even being a bit sarcastic. He cast away the doubters, proclaiming in reference to the Second Amendment, “I taught constitutional law, I know a little about this.” The President proceeded to outline his plan:

Background Checks: All gun sellers must be licensed and perform adequate background checks for any gun they sell.

Enforcement: Over 200 agents will be added Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, to enforce the proper selling and use of guns.

Mental Health: Expanding “Obamacare” to help cover more mental health issues, as well as making it easier to access mental health records for purposes of gun purchases. This would not only help decrease mass shootings, but get help for those contemplating suicide as well, who often use firearms.

Technology: Use modern technology to decrease the probability of accidents and firing of guns by people other than their owners.

While laying down the foundation of his program, the President upped his humor in effort to showcase just how ridiculous Congress has been acting surrounding gun issues. In regard to Congress’s habit of blaming gun violence solely on mental illness, Obama told them that the expansion of “Obamacare” is their chance to “put your money where your mouth is.”

The President went on to explain his actions, but the real poignant point of this story comes as he speaks about the victims of gun violence. All too often, opponents to gun control preach that they’ll lose their Second Amendment rights. To this, the President speaks about other rights that have been violated by gun violence. He says, “Because our right to worship freely and safely — that right was denied to Christians in Charleston, South Carolina and that was denied Jews in Kansas City and that was denied Muslims in Chapel Hill, and Sikhs in Oak Creek. They had rights, too."

They had rights too.

He goes on to speak about the shooting tragedies of Aurora, Colorado and Lafayette, Louisiana (and the right to peaceful assembly), before toning down his rhetoric to mention the victims of Blacksburg, Columbine, and of course, Sandy Hook.

At this point, his emotion becomes evident, and it becomes clear that Obama’s tears describe what Marlboro College professor Meg Mott calls “The power of being powerless.” President Obama has worked for years to get Congress to help him increase gun safety, yet time after time his plans are frustrated and he must make another national speech about another national shooting. When does it end? The President knows that no change can happen overnight, but the nation needs to work together to protect the lives of our citizens.

Of course, no speech by Obama would be complete without harsh criticism by Fox News. In an interesting turn, it seemed the anchors were not so much concerned with his plan, but rather his display of emotion. Focusing on about 90 seconds of a 45 minute speech, “Outnumbered” anchor Andrea Tantaros suggested that perhaps the President had a raw onion or tear drops on the podium, calling his tears “not really believable.”

Ms. Tantaros, are you joking? Are you actually aware of the situation at hand, that the President was not just talking about his football team losing in the playoffs, but rather about the lost lives of too many Americans as young as six years old? You say that his tears are “not really believable”, but what’s not really believable, is that people actually take your comments seriously.

However, another piece of the segment struck me as well. Before Tantaros’s comments, fellow anchor Melissa Francis spoke of her own frustration with Obama’s tears, saying

“..we feel frightened about what’s going on with ISIS, and he can’t pull that kind of passion for anything but this. I feel bad about those kids in Connecticut without question I mean your heart breaks for them but it’s only about this that he gets so upset about and never about terror. "

I’m sorry Ms. Francis, but did you just refer to the twenty kids of Sandy Hook Elementary school, between the ages of six and seven, who were brutally shot in their classrooms, as “those kids from Connecticut”? Did you just belittle the lives and losses Charlotte, Daniel, Olivia, Josephine, Dylan, Madeleine, Catherine, Chase, Jesse, Ana, James, Grace, Emilie, Jack, Noah, Caroline, Jessica, Avielle, Benjamin and Allison to “those kids from Connecticut”? You are accusing the President of being disingenuous, yet you call yourself a mother?

While these women’s comments surely highlight some of the worst reactions to Obama’s emotion, it is important to remember, their thoughts do not reflect everyone’s. No, America is not a heartless country, just misrepresented by a few.

In this upcoming election season, it will be interesting to see which issues come to the forefront of the fight. Surely, gun control will be one of them. All of the candidates will voice their opinions and plans of actions. While their views on this subject might be your deal breaker, you will nonetheless vote for the next leader of this country. As you are exercising your right to vote, remember those innocent victims of gun violence in our country.

They had rights too.