(Screencap: YouTube)

In the wake of the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, social networks lit up with cries for gun control. Hundreds of thousands of people descended on We the People, the White House's official petition portal, to ask the President to take meaningful action to help stop gun violence. Today, President Obama released a video recorded especially for those who signed these petitions.

In the video, President Obama reiterates statements he made on Wednesday, including calling on Congress to ban "military style assault weapons and high capacity ammunition clips." He also said that Vice President Joe Biden is working on drafting a "comprehensive set of serious proposals to keep our children safe, including strengthening school safety, improving mental health care and addressing a culture that too often glorifies guns and violence." The proposals are slated to be reviewed by the President in January.

President Obama also thanked petitioners for speaking up, and asked that they continue engaging in a sustained effort to eradicate gun violence by calling members of Congress to express their concerns.