Obama to Hold Town Hall Meeting on Gun Violence

President Obama and Michelle Obama, the first lady, boarding Air Force One in Honolulu on Saturday. Mr. Obama will participate in a town hall meeting on guns Thursday on CNN. Credit Brendan Smialowski/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

HONOLULU — Renewing his emphasis on the need for more gun restrictions, President Obama on Thursday will participate in a live televised town hall meeting to discuss gun violence in America, according to the White House.

The hourlong event, which will be held at George Mason University outside Washington, will be televised on CNN beginning at 8 p.m. It will come just days after Mr. Obama meets with Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch on Monday to discuss what executive actions the president can take to curb gun violence.

After the shootings in San Bernardino, Calif., on Dec. 2 that killed 14 people, Mr. Obama’s initial response emphasized the need for gun restrictions. The administration soon realized, however, that this message was failing to reassure many Americans that the president was focused enough on the Islamic State, the extremist group that inspired that attack and carried out another in Paris in November that left 130 people dead.

So, through much of December, Mr. Obama engaged in a series of public events to convince the country that his administration was doing everything it could to battle the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

This week, he will return to pressing for more gun restrictions.