In Father's Day Weekend Address, Obama Asks Parents to Speak Up For a More Loving World

Addressing the nation on Father's Day weekend, President Obama asked parents around the country who have had to explain the tragedy in Orlando to their children to speak up for a safer and more loving world and to teach their kids to love, not to hate.

Pausing for a moment in his weekly radio and internet address about his commitment to keep the debate alive for making it harder for people to obtain assault weapons, Obama said that as a father, he worries about the safety of his two teenage daughters.

"Especially when we see preventable violence in places our sons and daughters go every day — their schools and houses of worship, movie theaters, nightclubs, as they get older," he said. "It’s unconscionable that we allow easy access to weapons of war in these places — and then, even after we see parents grieve for their children, the fact that we as a country do nothing to prevent the next heartbreak makes no sense. "

Obama said it was too often that moments of silence for victims of terror and gun violence had been followed by inaction.

"We need our kids to hear us speak up about the risks guns pose to our communities, and against a status quo that doesn’t make sense," he said. "They need to hear us say these things even when those who disagree are loud and are powerful."

He called on parents to teach children why tolerance and equality matter, to remind them of the role models whose actions are examples for us all, to love and not to hate and to appreciate differences not as something to fear, but as a great gift to cherish.

The first family is currently visiting Yosemite National Park as the National Park Service turns 100 in August.

Watch the full address below: