Obama set to act unilaterally on US gun control

US President Barack Obama said he will bypass Congress and take unilateral action to tackle the problem of gun violence in the country.

"We know that we can't stop every act of violence," the president said during his first weekly address of 2016. "But what if we tried to stop even one? What if Congress did something - anything - to protect our kids from gun violence.

“I get too many letters from parents and teachers and kids to sit around and do nothing.”

He now plans to meet Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Monday to discuss potential courses of action.

Obama admitted last year that his inability to win Congressional backing for what he described as “common sense gun laws” was the greatest frustration of his presidency.

A joint Democrat-Republican bill following the 2012 shooting of 20 children and six adults at a primary school in Connecticut failed to win the 60 votes required to broaden background checks and ban assault weapons.

The president is also likely to face stiff opposition for his plans, with the National Rifle Association already having launched a video series attacking gun control activists.

In Texas, a new "open carry law" will allow Texans with a permit to wear handguns on their hips in holsters - openly displaying the fact they are armed.

A Texas police chief last month warned Obama that trying to disarm Americans could spark a revolution.