Obama tightens gun control as Republicans denounce move

US President Barack Obama has tightened gun control and urged Congress to stop being inactive, in a tearful televised address, according to international reports.

Leading US Republicans have as a result, denounced Obama for the move to tighten gun controls, with house of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan saying that the executive orders, bypass Congress, "undermine liberty" and would be challenged in court, the BBc adds.

According to reports, Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump has also said said that, if elected, he would reverse the measures.

In his address from the White House on Tuesday, when he was surrounded by survivors and relatives of victims of shootings, Obama accused the gun lobby of holding the country hostage, and wiping away tears, he recalled the 2012 Sandy Hook primary school shooting in which 20 children and six adults were killed.

The BBC reports that Obama's executive actions involve background checks for all gun sellers, overturning current exemptions to some online and gun show sellers, states providing information on people disqualified from buying guns due to mental illness or domestic violence, increased workforce for the FBI to process background checks and hiring more than 230 new examiners.

The actions also include Congress being asked to invest $500m to improve access to mental healthcare in the US and the departments of defence, justice and homeland security exploring "smart gun technology" to improve gun safety, according to reports.

The BBC adds that in an interview with them, Obama had said that the failure to tackle gun control had been the greatest frustration of his presidency, but the country’s largest gun lobby group, the National Rifle Association (NRA) has said the steps would not have prevented any recent mass killings in the US.

"Rather than focus on criminals and terrorists, he goes after the most law-abiding of citizens," said Ryan added.