President Obama Takes Gun Proposal to Minneapolis

And today, president obama traveled to minneapolis to raise pressure for gun legislation. Here's abc's chief white house correspondent jonathan karl. Reporter: Faced with an uphill battle in congress,... See More

And today, president obama traveled to minneapolis to raise pressure for gun legislation. Here's abc's chief white house correspondent jonathan karl. Reporter: Faced with an uphill battle in congress, the president took his campaign for new gun control measures on the road today. We're not going to wait until the next newtown. Reporter: Central component of the president's new plan is kwooifring virtually anybody buying a gun is a background check. But the audience in minneapolis has seen that that's not enough. Last september, just a few miles from where the president spoke, minnesota suffered its worst ever mass shooting. 36-year-old andrew engeldinger went on a rampage at this sign store after he was fired. Shooting and killing six employees. According to his parents, he was mentally ill and refused treatment. Here's the thing. He legght his gun here after passing a background check. Our son struggled for years with mental illness. In the last few years, we no longer have had contact with him. Reporter: The local sheriff met with president obama and believes the current system simply misses too much. We've identified gaping holes in the background checks. It's really become what is america's dirty little secret about these background checks. Reporter: Last year, there were nine mass killings in the u.S. Eight of the gunmen had a history of mental illness. Background check is only as good as the data base used to check a gun buyer's record. Consider this. Only 12 states actively submit mental health records to the federal data base. The president proposed fixing this by giving states money to improve recordkeeping and by urging doctors to report credible threats of violence to law enforcement. Mental health experts say the other key to fixing the problem is identifying and treating those with mental illness at a young age. The white house wants to give states the resources to do that, but that is going to require money and it is also the kind of thing that will take a long time to actually show result. A long time. How soon? What is the soonest? Reporter: Well, it's going to take awhile because you have to go in, you have to establish a system, to go in and eidentify people, treat them and give the experts the ability to report who they are concerned about. Something they are not normally inclibed to do. But the president is out firing up the public, because his own team has been a little bit hesitant? Reporter: No doubt. Harry reid, with george stephanopoulos on sunday on "this week," saying that he's not even con vinvinced on the all of the president's plans. Jonathan karl, thank you so