President Barack Obama flew to Minnesota Monday to try to sell Americans on his aggressive gun-control plan.

Obama spoke to local police officers, community leaders and victims of gun violence about his proposals before delivering some remarks to the public.

"If we’re serious about preventing the kinds of tragedies that happened in Newtown, or the tragedies that happen every day in places like Chicago or Philadelphia or Minneapolis, then law enforcement and other community leaders must have a seat at the table," he said.

Obama has proposed banning assault weapons, limiting ammunition magazines to 10 rounds, requiring background checks on all gun purchases, penalizing those who buy guns from unlicensed dealers, hiring 1,000 more school resource officers and spending millions more on training, research and counseling.

"We may not be able to prevent every massacre or random shooting. No law or set of laws can keep our children completely safe," he said. "But if there’s even one thing we can do, if there's just one life we can save, we've got an obligation to try."