US President Barack Obama has called on Congress to act on his stalled gun reform measures, bemoaning its failure to make meaningful reforms despite a “ritual” of shooting massacres.

A day after a gunman shot dead 12 people at a naval base a few miles from the White House, Obama said the “overwhelming majority” of Americans agreed with him on the need for common-sense firearms reform.

“I do get concerned that this becomes a ritual that we go through every three, four months, where we have these horrific mass shootings,” Obama said in an interview on Tuesday with the Telemundo Spanish-language television network.

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“Everybody expresses understandable horror. We all embrace the families … and yet we’re not willing to take some basic actions.”

Obama introduced a sheaf of measures including a plan for enhanced background checks on gun buyers and a ban on assault-style rifles as America reeled after 20 children and six adults were killed in a school rampage in Newtown, Connecticut in December last year.

Yet the package foundered in Congress, partly due to a fierce lobbying campaign by pro-gun groups and opposition from some of his fellow Democrats from conservative states, leaving Obama to introduce a smaller set of measures using his executive powers.

“Ultimately, this is something that Congress is going to have to act on,” he said in the interview.

The president said it appeared that the shooter in Monday’s massacre, Aaron Alexis, 34, had a history of mental health problems, and touted his plan for expanded background checks for gun purchases.

Meanwhile Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he wanted to revive the debate sooner rather than later.

“But we’ve got to have the votes first. We don’t have the votes,” Reid told reporters after meeting with fellow Democrats.

“I hope we get them but we don’t have them now.”