Gregory Korte

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The day after a shooting spree in Oregon last year, President Obama said people who support gun control would "just have to, for a while, be a single-issue voter" if gun laws in America were ever going to change.

Thursday, Obama said he'll follow that philosophy himself.

"Even as I continue to take every action possible as president, I will also take every action I can as a citizen," he said in an op-ed for The New York Times. "I will not campaign for, vote for or support any candidate, even in my own party, who does not support common-sense gun reform. And if the 90% of Americans who do support common-sense gun reforms join me, we will elect the leadership we deserve."

Obama explained his position in a televised forum on guns Thursday night.

"I meant what I said," he told CNN's Anderson Cooper, saying the National Rifle Association has a "stranglehold on Congress in this debate."

"The majority of people in this country are a lot more sensible than what you see in Washington. And the reason that Washington doesn't work well in part is because the loudest, shrillest voices, the least compromising, the most powerful, or those with the most money have the most influence," Obama said. "And, you know, I'm going to throw my shoulders behind folks who want to actually solve problems instead of just, you know, getting a high score from an interest group."

Obama's pronouncement comes two days after White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest appeared to equivocate on that question, saying, "I don’t want to make a formal declaration here without having spoken to the president about it."

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But Earnest also said it's unlikely that Obama would ever have to choose between the gun issue and supporting a Democrat. Take, for example, Sen. Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., who co-sponsored a provision in 2013 that would have closed the so-called "gun show loophole."

"The president certainly gave Sen. Toomey credit for what he had previously done on this issue. I think there are a lot of other things on which the President and Sen. Toomey disagree, so it’s hard to imagine a scenario where the president is willing to campaign for Sen. Toomey," Earnest said, "I suspect that Mr. Toomey’s Democratic opponent, once he has one, will have at least as good of a record as Sen. Toomey does when it comes to gun safety and keeping guns out of the hands of those who shouldn’t have them, if not a better one."