Obama calls for ‘urgency’ on guns in S.F. speech to mayors

President Barack Obama greets people at San Francisco Airport in San Francisco, California, on Friday, June 19, 2015. He is in the Bay Area Friday to speak at a mayor's conference and two fundraisers. President Barack Obama greets people at San Francisco Airport in San Francisco, California, on Friday, June 19, 2015. He is in the Bay Area Friday to speak at a mayor's conference and two fundraisers. Photo: Connor Radnovich, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Connor Radnovich, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 10 Caption Close Obama calls for ‘urgency’ on guns in S.F. speech to mayors 1 / 10 Back to Gallery

Just days after a devastating church massacre in South Carolina, President Obama on Friday urged hundreds of U.S. mayors to show “a sense of urgency” on common-sense gun legislation, saying defiantly, “I am not resigned” to Congress’ refusal to act, even after a litany of mass shootings.

“I refuse to act like this is the new normal ... or that it is simply sufficient to grieve,” Obama said in a speech before the U.S. Conference of Mayors at the San Francisco Hilton near Union Square.

The president also pressed the mayors to back his initiatives on increasing the minimum wage, expanding paid family leave and investing in early childhood education, in a 26-minute address Friday afternoon.

Obama’s call for mayors to sidestep the Republican-led Congress was met with applause and some cheers from the crowd of mayors, which included Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin.

Obama, in his public address to the mayors, and again at a private fundraiser at the home of billionaire Democratic activist Tom Steyer and his wife, Kat, highlighted the lingering effects of this week’s church shootings in Charleston. S.C., to underscore his concerns about gun violence.

Rejecting critics who charge he is “politicizing” the tragedy, Obama warned, “No reform can guarantee the elimination of violence.” But he added, “If Congress had passed some common-sense gun safety reform” after the Sandy Hook school shootings in Newtown, Conn., in 2012 and enacted legislation that “90 percent of the American people supported ... we might still have some more Americans with us.”

And America’s mayors, he said, would “attend fewer funerals.’’

“We need a change in attitude, among everybody — lawful gun owners, those who are unfamiliar with guns. We have to have a conversation about it and fix this,” he said. Congress will act “when the public insists on action,” Obama said, noting that the public opinion has shifted markedly in recent years on other controversial issues like gay marriage and climate change.

“We have the capacity to change ... but we have to feel a sense of urgency about it,’’ he said. “That’s how we honor those families; that’s how we honor the families of Newtown.”

Obama also called on the mayors to help boost America’s middle class by tackling income inequality, climate change and other issues confronting urban America, despite the inaction in Congress.

The president’s address came during a trip to San Francisco that also included two high-end campaign fundraisers for his party.

Immediately after his speech, he appeared at a technology roundtable at the home of venture capitalist and Uber investor Shervin Pishevar. The event, which drew 30 supporters who paid $33,400 each, benefited the Democratic National Committee, and was closed to the press.

Afterward, he headed to the Steyer home bilfor an event co-hosted by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to benefit the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Steyer’s fundraiser drew more than 50 people, who paid $10,000 to $33,400 each, according to the DCCC.

The president also met privately with Gov. Jerry Brown Friday to discuss federal, state and local efforts to deal with California’s devastating drought and wildfires, said Eric Schultz, an Obama spokesman. In his address to mayors, the president also thanked Brown for his leadership on climate change.

Big crowds greeted Obama on the streets and outside the day’s events, including a gaggle of climate-change activists with signs opposing drilling in the Arctic. Calls of “U.S. out of the Middle East” also were heard, even as other spectators waved American flags.

The speech to the mayors was a rare open event by Obama in San Francisco, whose visits to the Bay Area have been overwhelmingly dominated by closed-door Democratic campaign events attended by deep-pocket donors.

At they Steyers’ Sea Cliff home, with its expansive view of the Golden Gate Bridge and the sound of foghorns in the background, Obama again spoke of the Charleston church shootings.

“Mass shootings like this do not happen in other advanced countries around the world. ... They are unique in their frequency to America,” he told the crowd. “We gotta change that, and it’s not enough for us to express sympathy. We have got to take action.”

The president also gave a shout-out to Pelosi and other Democratic members of Congress who have helped him move his agenda forward.

“But the amount of work left undone is remarkable,“ Obama said. “The challenges, but also the opportunities, to continue to grow this economy so that everybody gets a shot ... are significant.“

Obama arrived in San Francisco for his 20th trip to the Bay Area as president shortly before 1 p.m., when he landed at San Francisco International Airport after spending time in Los Angeles. He was scheduled to remain overnight in San Francisco and fly out to Palm Springs Saturday morning.

Carla Marinucci is The San Francisco Chronicle senior political writer. John Wildermuth is a Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: cmarinucci@sfchronicle.com, jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com Twitter @cmarinucci, @jfwildermuth