Here's what Obama says is the biggest frustration of his presidency

President Barack Obama says that there's one elusive goal that frustrates him more than all others. 

In an interview published Thursday by the BBC, Obama says that the failure to curb mass shootings by enacting gun control legislation or other gun safety measures has been the most "distressing" part of his presidency. 

"If you ask me where has been the one area that I feel that I've been most frustrated and most stymied, it is the fact that the United States of America is the one advanced nation on earth in which we do not have sufficient common-sense gun safety laws even in the face of repeated mass killings," he said.

Obama has repeatedly advocated for stronger gun control policies following mass shootings throughout his presidency.

Following the shooting of nine parishioners at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina last month, Obama gave a solemn press conference at the White House where he scolded lawmakers for failing to pass gun control measures despite a number of high-profile mass shootings. 

"I've had to make statements like this too many times," Obama said.

"At some point," he added, "we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other developed countries."

The administration has been thwarted in its efforts to pass gun control reforms.

The last major legislative push came after a December 2012 massacre at an elementary school in Sandy Hook, Connecticut left 20 children and 6 adults dead. That time, several different gun control measures including background checks and a ban on high-capacity magazines failed in the Senate.

Despite the legislative setbacks, Obama told the BBC that he wouldn't stop pursuing goals that could lower the number of mass shootings. 

Watch the video below via the BBC: