While support is strong, skepticism about the effectiveness of the president’s executive actions is high-nearly 6 in 10 said the measures will not effectively curb gun-related deaths. He also accused the powerful gun lobby group for purveying the myth that he’s interested in taking away Americans’ guns. “And since this is the main reason they exist, you’d think they’d be prepared to have a debate with…a president”. Donald Trump, addressing a rally in Vermont just as Obama was holding the town hall, said he would eliminate gun-free zones in schools on his first day if elected to the White House.
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There are two realities that perhaps even those most deeply entrenched on the opposite sides of the gun control conversation might agree on. “When would I have started on this enterprise?”
“If somebody is a straw purchaser and what that means is they don’t intend the guns for themselves, they intend to resell them to somebody else, they go to a gun show in indiana where right now they don’t have to do a background check“, he said.
“Part of the reason, I think, that this ends up being such a hard issue is because people occupy different realities”, the president said, admitting that he had never owned a gun.
At another point, Obama said: “I respect the Second Amendment; I respect the right to bear arms”, Obama said.
Obama sought tougher laws after the Newtown massacre, but said he was foiled by the NRA.
Thursday evening’s prime-time town hall meeting was located in Fairfax, Va., which is also home to the NRA headquarters.
Although Obama’s executive measures were panned by virtually the entire Republican field of candidates, the president appears to be in line with the majority of Americans.
Obama attempted to appeal to gun owners in the audience, urging them to support measures that would close background check “loopholes” so that firearms are less likely to flow into the hands of criminals.
The White House has said the actions are lawful, although legal challenges are expected. “It’s a great advertising mechanism”, Obama said.
The Republican frontrunner told the crowd: “You know what a gun-free zone is for a sicko?”
Obama faced a range of pointed questions Thursday night at George Mason University from gun-rights advocates and critics, as well as from Mark Kelly, the astronaut husband of former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who survived being shot in the head while talking to constituents in her Arizona district in 2011.
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U.S. President Barack Obama has vowed not to support any candidate running for office who does not “support common sense gun reform”.
