In the latter portion of Thursday night’s CNN “town hall” with President Barack Obama on gun control, host Anderson Cooper surprisingly pushed back at the President’s slam on opponents of his executive actions and policies on guns as conspiracy theorists. But in his answer, Obama compared further steps on gun control to making vehicle travel safer, even in the face of declining traffic deaths.
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The town hall featured several well-known figures in the gun debate.
The Rev. Michael Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina Catholic Church, was one of the locals to ask Obama tough questions about gun control.
Noting that in a polarized America, people often inhabit “different realities” on guns, Obama, never a gun owner himself, sought to forge a cultural connection with pro-gun audience members, relating a story from his days on the campaign trail with First Lady Michelle Obama.
The next question at the town hall came from Kimberly Corban, whom CNN described as a rape survivor from her time in a Colorado college in 2006.
In a primetime, televised forum, the president dismissed what he called a “conspiracy” alleging that the government – and Mr Obama in particular – wants to seize all firearms as a precursor to imposing martial law.
“The NRA has convinced many of its members that somebody’s going to come grab your guns, which is by the way, really profitable for the gun manufacturers”.
With help from Congress to mandate a more efficient universal background check system, Obama said, “We may be able to save a whole bunch of families from the grief that some of the people in this audience have had to go through”.
Going after the NRA: When Obama shed his own tears on Tuesday, he said, “Every time I think about those kids, it gets me mad”. “When would I have started on this enterprise?”
He defended his support for the constitutional right to gun ownership while arguing it was consistent with his efforts to curb violence and mass shootings.
“That’s an area where there’s just not enough national consensus at this stage to even consider it. And part of it is is people’s concern that that becomes a prelude to taking people’s guns away”, Obama said.
Obama was critical of the National Rifle Association and its grip on the Republican-led Congress. “The way we break the deadlock on this issue is when Congress does not have just a stranglehold on this debate – or, excuse me, the NRA does not have a stranglehold on Congress in this debate”, he said. Last year, following a series of mass shootings, Obama pledged to “politicize” the issue to try to level the playing field for gun-control supporters.
The American Firearms Retailers Association, another lobby group that represents gun dealers, did participate Thursday.
U.S. President Barack Obama has vowed not to support any candidate running for office who does not “support common sense gun reform”.
The Republican frontrunner told the crowd: “You know what a gun-free zone is for a sicko? That’s bait”, Trump told the crowd. Among other interventions, the order clarifies the definition of engaged in the business-a term used to determine which sellers are required to obtain federal firearms licenses.
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Stiffer background checks are supposed to achieve his goal of reducing “gun violence”, despite the fact that, according to The Washington Times, “A record number of firearms background checks were conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2015 – equating roughly to 44 checks every minute”. Instead, it appeared aimed at Democratic congressional candidates from competitive districts who might want Obama’s support on the campaign trail this year.
