Obama mentioned the “conspiracy theory” during a town-hall event with CNN on gun control, two days after he took executive action to expand background checks on gun buyers.
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“All of us can agree that it makes sense to do everything we can to keep guns out of the hands of people who would do others harm, or themselves harm”, he said.
Still, Obama’s orders are proving to be quite controversial, and the president, along with CNN, will hold a town hall on Thursday to address questions about gun control.
President Barack Obama has accused America’s largest gun lobby of peddling “imaginary fiction” that has hampered a national debate on gun violence.
The NRA has been repeatedly, unfairly lambasted and libeled by President Obama, by his administration and by his ignorant supporters for years.
“The problem is that they want to murder”, Kyle said.
Devon Flynn, chairman of the College Republicans at George Mason, said the seemingly one-sided nature of the event is leaving many wondering if Obama’s legislation will be a true bipartisan effort. “And if the 90 percent of Americans who do support common-sense gun reforms join me, we will elect the leadership we deserve”.
“The way it is described is that we are trying to take away everybody’s guns”, Obama said.
The president also ordered additional Federal Bureau of Investigation staff to process applications and requested $500 million to invest in mental health. The doubters include 75 percent of gun owners.
That led to a discussion of whether the government was conspiring to take away Americans’ guns.
The NRA managing director of public affairs, Andrew Arulanandam, dismissed Obama’s criticism, stating that his organization “sees no reason to participate in a public relations spectacle orchestrated by the White House”. The president said this country’s routine mass shootings compelled him to act. The audience was filled with people on both sides of the gun debate, including families of victims of gun violence as well as those against gun control measures.
Obama said peddling that message is “really is profitable for the gun manufacturers” and “a great advertising mechanism, but it’s not necessary”.
Mr. Obama noted that gun sales in the US typically spike whenever he introduces a new rule regarding guns, or whenever there’s a mass shooting.
Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in 2011, stood as her husband, Mark Kelly, asked Obama about confiscation theories.
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There may be no more divisive topic among Americans than gun violence.
