Obama faced critics of his executive action on gun regulation last night at a town hall meeting.
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President Barack Obama rejected the conservative talking point on Thursday that his administration is out to strip guns away from their owners.
“If the goal is to save lives, then prosecute criminals, Mr. President!” another tweet read.
“We have invited them repeatedly, but if you listen to the rhetoric, it is so over the top, and so overheated”, the president said during a town hall event sponsored by CNN. Obama criticized the NRA’s decision not to attend the event, and took aim at their fiery language in response to his actions. 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.
“I’d like to have an opportunity to sit down, and be a part of the decision making”, said Ryan Pennock, the owner of Thunderbird Tactical Inc of Wichita, Kansas.
Mr Obama’s actions on guns have drawn major attention in the presidential campaign, with the Democratic candidates backing him and the Republicans unanimously voicing opposition.
The television special comes two days after Obama announced a modest series of executive actions meant to better enforce existing gun laws, primarily by cracking down on unlicensed gun dealers who evade background checks by selling guns for profit at gun shows and online.
“I was, too, actually”, Obama told CNN during a televised town hall on gun laws. “Is that controversial? Except on some website around the country”, said President Obama.
There may be no more divisive topic among Americans than gun violence.
The conspiracy theory is circulated, he said, “for either political reasons or commercial reasons in order to prevent a coming-together among people of goodwill to develop commonsense rules that will make us safer while preserving the Second Amendment”. That sentiment is particularly strong among gun owners, 75 percent of whom say they doubt the changes will reduce gun deaths. President Obama quickly addressed their nonappearance. Seemingly incredulous, Obama challenged Anderson Cooper after the anchor started to speculate whether it was fair to call the notion a conspiracy. He was joined by gun control activists and the families of gun victims.
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Obama, who will devote time this year to campaigning for Democrats running for November elections, vowed he would not campaign for any candidate who did not back gun reforms.
