U.S. President Barack Obama is seen on a monitor as he speaks during a live town hall event on reducing gun violence hosted by CNNÄôs Anderson Cooper at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia January 7, 2016.
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“There are neighborhoods around the country where it is easier for 12- or 13-year-olds to purchase a gun, and cheaper, than it is for them to get a book”, he said at the meeting, broadcast by CNN and hosted by Anderson Cooper.
That’s right… more than half of the Republicans surveyed said they are in FAVOR of Obama’s gun control measures, along with 57% of gun owners.
In an aggressive push for tighter gun controls, President Barack Obama took his case to the nation and vowed not to back any candidate “even in my own party who does not support common-sense gun reform”.
President Obama on Thursday revealed that he has “never owned a gun” and became visibly agitated when asked if his move this week to make buying guns more hard was part of a larger effort to force owners to register weapons or restrict gun purchases.
On Tuesday, Obama said he had taken a series of actions meant to expand the number of people who undergo criminal background checks when purchasing firearms, by clarifying that existing laws require anyone making a living off the sale of guns to conduct the checks.
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.
“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”.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Wednesday that the White House “consulted” with CNN for the event, but the network’s journalists will “decide exactly who attends and who gets called on”.
Following Obama’s speech on gun control reactions followed quickly. In various polls taken over the last two years around 90 percent of Americans agree with universal background checks, including the majority of gun owners. “When will I have started on this enterprise” to confiscate guns? he said.
“The problem is that they want to murder”, Kyle said. Trump opposes Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump held a rally in Burlington, Vermont, at the same time as the forum and weighed in on the issue of firearms, attacking the idea of gun-free zones, though it wasn’t a topic raised by Obama or other participants Thursday night.
Taking the stage at George Mason University, Obama accused the NRA of refusing to participate in the town hall despite having its headquarters nearby.
The president is signaling to the American public that he is “no longer willing to wait” to pass gun reforms, according to Chelsea Parsons who focuses on guns and crime policy at the left-leaning Center for American Progress.
Controversially, the president has opted to bypass a Congress unlikely to support his legislation and proposed to force through new background check laws and tighter controls on gun sales via executive action. “It was one of the worst days of my presidency”, Obama said.
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The president also called the notion that he is trying to take people’s guns away a “conspiracy”.
