President Obama Slams The Idea That He’s Taking Away Guns As An NRA ‘Conspiracy’

On Thursday evening, President Obama took his new gun control plan to CNN for a town hall-styled discussion called “Guns In America.” The event was held on the eve of the five-year anniversary when Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was shot. Giffords attended to watch Obama field questions from American Sniper widow Taya Kayle, who supports gun ownership: “99.9% of us aren’t going to kill anyone.” Several moments were also dedicated to the Sandy Hook tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut:

“It was one of the worst days of my presidency. I visited Newtown two days after what happened. It was the only time I’ve ever seen Secret Service cry.”

Obama also responded to host Anderson Cooper’s examination of Monday’s tearful press conference, which left people surprised to see Obama cry while speaking about Newtown: “I was, too, to be honest.”

Now, this wasn’t a true town hall, for it was invitation only. One of the invited parties was the National Rifle Association, who declined to take part in the conversation despite all of their grievances against Obama’s executive gun measures. Obama has repeatedly denied trying to shut down the Second Amendment, and the NRA has repeatedly disagreed. The NRA (who tweeted all night as part of the #GunsInAmerica hashtag) called out Obama for trying to use them in a “PR stunt.”

Obama opened the discussion by stating, “I have never owned a gun.” Cooper soon moved on to Obama’s support for Australia’s tough gun-control laws. Obama simply agreed: “Right.” In response, the NRA tweeted, “A president who compliments Australia’s gun control model does not respect the #2A.”

Obama stressed (again) that he supports the Second Amendment.

Obama says he simply wants to “keep guns out of the hands of people who would do others harm or do themselves harm.” He also pointed out how, in some instances, it’s “cheaper” to buy guns than books.

The NRA was a big focal point of discussion, and Obama called out the NRA for not showing: “There’s a reason the NRA isn’t here. They’re down the street. You think they’d welcome a chance to debate on this issue.” Obama also said his presidency has been “very good for gun manufacturers.” To Obama, the gun plan is “about enforcing existing laws and closing what has turned into a massive loophole” involving background checks.

During one of the evening’s highlights, Cooper and Obama discussed the politicization of gun control. If you’ll recall, Obama said he was fine with being accused of politicizing the issue, but he clarified more to Cooper. Obama first said, “The problem is that this issue has been politicized.” Cooper responded, “You said it should be politicized, though.” Obama elaborated:

“Well, what I mean by that, Anderson, is that they have been portrayed as trying to take people’s guns away, as opposed to trying to make sure that the laws are enforced. And, one of the most frustrating things that I hear is when people say — who are opposed to any further laws, why don’t you just enforce the laws that are on the books, and those very same members of Congress then cut ATF budgets to make it impossible to enforce the law.”

Cooper asked Obama about whether or not it’s “fair” to call the NRA’s stance (of Obama taking away guns) a “conspiracy,” and this happened.

“Cooper, yes. It is fair to call the conspiracy, what are you saying? Are you suggesting that the notion that we are creating a plot to take everybody’s guns away so that we can impose martial law … Yes, that is a conspiracy!”

Twitter got all fired up about these “conspiracy” comments with much support for Obama confronting what he sees as paranoia:

https://twitter.com/MichaelaAngelaD/status/685280260716412928

As always, Obama didn’t go without criticism for the conspiracy talk.

https://twitter.com/bradkelley73/status/685279806246621188

Now Watch: What Is The ‘Gun Show Loophole’ And Did Obama Close It?