Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

Obama campaign organizing against gun owners

Thursday, September 22, 2011

If there is one thing America has learned over the course of Barack Obama’s presidency, it’s that where he falls short as a president, he excels as a politician. He is a master at using identity politics and class warfare to divide Americans and solidify his base of support. However, the Obama campaign’s latest attempt to spread fear and loathing among the masses falls flatter than his poll ratings.

Last week the president’s campaign launched AttackWatch.com, a website ostensibly aimed at countering anti-Obama “smears” with “facts.” In reality, the site is a thinly veiled attempt to spread misinformation and whip up anger against anyone who disagrees with Obama.

Visitors to the site are asked to submit a detailed report of any “attacks” on President Obama to his campaign. Obama supporters are also urged to give his campaign the private email addresses of anyone they know “who needs to know the facts” so the campaign can send those dissenters an email message.

This attempt by Obama to create an online enemies list must be another example of his incredible web savvy the media keeps telling us about — Obama’s 21st century rendition of President Nixon’s paranoia.

The site also includes Obama’s best effort to portray himself as a friend of gun owners, and declares at the top of its Second Amendment page, “President Obama believes in common sense gun control laws compatible with Second Amendment rights.”

As gun owners and freedom advocates know, whenever a serial anti-gunner like President Obama says he wants common sense gun control, you can be sure that gun-ban policies are around the corner. Former President Clinton used this same “common sense” rhetoric to help sell his gun ban in 1994.

Thank you for the offer, Mr. President, but the Second Amendment and our Bill of Rights already contain enough common sense and your editing isn’t needed here.

As for proof that Obama supports the Second Amendment, the site repeats his claims from the 2008 campaign, when he said: “There’s nothing I will do as president of the United States that will in any way encroach on the ability of sportsmen to continue that tradition.”

Apparently, our president still doesn’t understand that the primary function of the Second Amendment is to protect the fundamental and individual right of all law-abiding Americans to keep and bear arms in order to defend ourselves, our families, our property, our communities and our country. It is not to protect “sportsmen.”

It’s understandable that Obama would have to go back to his 2008 campaign to find anything that remotely resembles pro-gun rhetoric, because his more recent actions have put his antipathy for the Second Amendment on full display.

In addition to appointing two Supreme Court justices with clear records of contempt for our right to keep and bear arms, Obama has also stacked his administration with anti-gun zealots like Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Attorney General Eric Holder and far too many “czars” who are lifelong opponents of legal gun ownership.

You won’t find this on AttackWatch.com, but the Obama administration also launched an initiative to ban the importation of popular sporting and defense shotguns. You know … because he cares so much about sportsmen.

The site also displays a photo of former U.S. Ambassador John Bolton, splashed in angry red to portray him as an enemy “attacker,” and claims he is spreading false rumors that Obama would use the coming U.N. Arms Trade Treaty to impose restrictions on law-abiding gun owners.

What Obama doesn’t tell you is that his administration changed the official U.S. position on the treaty from strong, unwavering opposition, to support for the treaty if passed by “consensus.” And in a 2010 speech to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, his under secretary for arms control told the audience: “We will work between now and the U.N. Conference in 2012 to negotiate a legally binding arms trade treaty, and we’ll need your help in achieving it. We have made that a fundamental policy commitment.”

NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action has been warning Americans about this U.N. gun control scheme for more than 15 years. We’ve monitored every treaty proposal to date, and there is no doubt that what is taking shape at the U.N. is an all-out attack on the constitutional freedom of American gun owners. An attack the Obama administration has made a “fundamental policy commitment.”

The reason President Obama is so anxious to create a smoke-and-mirrors pro-gun record is because he knows that gun owners are motivated voters with the power to shape an election. And in 2012, we’re going to make Obama stand on his actual record on gun rights — not let him hide behind a few sound bytes and half-truths on a web page.

If that lands us on the Obama campaign’s enemies list, then so be it. In fact, I hope they put us at the top.

Chris W. Cox is the Executive Director of the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) and serves as the organization’s chief lobbyist.

This article first appeared at the Daily Caller.com http://dailycaller.com/2011/09/22/obama-campaign-organizing-against-gun-owners/#ixzz1hnaXCKH8

TRENDING NOW
Nancy Pelosi: Pro-Gun Voters Made an Impact

News  

Monday, November 18, 2024

Nancy Pelosi: Pro-Gun Voters Made an Impact

Congratulations NRA members and other pro-gun voters! Once again, our votes helped make the difference.

Gulfport City Council Votes to Create "Gun-Free Zone" for Law-Abiding Citizens

Friday, November 22, 2024

Gulfport City Council Votes to Create "Gun-Free Zone" for Law-Abiding Citizens

This week, the Gulfport City Council voted 4-3 to ban law-abiding citizens who legally open carry from bringing firearms into City Council Chambers during a public meeting. They also approved intrusive security measures, including wanding ...

Make Crime Illegal Again

News  

Monday, November 18, 2024

Make Crime Illegal Again

While less prominent than the red sweep of the nation’s electoral map and the triumph of President Donald Trump, another telling development following the 2024 elections was the number of Californians in ultra-progressive strongholds who ...

Missouri: AG Bailey Intervenes on County’s Assault on the Second Amendment

Friday, November 22, 2024

Missouri: AG Bailey Intervenes on County’s Assault on the Second Amendment

Missouri’s Attorney General Andrew Bailey took immediate action to stop the erosion of the Second Amendment by a County Commission bent on restricting the rights of law-abiding citizens who either reside or traverse within its ...

Pro-Second Amendment Bills Pre-Filed For Texas' 2025 Legislative Session

Friday, November 22, 2024

Pro-Second Amendment Bills Pre-Filed For Texas' 2025 Legislative Session

Last week your NRA reported on a laundry list of extreme anti-Second Amendment bills pre-filed in advance of the 2025 Texas legislative session, including red flag gun confiscation schemes, bans on private firearms transfers, limits ...

Bloomberg’s Mayors, Back in the News!

News  

Monday, November 18, 2024

Bloomberg’s Mayors, Back in the News!

Just a few short weeks ago, we wrote about Michael Bloomberg’s controversy-dogged gun control organization, Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG), and how another high-ranking member of the group had been indicted for allegedly committing serious ...

Federal District Court Strikes Down IL’s “Assault Weapon” and “Large-Capacity Magazine” Bans in NRA-Supported Case

Saturday, November 9, 2024

Federal District Court Strikes Down IL’s “Assault Weapon” and “Large-Capacity Magazine” Bans in NRA-Supported Case

Today, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois struck down provisions of the Protect Illinois Communities Act (PICA) that prohibit “assault weapons” and “large-capacity magazines” in an NRA-supported case, Barnett v. Raoul.

NRA Files Amicus Brief Arguing that Washington’s Magazine Ban Violates the Second Amendment

Friday, November 15, 2024

NRA Files Amicus Brief Arguing that Washington’s Magazine Ban Violates the Second Amendment

Today, NRA filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court of the State of Washington in a challenge to Washington’s prohibition on magazines that hold over 10 rounds.

NRA Scores Legal Victory Against ATF; “Pistol Brace Rule” Enjoined From Going Into Effect Against NRA Members

Monday, April 1, 2024

NRA Scores Legal Victory Against ATF; “Pistol Brace Rule” Enjoined From Going Into Effect Against NRA Members

NRA Members Among the Largest Class Protected from Draconian Rule

California: Governor Newsom Signs Multiple Anti-Gun Bills into Law

Friday, September 27, 2024

California: Governor Newsom Signs Multiple Anti-Gun Bills into Law

On September 24th, Governor Newsom continued his crusade to erode Second Amendment rights in California by signing several anti-gun bills into law. NRA actively opposed these bills throughout the session and will continue to fight ...

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.