Obama on Gun Control. President Obama speaks at a town hall meeting with CNN's Anderson Cooper on reducing gun violence at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. on Thursday. Barack Obama takes shot at NRA for skipping CNN town hall meeting A tough-talking President Obama — in the thick of a raging national fight over firearms — took aim at the National Rifle Association Thursday night, calling out the group for not having the guts to show up to a prime-time town hall meeting on gun control. “Our position is consistently mischaracterized,” Obama said during the televised event. “There’s a reason that the NRA isn’t here. They’re right down the street. You think they’d be prepared to have a debate with the President.” The meeting was held at George Mason University in suburban Washington, near the NRA’s headquarters. CNN, which broadcast the event, said it invited the gun group, but the NRA declined. “I’m happy to meet with them. I’m happy to talk with them,” Obama said. Before the meeting began, NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam told CNN the group saw “no reason to participate in a public relations spectacle orchestrated by the White House.” But CNN reported that it was the cable network, not the White House, that proposed the town hall gathering at the university’s Fairfax, Va., campus. The network said the audience was evenly divided between people who support the Second Amendment and those who believe in tighter gun regulations — and that Obama would take tough questions from both sides. Instead, the NRA spent much of the day hiding behind a computer — promoting a petition protesting the President’s plan via its Twitter feed. Building on his tear-filled appeal to enact common-sense gun control, Obama used the event to push a series of executive orders aimed at expanding background checks, improving gun safety and providing more funds for mental health treatment. “What I’ve said consistently throughout my presidency is I respect the Second Amendment and the right to bear arms,” Obama told the audience. The meeting — dubbed “Guns in America” — took place following a spate of mass shootings, including the recent San Bernardino, Calif., attack where 14 people were massacred. During the meeting, Obama denied accusations — often voiced by paranoid NRA members, gun nuts and Republican lawmakers — that he wanted to take away people’s guns. “I have been now President for over seven years and gun sales don’t seem to have suffered during that time. I have been very good for gun manufacturers,” Obama quipped. “Part of the reason, I think, that this ends up being such a difficult issue is because people occupy different realities,” Obama added, noting the difference in perceptions on gun ownership between those who live in the inner city compared to people in rural settings. The reality is that under Obama’s regulations, the government will neither confiscate guns nor make it harder for law-abiding citizens to obtain them. Obama, who said he never owned a gun in his life, added that 30,000 people are killed each year by guns. “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. Even as the President spoke, George Mason was tense over the possibility of armed protesters. Thomas Longo, the interim chief of police at the university, pointed out that it is lawful to carry firearms in public outdoor spaces on the Virginia campus. “Due to the sensitive nature of the topic, we will likely see protesters on campus — some of whom may be carrying weapons,” Longo had warned students in an email earlier in the day. “University police is aware of this and will have officers present to ensure that all protesters remain law-abiding and maintain the safety and well-being of Mason’s faculty, students and staff,” he continued. “As a gun owner, there are those of us who believe in protecting the right to bear arms who are also saying we need to do something about the over-proliferation of handguns and the stockpiling of ammunition,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, an invited town hall participant. Adams, a former NYPD captain, said he owns three guns, but understands the fine line between safety and senselessness. “It’s extremely important. Brooklyn is the largest borough in the most important city in the most important country, and we are also one of the places where gun violence is very real,” Adams said. “And to be in the room as a Brooklynite next to a person who’s from Arkansas or from Texas or from Chicago, it says that all of us, no matter what city we live in, this is something we all must be concerned about.”

• published: 08 Jan 2016
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