In NYT op-ed, Obama calls on candidates to support gun reform

The bloodshed on Chicago streets received national attention as President Obama took his fight for gun control to a prime time televised town hall meeting Thursday night. “Are you suggesting that the notion that we are creating a plot to take everyone’s guns away so that we can impose Martial law is a conspiracy?”

“Is it fair to call it a conspiracy”, questioned host Anderson Cooper.

“I actually think he was honest, I’ll probably go down about 5 points in the polls by saying that, but I think he was honest”, Trump said.

Biden and Obama’s senior adviser, Valerie Jarrett, took their message directly to communities still haunted by mass shootings. “This is a CNN town hall”, said CNN publicist Shimrit Sheetrit. Several NRA members were in the audience.

“And by the way, there’s a reason why the NRA is not here”, Obama added, referencing the noticeably absent executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, Chris Cox.

A gun owner in favor of greater gun control, Kelly said there are 65 million guns across the U.S.: “If the federal government wanted to confiscate those objects, how would they do that?” You’d think that they’d be prepared to have a debate…

The issue of gun control has sharply divided the American public.

Obama had less empathy for America’s most prominent pro-gun lobby, the National Rifle Association. Asked how business has been since Obama took office, Kris Jacob, vice president of the group, replied: “It’s been busy”. “Because I believe that’s the case, you know, often in Chicago, and possibly the source of the gun that shot and murdered my daughter”, Pendleton said, according to a CNN transcript.

Earlier this week, Obama announced a series of executive measures to expand background checks for gun buyers and toughen the enforcement of existing laws.

In an editorial in The New York Times published on Thursday evening, Obama stressed the need for “common-sense” gun laws and gave a warning to the next election’s crop of candidates. 58% of likely US voters say the government should only do what the president and Congress agree on when it comes to gun control.

Senator Ted Cruz, who is also running for the Republican presidential nomination, emailed supporters an image of the president in combat uniform, complete with helmet, claiming “Obama wants your guns”.

At the forum last night, a rape victim, an Arizona sheriff and a gun shop owner each urged the president not to make it harder for law-abiding citizens to get guns.

A CNN spokesperson said that it was the network, not the White House, that proposed the idea of a town hall on guns and noted that the audience would be evenly divided between organizations that support the Second Amendment, including NRA members, as well as groups that back gun regulation.