Obama to Pitch New Gun Control Measures at Town Hall Meeting

President Barack Obama is facing tough questions in front of an audience of high-profile figures in the debate over gun violence.

Cox also noted that unlike Obama, the NRA has been urging mental health reform for years. The live town hall, titled “Guns in America”, will be held at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, starting at 8 p.m. EST. He was joined by gun control activists and the families of gun victims.

“There are a whole bunch of law-abiding citizens who have grown up hunting with their dads, going to the shooting range and are responsible gun owners”, Obama said.

With only one year remaining until the end of his presidency, the moves represent a final push by Obama on an issue where he has repeatedly failed to make progress.

It began with Tuesday’s press conference during which Obama announced he would use his executive actions to circumvent Congress and close certain loopholes that allow easy access to guns.

Instead, he noted how he respected the Second Amendment and the traditions of gun ownership, particularly in rural areas where firearms are vital for protection.

The rhetoric around his gun control agenda, Obama said, “is so over the top, and so overheated”.

“I’d like to have an opportunity to sit down, and be a part of the decision making”, said Ryan Pennock, the owner of Thunderbird Tactical Inc of Wichita, Kansas. “Look, I mean, I’m only going to be here for another year”.

“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”, Obama said. In the prime-time, town-hall style forum, the USA president not only tore into the gun lobby but also his own party members who are against gun regulation.

“I think it is important not to suggest that if we can’t solve every crime, we can’t solve any crime”, he said.

‘And by the way, there’s a reason why the NRA is not here.

Throughout the evening, Obama sought to tamp down the notion that his administration was coming to take away Americans’ guns, calling them “conspiracy theories” and lamenting that his positions are “consistently mischaracterized”. This is the reason they exist.

NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam told the event host that “the National Rifle Association sees no reason to participate in a public relations spectacle orchestrated by the White House”.

However, according to CNN, which is hosting Thursday’s town hall, it was the news network who proposed the idea of a town hall to the White House.