Why Gun Lovers Still Fear President Obama

President Barack Obama hasn’t done much of anything to curb Americans’ gun rights.

Despite his 2008 campaign pledges, he hasn’t pushed to reinstate the assault weapons ban. And he hasn’t tried to force background checks on people who buy firearms from unlicensed dealers at gun shows.

In fact, he’s barely said a word about guns during his presidency, other than urging “the beginning of a new discussion” on the issue after then-Rep. GabrielleGiffords was shot.

But the National Rifle Association and many gun enthusiasts still deeply distrust and fear him.

The powerful gun rights group — which is setting aside at least $40 million to defeat Obama in November — claims he would gut the Second Amendment in his second term through a series of domestic or international moves that he’s been hesitant to advance over the past three-plus years.

Gun and ammunition sales, which rocketed when Obama took office, are again on the rise as owners stockpile weaponry in part because they’re afraid those won’t be available if he wins reelection, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearms industry trade group.

Post continues on Politico.com : http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0712/78696.html “He’s his own stimulus plan for the gun industry,” Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) said.
“I get the [NRA] magazine. I think he’s on the cover nine out of 10 times,” added Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska).
There is no more dramatic illustration of gun owners’ disdain for Obama than the Fast and Furious gunrunning scandal.
The NRA and its political allies have used the botched operation to rile up their base, claiming the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives purposefully allowed guns to land in the hands of Mexican drug cartels as a way for Obama to push new gun restrictions, including the assault weapons ban. The NRA scored the contempt vote in the House last month against Attorney General Eric Holder.
The NRA has its 2008 campaign website gunbanobama.com and is ready for round two with a widely circulated flier listing “Ten Reasons Why Obama Is Bad News For The Second Amendment.”
In an election likely to be decided by which candidate has a more energized base, conservatives say gun issues could have an outsized impact in critical swing states such as Colorado, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, where the NRA has a large membership base.
“It’s not the money. It’s the message. Educated, pissed-off, angry gun owners vote. And that’s what they do. Educate. Get them to the polls,” said Richard Feldman, a former NRA lobbyist and president of the Independent Firearm Owners Association.
Gun rights enthusiasts are especially worried about the possibility of Supreme Court vacancies, saying that any additional Obama appointees could potentially overturn the 2008 District of Columbia v. Heller ruling that affirmed an individual’s rights to have gun in the home.
Obama’s opponents also are on alert over U.N. negotiations scheduled to conclude at the end of July over a new treaty that could tighten controls on the international import, export and transfer of conventional arms.


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