Chris Cox: San Bernardino shootings are not NRA's doing, Cox says to Obama
<broken link removed> wrote about the recent San Bernardino shootings – specifically with President Obama's comments squarely in his sights. Cox, who since 2002 has served as the executive director of the <broken link removed>'s Institute for Legislative Action, defended the NRA and lashed out against Obama for using the most mass shootings to "push his <broken link removed> agenda."
In an opinion piece carried by USA Today titled "No, Mr. President, the NRA is not to blame," Cox wrote:
"Just when we think that politics can't sink any lower, President Obama once again proves us wrong by politicizing the tragedy in San Bernardino before the facts were even known. What we do know is that the American people are heartbroken by these horrific crimes — and despite what the president would have us believe — America's law-abiding gun owners are heartbroken by these horrific crimes as well. At the same time, we are sick and tired of this president suggesting the men and women of the National Rifle Association are somehow to blame."
According to WhiteHouse.gov, the president said:
"For those who are concerned about terrorism, some may be aware of the fact that we have a no-fly list where people can't get on planes, but those same people that we don't allow to fly could go into stores in the United States and buy a firearm and there's nothing we could do to stop them," Obama said, shortly after the husband and wife team of Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik killed 14 people in San Bernardino, Calif. "That's a law that needs to be changed."
In his initial remarks about the shooting, Obama said there are "some steps we could take not to eliminate every one of these mass shootings, but to improve the odds that they don't happen as frequently: common-sense gun safety laws, stronger background checks."
The president immediately used the shooting as a platform for gun control:
"And so my hope is that we're able to contain this particular shooting, and we don't yet know what the motives of the shooters are, but what we do know is that there are steps we can take to make Americans safer, and that we should come together in a bipartisan basis at every level of government to make these rare as opposed to normal."
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev), in speaking of <broken link removed> in the Senate, said the NRA is acting as a "quasi-militant wing of the Republican Party," and reached out for some leverage, somewhere, against another report of mass shootings.
"Those who choose to do the NRA's bidding will be held accountable by our constituents," Reid said. "Something has to be done. We must take a stand. The American people are desperately looking for help, some help, any help."
Cox wrote that the "National Rifle Association is not to blame. Neither is our Second Amendment freedom," and said that even though "California has already adopted President Obama's gun control wish list," the laws did nothing to prevent the shooting.
The plain truth is that the president cannot keep us safe. And his policies would leave us defenseless. That's why our Second Amendment right to defend ourselves must be protected. It's not just a constitutionally guaranteed freedom. It's a natural, God-given, human right. – Chris Cox, NRA's chief lobbyist and principal political strategist......
Cox said the NRA is "calling on the president to stop exploiting tragedies to push his failed political agenda," something that Cox dubs as "shameful." He ends with: "The NRA will neither accept the blame for the acts of murderers, nor apologize for fighting for our right to defend ourselves against them."
<broken link removed> wrote about the recent San Bernardino shootings – specifically with President Obama's comments squarely in his sights. Cox, who since 2002 has served as the executive director of the <broken link removed>'s Institute for Legislative Action, defended the NRA and lashed out against Obama for using the most mass shootings to "push his <broken link removed> agenda."
In an opinion piece carried by USA Today titled "No, Mr. President, the NRA is not to blame," Cox wrote:
"Just when we think that politics can't sink any lower, President Obama once again proves us wrong by politicizing the tragedy in San Bernardino before the facts were even known. What we do know is that the American people are heartbroken by these horrific crimes — and despite what the president would have us believe — America's law-abiding gun owners are heartbroken by these horrific crimes as well. At the same time, we are sick and tired of this president suggesting the men and women of the National Rifle Association are somehow to blame."
According to WhiteHouse.gov, the president said:
"For those who are concerned about terrorism, some may be aware of the fact that we have a no-fly list where people can't get on planes, but those same people that we don't allow to fly could go into stores in the United States and buy a firearm and there's nothing we could do to stop them," Obama said, shortly after the husband and wife team of Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik killed 14 people in San Bernardino, Calif. "That's a law that needs to be changed."
In his initial remarks about the shooting, Obama said there are "some steps we could take not to eliminate every one of these mass shootings, but to improve the odds that they don't happen as frequently: common-sense gun safety laws, stronger background checks."
The president immediately used the shooting as a platform for gun control:
"And so my hope is that we're able to contain this particular shooting, and we don't yet know what the motives of the shooters are, but what we do know is that there are steps we can take to make Americans safer, and that we should come together in a bipartisan basis at every level of government to make these rare as opposed to normal."
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev), in speaking of <broken link removed> in the Senate, said the NRA is acting as a "quasi-militant wing of the Republican Party," and reached out for some leverage, somewhere, against another report of mass shootings.
"Those who choose to do the NRA's bidding will be held accountable by our constituents," Reid said. "Something has to be done. We must take a stand. The American people are desperately looking for help, some help, any help."
Cox wrote that the "National Rifle Association is not to blame. Neither is our Second Amendment freedom," and said that even though "California has already adopted President Obama's gun control wish list," the laws did nothing to prevent the shooting.
The plain truth is that the president cannot keep us safe. And his policies would leave us defenseless. That's why our Second Amendment right to defend ourselves must be protected. It's not just a constitutionally guaranteed freedom. It's a natural, God-given, human right. – Chris Cox, NRA's chief lobbyist and principal political strategist......
Cox said the NRA is "calling on the president to stop exploiting tragedies to push his failed political agenda," something that Cox dubs as "shameful." He ends with: "The NRA will neither accept the blame for the acts of murderers, nor apologize for fighting for our right to defend ourselves against them."
