Wednesday January 16, 2013

Gun lobby slams 'elitist hypocrite' Obama

WASHINGTON: The US gun lobby lashed out at President Barack Obama Tuesday as an "elitist hypocrite" for providing Secret Service protection to his daughters but balking at having armed guards in all schools.

In a 35-second video released on its website, the National Rifle Association slammed the duplicity of "protection for their kids, and gun-free zones for ours," amid a heated, nationwide gun control debate in the wake of a deadly school shooting.

"Are the president's kids more important than yours?" the NRA's narrator asks in a deep voice.

"Then why is he skeptical about putting armed security in our schools when his kids are protected by armed guards at their school? Mr Obama demands the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes, but he's just another elitist hypocrite when it comes to a fair share of security."

In a December interview, Obama said he was "skeptical" about an NRA proposal of placing armed security guards at schools around the country.

"I am skeptical that the only answer is putting more guns in schools," Obama told NBC television's "Meet the Press."

"And I think the vast majority of the American people are skeptical that that somehow is going to solve our problem."

Most Americans - 55 percent - back the NRA's proposal for armed guards in schools, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll out this week.

And 52 percent of respondents said the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut had made them more supportive of gun control.

A young man gunned down children aged just six and seven, along with six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14. Adam Lanza, who had earlier shot and killed his mother, also took his own life in one of the worst mass shootings in US history. - AFP