By NRA-ILA
Despite no longer living in the White House, former President Barack Obama continues to be a headache to law-abiding Americans. On May 30, Obama spoke at a digital innovation event in Brazil. During the onstage conversation, Obama said, “Our gun laws in the United States don’t make much sense. Anybody can buy any weapon, any time, without much, if any, regulation. They can buy [guns] over the internet, they can buy machine guns.”
In one breath, President Obama perpetuated the same lies as the mainstream media to push their gun-control agenda. Those lies were immediately called out by The Federalist:
- Anybody can buy a firearm (Prohibited persons; anyone under the age of 18 for rifles and 21 for handguns; and non-U.S. citizens cannot legally purchase a firearm.)
- Any firearm can be purchased (Since 1934, the National Firearms Act has heavily regulated many types of firearms, not to mention the myriad of other state laws.)
- A firearm can be purchased at any time (Background checks can only be run during certain times during the day and can take up to three days to complete. Firearms regulated by the NFA can take over a year to acquire.)
- Firearms can be purchased with few regulations (There are thousands of regulations on firearms on the state and federal level.)
- Anyone can purchase a machine gun (Since 1986, new automatic firearms can only be purchased by licensed federal firearms dealers for government entities, and some states completely ban the possession of machineguns.)
President Obama is no stranger to inventing his own truth to suit his own political agenda. In 2016, at a Memorial Day service, he said, “We flood communities with so many guns that it is easier for a teenager to buy a Glock than get his hands on a computer or even a book.” The Washington Post even went so far as to called the claim “strange” and “based in no real statistics, and which does nothing but distract the public.” This hyperbolic claim earned him “Three Pinocchio’s” from the Washington Post.
When his farfetched claims wouldn’t sway voters, Obama and his former administration tried time and time again to burden those law-abiding citizens who dare support the Second Amendment: his administration tried to stiflegunsmithing businesses, cut access to banking services for firearm manufacturers and gun shops with Operation Choke Point, and even going so far as tracking vehicle license plates at gun shows.
The former president can make as many false claims as he likes, but his “facts” will be as deceitful as ever and law-abiding Americans will always be quick to reveal the truth.
This article originally appeared at nraila.org and is reprinted here with permission.