NRA in furious attack on Obama's gun proposals

The National Rifle Association has accused US president Barack Obama of demonising gun owners and attempting to put “every private personal firearm transaction right under the thumb of the federal government”.

In a scorching verbal attack on the president, Wayne LaPierre, chief executive of the powerful pro-gun US group, lambasted Mr Obama for reducing the US constitution to “a blank slate for anyone’s graffiti.”

At a hunting awards ceremony in Nevada yesterday, Mr LaPierre referred to the president’s comment in his inaugural address on Monday that people “cannot afford to mistake absolutism for principle” – a nod to the gun control debate and how gun rights activist perceive the second amendment of the US constitution as the right to buy and carry any type of firearm.

“Absolutes do exist, it’s the basis of all civilisation,” said Mr LaPierre. “Without those absolutes, democracy decays into nothing more than two wolves and one lamb voting on who to eat for lunch.”

Again, the NRA pointed to the security provided to Mr Obama’s two daughters, the subject of a sharply criticised ad by the organisation last week, as a reason why all people should have the right to arm themselves with high-power firearms.

“We deserve and have every right to the same level of freedom that government leaders reserve for themselves – to defend ourselves and our families with semi-automatic firearms technology.”

Mr LaPierre urged Mr Obama to “use caution when attacking clearly defined absolutes in favour of his principles”.

The NRA chief made his comments just hours after another US college shooting, in which three people were wounded following a dispute at Lone Star College in Houston, Texas, as students dived for cover.