National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre. Credit: Getty Images
Executive Vice President of the National Rifle Association Wayne LaPierre issued a scathing review of President Barack Obama's inaugural address, saying the president expects Americans to accept his flawed interpretation of the U.S. Constitution and the Second Amendment.
"He wants you, all of you, and Americans across this country to accept the idea of principles as he sees fit," LaPierre said. "It's a way of redefining words so that common sense is turned upside down, and nobody knows the difference."
"We as gun owners face that same kind of false ultimatum," he added. "We are told that to stop insane killers, we must accept less freedom."
That is not the solution, LaPierre explained. Nonetheless, Obama believes the only "principled way to make children safe is to make lawful citizens less safe" through gun control.
"Criminals couldn't care less about Obama's so-called principles, that's why they are criminals," LaPierre said to applause. "You all know that."
Obama wants you to believe that putting the federal government right in the middle of every firearms transaction, except those between criminals, will somehow make the country safer, the NRA executive vice president lamented.
"He wants to keep all those names in a massive federal registry. There are only two reasons for such a registry of gun owners, that is to tax them or take them," he added.
Watch LaPierre's entire speech below:
LaPierre went on: "Mr. President, just because you wish words meant something other than what they mean, you don't have the right to define them anyway you want. Because when words can mean anything, they mean nothing."
President Obama subtly addressed the nation's gun lobby at the end of his inaugural speech, hinting that his administration will continue taking action on guns.
"Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm," Obama said on Monday. "Progress does not compel us to settle centuries-long debates about the role of government for all time -- but it does require us to act in our time,"
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 21: U.S. President Barack Obama waves to the crowd after his speech at the ceremonial swearing-in during the 57th Presidential Inauguration on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol January 21, 2013 in Washington, DC. Barack Obama was sworn in for a second term as President of the United States. Credit: Getty Images
LaPierre argues Obama is overstepping his authority by going after semi-automatic rifles. He said Americans' inalienable rights, like the right to bear arms, are "God-given freedoms" that can not be infringed.
"They belong to us…no government gave them to us and no government can ever take them away," he said.
"We're not people to be trivialized, marginalized or demonized as unreasonable. We're not children who need to be parented or misguided 'bitter clingers,'" he concluded. "We believe in the right to defend ourselves...We believe in our country, we believe in our Bill of Rights and we believe in our Second Amendment."
Featured image via AFP/Getty
