I go shooting all the time, says Obama in attempt to reassure gun ownersPublished: Monday, Jan 28, 2013, 19:59 IST | Updated: Monday, Jan 28, 2013, 20:01 IST
Agency: Daily Telegraph
President Barack Obama has
claimed that he goes shooting
"all the time", while attempting to
reassure American gun-owners that he respects their rights to use firearms.
Facing conservative anger over his proposals to ban assault weapons as part of a drastic overhaul
of gun control laws, the president said that he was a keen clay-pigeon shooter.
Asked in a magazine interview whether he had ever fired a gun, Obama said he did so with guests
at the president's rural retreat. "Up at Camp David, we do skeet shooting all the time," he said.
"And I have a profound respect for the traditions of hunting that trace back in this country for
generations.
"And I think those who dismiss that out of hand make a big mistake."
Obama's plans for tighter firearms regulations were drawn up by Joe Biden, the vice-president,
following the massacre of 20 children and six adults at a Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown,
Connecticut, last month.
Biden, whose proposals also include a background check system on all Americans trying to
buy guns and a 10-shot limit for ammunition clips, has been quick to note that he owns a
shotgun.
The president, however, rarely speaks about firearms and is dismissed by many enthusiasts
as an elite urban law professor who does not appreciate America's heritage of gun ownership.
He accepted in his interview that gun culture in rural areas was "very different" to that in urban
areas, such as his home city of Chicago, where it is more frequently linked to serious crime.
"If you grew up and your dad gave you a hunting rifle when you were 10, and you went out
and spent the day with him and your uncles, and that became part of your family's traditions,
you can see why you'd be pretty protective of that," Obama told The New Republic.
He made clear, however, that his daughters Sasha, 11, and Malia, 14, did not join the
clay-pigeon shooting parties at Camp David, in rural Maryland.
A week before American football's Super Bowl the president risked further angering the
heartland by expressing concern about the safety of the sport. Several high-profile professional
players have in recent years developed brain damage, which has been linked to the frequent
heavy impacts on their skulls caused by the sport.
"I'm a big football fan, but I have to tell you
if I had a son, I'd have to think long and hard before I let him play football," said Obama.
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