Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN Legal & Legislation

Obama's budget is a sneak attack on our Second Amendment freedoms

Friday, February 17, 2012

By Chris Cox, NRA-ILA Executive Director

Ever since taking office, President Barack Obama has tried desperately to convince gun owners and sportsmen that he supports the Second Amendment. But actions speak louder than words, and Obama’s latest budget proposal contains numerous sneak attacks aimed at the heart of our firearm freedoms.

For example, NRA members and gun owners fought hard for a law to ban government agencies like the Centers for Disease Control from using our tax dollars to produce blatant anti-gun propaganda. Obama wants to kill it in his budget.

We fought hard for a law to ban the Obama administration from spending our tax dollars on illegal schemes like Operation Fast and Furious, which funneled thousands of guns to violent Mexican drug cartels. Obama wants to kill it in his budget.

We fought hard to protect the Federal Flight Deck Officer program, which allows armed, trained commercial airline pilots to serve as the last line of defense should terrorists breach the cockpit and attempt another 9/11-style attack. Obama wants to slash the funding for this potentially life-saving program in half.

Perhaps he doesn’t have the money to protect airline passengers because he spent it all sending guns to Mexico.

We fought hard for a law that prevents the Obama White House from spending our tax dollars to ban shotguns and to stop historic and collectible firearms from being imported into the United States. Obama wants to kill both of these in his budget.

Obama’s budgetary assault on our gun rights doesn’t stop there. For years gun owners have been buying and recycling our military’s spent brass as a way to keep the cost of firearm ownership down. Not anymore. If Obama gets his way with the budget, all of this brass will be melted at taxpayers’ expense.

You have to ask yourself: If Obama is so serious about protecting our gun rights, what’s so wrong with stopping government agencies from using our tax dollars to attack our Second Amendment rights?

With innocent lives being cut short on both the U.S. and Mexican side of our border, why would Obama go out of his way to reject a ban on funding for illegal operations like Fast and Furious?

The answer is simple. Everything Barack Obama says about protecting the Second Amendment is a bald-faced lie. He will use every weapon at his disposal — including our hard-earned tax dollars — in his mission to destroy our Second Amendment freedoms.

The Second Amendment is America’s first freedom, because it’s the one freedom that guarantees all of our precious liberties. Barack Obama’s values have never been, and will never be, compatible with this freedom. His latest budget proposal proves it.

Chris W. Cox is the Executive Director of the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) and serves as the organization’s chief lobbyist.

This article first appeared in the Daily Caller: http://dailycaller.com/2012/02/17/obamas-budget-is-a-sneak-attack-on-our-second-amendment-freedoms/#ixzz1mzXPZgQJ

TRENDING NOW
Supreme Court Upholds ATF Rule on “Firearms,” Unfinished Receivers and Kits

News  

Monday, March 31, 2025

Supreme Court Upholds ATF Rule on “Firearms,” Unfinished Receivers and Kits

On March 26, in a 7-2 decision (with Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissenting), the United States Supreme Court upheld a Biden administration gun control rule on what constitutes a “firearm” under 18 U.S.C. ...

House Judiciary Committee Votes to Advance Concealed Carry Reciprocity Legislation

News  

Tuesday, March 25, 2025

House Judiciary Committee Votes to Advance Concealed Carry Reciprocity Legislation

On Tuesday, March 25, 2025, the House Judiciary Committee held a markup for several bills, including two NRA-backed bills. With this crucial step in the legislative process now complete, these pieces of legislation can now ...

Trump Administration Revives Federal Firearm Rights Restoration Provision

News  

Friday, March 21, 2025

Trump Administration Revives Federal Firearm Rights Restoration Provision

On March 20, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) published an interim final rule entitled, Withdrawing the Attorney General’s Delegation of Authority. That bland title belies the historic nature of the measure, which is aimed at reviving ...

More Polish Citizens are Carrying Firearms for Self-Defense

News  

Monday, March 31, 2025

More Polish Citizens are Carrying Firearms for Self-Defense

Certain parts of the world—sadly, without any specifically recognized right to arms—have been moving closer to accepting the fact that firearms in the hands of law-abiding citizens is not the inherently dangerous concept promoted by ...

Trump DOJ to Investigate Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for Permit Delays

News  

Monday, March 31, 2025

Trump DOJ to Investigate Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for Permit Delays

The United States Supreme Court, in its landmark Bruen decision recognizing a right to carry in public for self-defense, did not foreclose shall-issue licensing as being consistent with the Second Amendment.

Colorado: FOID Bill Heads to Governor's Desk, TAKE ACTION NOW!

Saturday, March 29, 2025

Colorado: FOID Bill Heads to Governor's Desk, TAKE ACTION NOW!

On Friday, March 28th, Senate Bill 25-003, the semi-auto ban turned FOID-scheme bill, passed the final vote on the Senate floor, concurring in the House amendments. 

NRA Files Lawsuit Challenging Colorado’s Excise Tax on Firearm and Ammunition Sales

News  

Second Amendment  

Monday, March 31, 2025

NRA Files Lawsuit Challenging Colorado’s Excise Tax on Firearm and Ammunition Sales

Today, the National Rifle Association of America (NRA), together with the Firearms Policy Coalition, Second Amendment Foundation, Colorado State Shooting Association, Magnum Shooting Center, and an NRA member, filed a lawsuit challenging Colorado’s 6.5% excise ...

President Trump Works to Expedite D.C. Carry Permits

News  

Monday, March 31, 2025

President Trump Works to Expedite D.C. Carry Permits

On March 27, President Donald J. Trump signed a wide-ranging executive order titled, “Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful.”

Just One More Step: Australia’s New Weapon Laws

News  

Monday, March 24, 2025

Just One More Step: Australia’s New Weapon Laws

Australia implemented a firearm ban and mandatory confiscation in 1996 pursuant to the National Firearms Agreement, in which nearly 700,000 privately-owned firearms were turned in to the government and destroyed. 

Maine: Judiciary Committee Votes on Gun Bills This Week

Monday, March 31, 2025

Maine: Judiciary Committee Votes on Gun Bills This Week

On Thursday, April 3rd, the Joint Standing Judiciary Committee will vote on several gun-related bills. NRA members and Second Amendment supporters are urged to contact committee members now and encourage them to oppose all gun control ...

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.