A commentary video from the National Rifle Association claimed that President Obama stood in front of “the wrong people” when delivering a speech about gun violence before gun violence survivors, and that instead he should have stood before “the groups he is really helping: gang members, felons, and repeat offenders.”
On January 5, Obama announced during a speech from the White House that his administration is taking executive action to address gun violence in light of Congress' inaction following several high-profile mass shootings. During his remarks, Obama stood in front of several survivors of gun violence. He was introduced by Mark Barden, who lost his 7-year-old son Daniel during the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting.
The NRA lashed out at Obama for speaking before victims of gun violence in a January 8 video narrated by NRA News commentator Dana Loesch, who is also a conservative radio host for Glenn Beck's The Blaze. In the video, Loesch called the gun violence survivors present at Obama's speech “the wrong people”:
LOESCH: On January 5, 2016, the president held a press conference and shared the stage with survivors of gun violence and family members of the affected. The problem is he is dishonest. He stood in front of the wrong people. He pledges to help those affected by illegally possessed and used firearms, but actions speak louder than words. If the president wanted to stand in front of a group of people so as to claim that he is helping them, he should surround himself with -- and stand in front of -- the groups he is really helping: gang members, felons, and repeat offenders.
Loesch went on to argue that when it comes to crime in the United States, Obama is on the side of criminals rather than the victims of crimes. This claim echoes an oft-stated falsehood by the NRA that Obama refuses to enforce existing gun laws.
In fact, if there is any entity that frustrates the enforcement of federal gun laws the most, it is clearly the NRA, which has for decades attempted to hinder the operations of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the agency charged with enforcing federal gun laws. Furthermore, included in Obama's executive actions are several measures to ensure that current gun laws are being enforced in an effective manner.