The National Rifle Association is promoting the claim that President Obama is “our biggest threat to national security” in response to reports that Obama will soon take several executive actions to address gun violence.
Obama reportedly plans to announce the executive actions some time during the “next several days.” While details of Obama's proposals have not been released, several news reports indicate that Obama will shrink the “gun show loophole” by using regulatory authority to require unlicensed sellers who are engaging in high-volume gun sales to become licensed and perform background checks on customers.
The NRA responded to Obama's forthcoming proposals in a January 4 video, with the gun rights organization labeling the president “our biggest threat to national security”:
In the video, the charge that “the biggest threat to national security is sitting in the Oval Office” is made by former Bush administration official John Bolton, a Fox News contributor. Bolton has served in an NRA leadership position and frequently appears in NRA News videos to advance the gun organization's views.
The NRA previously supported, in the words of NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre, “mandatory instant criminal background checks for every sale at every gun show,” although the gun group has since abandoned this position and now claims expanded background checks would be the precursor to the confiscation of privately owned firearms.