Back in September, National Rifle Association executive vice president Wayne LaPierre drew ridicule after claiming the existence of a “massive Obama conspiracy” to take no action on gun control in his first term, get reelected, and then “erase the Second Amendment from the Bill of Rights.”
What the “Obama not coming after your guns is really evidence of his desire to come after your guns” thesis lacks in accuracy or logic it makes up for in convenience. The NRA's “massive Obama conspiracy” justifies the need to help them raise contributions and encourage people to buy more guns.
It's no surprise the NRA's election year message is starting to spread to their faithful allies at Fox.
During a segment last night on Fox Business' Follow the Money, guests Bo Dietl and Lars Larson agreed that the reason gun sales have supposedly seen a “dramatic increase” is because of this fear that if Obama is re-elected “they're going to go after your guns.” Of course, since gun manufacturers heavily contribute to the NRA, this fear helps the organization as well.
From Follow the Money:
TRACY BYRNES (GUEST HOST): There has been this dramatic increase in gun purchases, why do you think it is?
DIETL: Well, all I can say is one thing, President Obama is the reason. The people of the United States are really fearful that he will win a second term, and he wins a second term he's going to try to get more restrictions to gun control in the United States of America. We know what his ideas are, we know what his socialistic ideas, his very liberal ideas are. He doesn't like guns, and if he has one more term, that is why people listening here should not vote for him, cause if he gets one more term he's going to institute more regulatory stuff, people are now buying guns more than ever.
LARSON: Tracy, it's true.
DIETL: People are afraid that laws these will be ineffective, they're not going to get ammunition, they're not going to get guns, that's why it's so much sales of guns.
BYRNES: Lars, quickly you wanted to jump in.
LARSON: Tracy, I got to tell you something, Garland should have the right to protect himself regardless of his cockamamie liberal ideas, but the fact is that Bo is right, if you look at the President's history in the Illinois legislature, if you look at Eric Holder's history, if you look at Fast and Furious that was designed to pass new laws to restrict liberties of Americans, this administration, if it gets another four years, they're going to go after your guns, and that is why Americans were buying them for Christmas this year.
Right-wing media aggressively pushed an “Obama coming for your guns” line in 2008 and early 2009, but as Media Matters noted the sales pitch was getting old last winter as two major gun manufacturers that reported to their stock holders that sales levels had decreased as buyers where less driven by political concerns. With another presidential election year under way we can safely assume the gun lobby's message will continue to find eager acceptance on Fox.