Leaders of the National Rifle Association warn members of looming gun-control efforts
US group says rights threatened during last part of Obama presidency and that situation would be dire if Hillary Clinton were elected
Leaders of the National Rifle Association have cited the new Republican majority in the US Senate as evidence of the gun rights group's clout, but warned of looming gun-control efforts in the final term of President Barack Obama - and even tougher action by his potential successor Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Wayne LaPierre, the NRA's executive vice president and CEO, in his members' meeting speech called on Congress to enact a law allowing people with handgun carry permits to be allowed to be armed anywhere in the US, arguing that nobody "should be forced to face evil with bare hands".
The motto of the NRA's annual convention at the weekend was: "If they can ban one, they can ban them all." Organisers had expected more than 70,000 people to visit the convention's exhibit space, meetings and musical acts in downtown Nashville.
LaPierre and Chris Cox, the head of the NRA's lobbying arm, painted a bleak picture of the state of the country and the dangers to gun rights presented by the last 650 days of Obama's presidency. "There's no telling how far President Obama will go to dismantle our freedoms and reshape America into an America that you and I will not even recognise," LaPierre said.
"And when he's finished he intends to go out with a coronation of Hillary Rodham Clinton."
Clinton was expected to announce the launch of her bid for the Democratic nomination for president late yesterday.