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Watch: ‘American Sniper’ Widow Taya Kyle Stands Up To Obama On Live TV By Digging Up 1 Fact
Taya Kyle, whose husband, Chris, was the subject of the movie American Sniper and a victim of gun violence, challenged President Obama at a town hall meeting Thursday night on the effectiveness of more gun control legislation.
Regarding the mass shootings that have taken place in recent years, she said, “I don’t know that any of them would have been stopped by a background check.”
Current federal law requires any who purchase guns from a gun dealer to undergo a background check, but does not require private individuals who sell, gift, or trade them to each other to do so. President Obama wants to require so-called universal background checks, so these transfers would fall under federal law. The vast majority of gun purchases are made through licensed gun dealers.
Critics of the president’s new executive actions have pointed out that none of the changes the president seeks to implement, including universal background checks, would have prevented any of the mass shootings under Obama’s tenure as president, including those at Sandy Hook, Charleston, Chattanooga, Oregon or San Bernardino.
She went on to point out, as she did in a op-ed piece published Thursday, “we are at the lowest murder rate in our country, all time of low of murders. We are at an all time high for gun ownership…”
Image Credit: Pew Research
“I understand that background checks aren’t necessarily going to stop me from getting a gun, but I also know they wouldn’t have stopped any of the people here in this room from [being victims of gun violence]. And so it seems like almost a false sense of hope. So why not celebrate where we are?” she asked Obama.
The president replied, “[W]hat you said about murder rates and violent crime generally is something we don’t celebrate enough. The fact of the matter is that violent crime has been steadily declining across America for a pretty long time. And you wouldn’t always know it from watching television.”
“Now, I challenge the notion that the reason for that is that there is more gun ownership. Because if you look at the where the areas are with the highest gun ownership, those are the places that the crime hasn’t dropped down that much,” Obama said.
“During the town hall, Obama noted that he has never owned a firearm, TheBlaze reported.
The National Rifle Association declined to attend the CNN hosted event. The NRA’s Chris Cox told Fox News’ Megyn Kelly following the forum that his organization would only be allowed to ask one pre-screened question of the president.
Kyle discussed her interchange with the president on Fox and Friends Friday morning.
Source: http://www.westernjournalism.com/watch-american-sniper-widow-taya-kyle-stands-up-to-obama-on-live-tv-by-digging-up-1-fact/
