Wed., January 16, 2013 11:55am (EST)

Before Obama's Plan Is Out, NRA Calls Him An 'Elitist Hypocrite'

By Mark Memmott

Updated: 4 months ago

President Obama and Vice President Biden are due at midday to unveil the administration's plan for reducing gun violence. The National Rifle Association, which has made clear it opposes nearly all the things the administration is considering, is out in advance of the news with a video that accuses the president of being an "elitist hypocrite" for not supporting the idea of putting armed guards in all schools.

The video puts Biden, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Meet the Press host David Gregory on the "elitist/hypocrite" list as well.

In the NRA's view, if the president's daughters are protected by Secret Service agents with guns, then Obama should be in favor of having armed officers in schools. Stationing officers in schools is one of the NRA's suggestions for preventing attacks such as the mass shooting on Dec. 14 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., which left 20 children and six educators dead.

Note at 11:45 a.m. ET: The White House has released a statement calling the video "repugnant and cowardly," Reuters reports. According to the AP, White House spokesman Jay Carney adds that a president's children should not be "pawns in a political fight."

As NPR's Ari Shapiro reported on Morning Edition, the administration's plan is expected to be a combination of executive actions that don't require action from Congress such as "strengthening the mental health safety net" and increased enforcement of current gun regulations and calls for new legislation that would, for example, ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.

We'll be posting on the news once the White House event begins. It's scheduled to get started at 11:55 a.m. ET.


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