Obama: Gun Manufacturers ‘Make Out Like Bandits’ After Mass Shootings

President Obama continued pressing for change of the nation’s gun laws, which he argues would help stop mass shootings that he says have become all too frequent.

He also signaled frustration with the National Rifle Association and gun manufacturers for blocking his proposed legislative efforts.

During an interview with the “WTF Podcast,” with Marc Maron, Obama complained that gun manufacturers reaped the benefits from shootings, based on the fear that the government would take away their guns.

“Each time that these events occur, ironically, gun manufacturers make out like bandits, partly because of this fear that’s churned up that the federal government and the black helicopters are all coming to get your guns,” he said.

He also joked that the “black helicopters” that feature in conspiracy theories were real.

“There are black helicopters, but we generally don’t deploy them … we deploy them against bin Laden but we generally don’t deploy them on U.S. soil,” he chuckled.

He also complained that the National Rifle Association is making it impossible to make any changes to the gun laws, particularly in a Republican led Congress.

“Unfortunately, the grip of the NRA on Congress is extremely strong, I don’t foresee any legislative action being taken in this Congress,” he said.

Obama explained that although the national grieving surrounding the shooting was “real” and “important” it wasn’t enough.

“There is no other advanced nation on earth that tolerates multiple shootings on a regular basis and considers it normal, and to some degree that’s what’s happened in this country, it’s become something that we expect,” Obama said.

Obama proposed that America should follow Australia’s lead in making radical changes to its gun laws after a mass shooting there, to prevent other shootings from occurring.

“When Australia had a mass killing … it was just so shocking to the system, the entire country said ‘well we’re going to completely change our gun laws’ and they did, and it hasn’t happened since,” Obama said.

He admitted that he was genuinely angered after Congress blocked gun control legislation after the Sandy Hook massacre.

“That’s the closest I came to feeling disgusted, I was pretty disgusted,” he said.