Barack Obama pushed gun control for “Trayvon” and “those congregants in Thousand Oaks,” among others, during a December 13 acceptance speech for the Robert F. Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award.
Trayvon Martin was shot and killed in self-defense on February 26, 2012, after attacking a neighborhood watchman, and 12 people were killed in Thousand Oaks’ Borderline Bar & Grill on November 7, 2018.
During his acceptance speech, IJR magazine quoted Obama saying: “The horror of gun violence continues to plague our nation, a pain that many in this room know too well,” he said. “The bullets that took Bobby, JFK, and Dr. King are just like the bullets that took Trayvon, and those school children in Newtown, and those police officers in Dallas, and those concertgoers in Vegas, and those congregants in Thousand Oaks.”
On October 29, 2018, Breitbart News reported that Obama reacted to the Tree of Life Synagogue attack by lamenting “hateful rhetoric” and calling for more gun control. On February 15, 2018–the day after an attacker shot and killed 14 in a gun-free Parkland high school—Breitbart News reported Obama’s calls for more gun control.
On June 1, 2018, Obama encouraged gun controllers to stay committed to securing more Second Amendment restrictions, “no matter how long it takes.” He tweeted, “This National Gun Violence Awareness Day, show your commitment to keeping our kids safe from gun violence. Then, for everyone we’ve lost, take action to change our leadership and our laws until they reflect that commitment – no matter how long it takes.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.