U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga) said in an interview on Wednesday that the National Rifle Association (NRA) opposes President Barack Obama’s gun control proposals primarily because of his race.
“First of all, first of all, first of all he is a black. And as a black person being the President of the United States, that’s something that they [NRA] still cannot get over,” said Johnson in a conversation with the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Daniel Malloy. “They couldn’t get over the first election. They’re still shell-shocked at the second election – to use a pun, shell-shocked – and so that’s the first thing.”
The NRA released a video ad calling President Obama an elitist hypocrite for allowing gun protection for his two young daughters at all times but demanding gun-free zones in schools for other children across the nation.
Johnson believes the ad and NRA’s opposition to the legislation proposed by the President yesterday is rooted in a desire to accomplish their goals by whatever means necessary.
“I think they have invoked racist sensitivities,” added the Georgia lawmaker, who himself in African-American. “They are not, they are certainly not free of those kinds of tactics to win their battle. They will gladly confuse people. They will gladly divide people. And so whatever it takes for them to accomplish their objective, which is no limits on firearm use and possession whatsoever.”
Johnson said that the NRA and its supporters would prefer to go back to a lawless society, where “there are no limits, there’s no court system, there’s no justice” and allow people to just handle their disagreements “right there on the spot.”
“We’re much more civilized than that,” he said.
Johnson represents Georgia’s 4th congressional district.
Comments