Obama and gun laws

The depressing thing is reading all the comments about him on Facebook from all the red neck gun freaks who see him as the great enemy of the USA. The attitude seems to be "Nobody interferes with my right to bear arms" and "Don't try using my taxes to help poor people because they don't deserve it" The really scary one are those who think that if someone burgles your house you should be able to get your neighbour to come round with a gun and shoot them! Trigger happy doesn't begin to describe it.

I feel so sorry for him. He has been so frustrated in his aims due to their government system.

I hope he realises how respected he is by people outside of his own country. As I've said before, I'd be so proud if he was leader of this country.

Absolutely Tegan. He really is an example of a politician to respect. America should be so proud to have him.

History will judge him for what he did manage to achieve, which despite his hands being tied by 'the system', was a great deal. Sadly there are those who cannot see beyond their own twisted beliefs as Deedaa says but at least enough of the other sort existed to vote him in for a second term.

And yet another gun incident in US this morning on the news. Obama's heart must sink.

Deedaa I agree with that! President Obama is very brave to try to get things changed.
Given that he is also a Black American and these Red necked gun toters tend to be less than liberally minded in terms of any diversity he is particularly brave.
A good man trying his best in difficult circumstances.
I just despair about how intolerent some parts of the USA are. How did they get this mindset?

It would be very difficult indeed to unpick the whole gun thing in the US and turn it around.

There is no way Obama could get the political backing to improve things - and even if he achieved tighter gun laws, how could they get hold of the millions upon millions of guns that are circulating in the US? An impossible task.

He is right and brave to stick to his guns on this issue, so to speak. I get tired of the US assuming that they are a superior more democratic power than other parts of the world, when they carry this enormous elephant in the room - their gun laws. Obama said just that - that they are the only country with a civilized democracy that has such laws.

I wish him well - he deserved to be commended for his outspoken interview.

I think that this is the case of democracy in action.

I too hope that history judges Obama kindly.
We went recently to the home and Presidential Library of Franklin D. Roosevelt - a truly great man of vision and humanity, but someone remarked to me that while half of Americans thought that he was their greatest President, the other half regarded him as a dictator.

I was thinking when I read jane10's post that many US citizens are proud to have him as their president. As witness his being president for a second term if nothing else.

So, janea, I expect history will view Obama in the same way as it views Roosevelt.

I hope he stays safe in Kenya. He must be such a colossal target for Boko Haram and other such groups. Its brave of him to go.

There must be extremely tight security round the President. The Secret Service has probably been in Kenya for weeks, getting everything in order. They usually bring their own bullet proof limos with them. I imagine President Kenyatta is also surrounded by security men - his father always was!