‘American Sniper’ Widow Stands Up to Obama — During CNN’s Town Hall

“When he’s talking about that people are scared that you’re going to take away our freedom, it’s not just the freedom of whether I have to take a background check or not”. And I think that your message of hope is something I agree with.

The Texas resident was in attendance and confronted the President saying, “The thing is that the laws that we create, don’t stop these horrific things from happening, right? And that’s a very tough pill to swallow”.

On one side of the debate were people like county sheriff Paul Babeu, who wanted the President to do more to stop terrorism rather than to control guns, and rape victim Kimberly Corban, who argued that her past now made her feel a responsibility to carry a gun to protect her children. And yet, I crave that desire for hope, too. “And I think that by creating new laws you do give people hope”, Kyle told Obama. And so they could do the same amount of damage with a pipe bomb. “I’m going to throw my shoulders behind folks who want to actually solve problems instead of just getting a high score from an interest group”, he said.

“You wouldn’t always know it from watching television”, he said.

Mr. Obama on Tuesday announced more executive actions to restrict gun ownership, including expanded background checks for firearms purchases to cover more online sales and other transactions.

Babeu’s sentiments were echoed by Chris Jacob, the vice president of the American Firearms Retailers Association, who said the country might be better served “if we can enforce the laws that already exist”. So there’s an issue there, right?

Kyle disputed the administration’s repeated assertion that stricter gun control measures would curb violence, remarking that under Obama’s presidency the murder rate is at an all-time low while gun ownership is at its peak in the U.S.

“In actuality, fully automatic weapons are already highly restricted and require an additional license most gun owners will never have”, she said.

“In the same way that we don’t eliminate all the traffic accidents but, over the course of 20 years traffic accidents get lower, over time, [gun] violence gets reduced, and so families are spared”, he said. “It could happen to any of us at any time”. She then mentioned how recent mass shootings, such as the December 2 terror attack in San Bernardino, California, would not have been prevented by Obama’s 10 executive orders.

Taya Kyle, the widow of “American Sniper” Chris Kyle, who was shot and killed while helping fellow soldiers readjust to life back home, was the first audience member to be given the microphone, and her question really got to the heart of gun-rights advocates’ objections to Obama’s efforts. “I think it’s a false hope type thing”.