Local gun shop owners scoff at Obama’s plan

The White House announced plans recently to expand background checks, among other measures, in a push to curtail gun violence – a move local gun shop owners say will do little to reduce the incidence of mass shootings while restricting their Constitutional rights under the second amendment.

In an emotional speech last week, President Obama laid out his strategy to hire more than 230 additional staff members to process background checks around the clock. A key part of the measure would attempt to close the so-called “gun show loophole,” requiring anyone involved in firearms sales to be licensed and conduct background checks.

But some local firearms merchants say the move is little more than political theater.

“A lot of it is just lip service,” said Brian Sisson, COO of The Range at Ballantyne, located in Indian Land. “It won’t change the way we operate at all.”

Bruce Eisenmann, owner of The Lone Coyote located inside The Pony Express on S.C. 21, said the days of shady gun show dealings are long gone. Fifteen years ago, he said, there would be one or two dealers at gun shows with a sign that read “No Background Checks.”

But, he insisted, “that was stopped a long time ago,” adding “it takes usually less than two minutes,” to perform a background check.

The National Rifle Association, the largest nationwide gun rights organization and lobby, condemned the White House’s call to action, calling the president’s speech a “condescending lecture devoid of facts,” and saying the Obama administration has “made no secret of its contempt for the Second Amendment.”

Obama said at a recent televised town hall meeting that he “would be happy to speak with” the NRA, but that the conversation has to be based on facts and “not some imaginary fiction in which Obama is trying to take away your guns.”

If there’s one thing that both sides can agree on, it’s that any time Obama speaks about gun control, firearm sales rise.

“I’ve been very good for gun manufacturers,” Obama told the crowd.

Sisson agreed the Obama administration has been good for business.

“Fortunately, every time this president opens his mouth and says something about firearms, it drives gun sales through the roof,” Sisson said. “He’s the poster child for gun sales for the NRA.”

Obama accused the NRA of fear mongering.

“Not just every time I propose something, but every time there’s a mass shooting, gun sales spike,” Obama told the town hall crowd. “Part of the reason is the NRA has convinced many of its members that somebody is going to come grab your guns.”

As the president prepared to give his last State of the Union address Tuesday night, many Americans already considered gun control a key issue in this year’s presidential election. Republican presidential candidates criticized the president’s remarks, vowing to overturn the executive orders if elected.

“I will veto that,” Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, who visited York County last week, said. “I will unsign that so fast, so fast.”

Other 2016 presidential contenders, such as Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, echoed Trump’s plans to repeal the measures and fight against any gun control legislation, while Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton expressed her support for Obama’s actions.

David Aspesi, an NRA certified law enforcement instructor and owner of Firearms Training Institute of York and Lancaster counties, said he is an advocate for responsible gun ownership and safety.

“I want to scare my students to some respect because I want them to realize if you can’t use this firearm for self defense, don’t even get it,” he said.

“While I do believe it’s a Second Amendment right to own firearms, I don’t believe it’s a Second Amendment right to carry those firearms without proper training,” and doing so puts innocent people at risk, Aspesi said.

“It’s not the gun that jumps up and hurts somebody, it’s the individual.”

Aspesi said someone intent of committing a violent act will do so whether armed with a gun or not.

“If they didn’t have a gun, they’d have a sword, they’d have a pipe bomb,” he said. “If you have evil in your heart, there’s always a way to hurt other people. You’re never going to get rid of evil in some people’s hearts.”

This story was originally published January 11, 2016 at 5:20 PM with the headline "Local gun shop owners scoff at Obama’s plan."