NRA Issues Response to Obama, Bay Area Gun Vault Owner, Others in Vegas

The National Rifle Association issued a response Wednesday afternoon to President Obama's gun control proposals, while many Bay Area firearms dealers were unavailable for comment because they're at the Shooting Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show in Las Vegas.

One of the nearest large firearms dealers to Scotts Valley is the Bay Area Gun Vault in Mountain View, where a manager said the owner was at the SHOT Show in Vegas. Many California gun dealers are at the convention this week.

Earlier Wednesday in the Nation's Capital, Obama called on Congress to pass legislation to ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips, and to require universal background checks on all gun buyers, the Washington Post reported.

The NRA, the vocal gun lobby group, issued a response within hours, under the headline "Statement from the National Rifle Association of America In Response to President Obama’s Gun Control Proposals."

The response reads:

Throughout its history, the National Rifle Association has led efforts to promote safety and responsible gun ownership.  Keeping our children and society safe remains our top priority.

The NRA will continue to focus on keeping our children safe and securing our schools, fixing our broken mental health system, and prosecuting violent criminals to the fullest extent of the law.  We look forward to working with Congress on a bi-partisan basis to find real solutions to protecting America’s most valuable asset – our children.

Attacking firearms and ignoring children is not a solution to the crisis we face as a nation.  Only honest, law-abiding gun owners will be affected and our children will remain vulnerable to the inevitability of more tragedy.

The gun control debate has heated up nationwide since the Dec. 14 shooting massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., in which 20 children ages 6 and 7 years old were gunned down by a man armed with a Bushmaster XM-15 rifle and semiautomatic handguns.

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