'Gun Appreciation Day' to be held in US
2013-01-07 22:04
Washington - American gun enthusiasts can express their
zeal on an upcoming "Gun Appreciation Day" right before Barack Obama
is sworn in for a second term as president.
A new coalition of gun rights and conservative groups is
urging Americans to show support for the right to carry firearms by turning out
in large numbers on 19 January at gun stores and firing ranges. Obama's
swearing in is to be take place two days later.
"The Obama administration has shown that it is more
than willing to trample the Constitution to impose its dictates upon the
American people," said Gun Appreciation Day chairperson Larry Ward.
In the wake of the shooting last month in Connecticut that
claimed the lives of 20 small children and six elementary school workers, Obama
said he will support a new bill to restore a ban on military-style assault
weapons.
Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation
and chairperson of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms,
said: "We need to ban politicians who assault our rights, not firearms
that are used thousands of times a day to protect lives and property from
criminal attack."
The second amendment to the US constitution guarantees
the right to bear arms.
The pro-gun day is the initiative of a dozen or so
associations which say they expect support from some 50 million Americans. The
country's most powerful gun lobby, the National Rifle Association, is not among
the organisers.
