Former President Barack Obama claimed that gun ownership has “become an ideological… and partisan issue” when he explained that Americans bicker over issues that “have nothing to do with the safety of our children.”
“I think somehow — and there are many historical reasons for this — gun ownership in this country has become an ideological and partisan issue in a way it shouldn’t be,” Obama said.
“It’s kind of become a proxy for arguments about our culture wars, you know? city versus country. Race always plays a role in these issues. Class and education issues, etc.,” he added.
Obama’s comments were shared as the US had recorded 216 mass shootings in the country in 2023 as of Sunday morning. according to the Gun Violence Archive. So far this year there have been 15,544 gun deaths and 12,447 injuries in the United States.
In the CBS Mornings interview, Obama went on to differentiate the issue of gun violence in America from other “very practical” approaches in the country.
“Like we do, for example, we say, for example, in car safety, where we say, ‘Okay, we’ve had a lot of accidents.’ “Let’s wear seat belts and make cars safer and design our streets to prevent them,” Obama said.
“Rather than thinking about it very pragmatically, we end up actually arguing about identity and emotions and all sorts of things that have nothing to do with the safety of our kids.”