Amid worries that Barack Obama will backtrack in a second term on his promises to leave guns and ammo alone, a fascinating handwritten note from the Oval Office has captured the eyes of some gun-rights advocates eager to keep the president’s feet to the fire.
It dates back to Obama’s first year in office and is in answer to one of the 15 or so letters he has asked aides to give him every day to read and to keep grounded in what everyday Americans are thinking about.
The letter was from a hunter worried about how the Democratic president would address Second Amendment gun rights if another mass shooting occurred. “Are we law abiding sportsmen going to have to pay the price for another problem?” he penned.
Obama was frank and to the point. He wrote on White House stationery, “I believe in the 2nd Amendment, and the rights of Sportsmen like you. Period. Sincerely Barack Obama.”
Bill Panagopulos, president of Alexander Historical Autographs of Stamford, Conn., reveals that he is having discussions with gun rights advocates for the memo in advance of his massive mid-September online and in person auction of Americana, rare autographs and historical artifacts like Obama’s memo.
The memo has an added value because there are so few Obama-autographed notes available to purchase, he told Secrets. And it’s the only-known written pledge by Obama to protect gun rights.
The note surfaced at Alexander as gun groups like the NRA are campaigning to defeat Obama, concerned he will unveil gun control initiatives like a new assault weapons ban in a second term. NRA President David Keene told Secrets that Obama is “the most anti-gun president in modern times.”
