Obama Claims Assault Weapons Ban Supported By 'Majority Of Americans' And Ronald Reagan

President Barack Obama, while announcing new executive orders intended to curb future incidents of gun violence, invoked President Ronald Reagan in his address who he says also supported a ban on the manufacture of assault weapons. Obama said twice that Reagan wrote to Congress in 1994 expressing his support for the first Assault Weapons Ban.

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'The type of assault rifle used in Aurora, for example, when paired with high-capacity magazines has one purpose ' to pump out as many bullets as possible as quickly as possible. To do as much damage, using bullets often designed to inflict maximum damage,' Obama said. 'That's what allowed the gunman in Aurora to shoot 70 people ' 70 people, killing 12 ' in a matter of minutes.'

'Weapons designed for a theater of war have no place in a movie theater,' Obama continued. 'A majority of Americans agree with us on this. And, by the way, so did Ronald Reagan ' one of the staunches defenders of the Second Amendment ' who wrote to Congress in 1994 urging them ' this is Ronald Reagan speaking ' urging them to listen to the public and to the law enforcement community and support a ban on the further manufacture of military-style assault weapons.'

Watch this portion of the announcement via CNN:

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