Gun advocates fight back against Obama, new legislation

>>> for now decisions are upon us and we cannot afford delay. we cannot mistake absolutism for principle or substitute spectacle for politics or treat name calling as reasoned debate.

>> welcome back to "hardball." those lines in the president's inaugural address don't exactly sound like fighting words , do they? but to nra 's wayne lapierre , that's what they are. at an awards ceremony last night, he the leader of the nra explained why.

>> obama wants to turn the idea of absolutism into a dirty word . just another word for extremism. he wants you, all of you, and americans throughout all of this country to accept the idea of principles as he sees fit. there's only two reasons for a federal list on gun owners . to either tax them or take them. it's the only reason. and anyone who saysthat's excessive, president obama says you're an absolute it.

>> the nra has been unapologetic in its defense of gun rights fighting even naturally popular gun controls. in fact, the nation's gun extremists out there have hit the panic button in their delusional belief that president obama is determined to take aware their guns. i want to go to mayor brown on this. it just seems to me that there are other reasons to have lists of people buying guns, especially semi-automalttic rifles, mayor. they have fingerprints out there, but we don't collect people's hands. of course there's reasons to know who buys certain guns. maybe we should have ballistic tests on everything so we have signatures from the guns so we know if they killed anybody. are they crazy? or smart? or both?

>> no, i think they're absolutely crazy. i think they are desperately trying, as best they can, to overcome some form of gun control , no matter how modest. the most recent incidents involving people who were obviously out of their minds, using weapons on children and otherwise has caused panic among the gun owners in america and, in particular, the man whom you had quoted just a moment ago. his reaction is exactly that. of a desperate person trying to stave off what has turned into a basically popular movement .

>> you know, if someone came into a gun store and was behaving erratically and looked like they had a mental or emotional problem, a severe one, would they sell them a gun? and if not, why not have some help in finding out which people have those problems before you sell them guns? like a background check .

>> they might not sell them in a gun store , but then the guy can go to a gun show and get it without any difficulty there. that's the loophole that's been making a lie out of all of the gun regulations. it's half right there that the nra is crazy. of course, nothing has ever been absolute about the second amendment. we can't fire shoulder-held missile launchers in airports.

>> or even have access to an automatic weapon .

>> it's absurd.

>> of course it's absurd. he's not talking to america. he's talking to a fairly slim slice of the electorate that controls the house republicans and also has a lot of influence over democratic senators from rural states.

>> i know that, the nra 's wayne lapierre says gun owners would stand their ground. let's listen.

>> we are not people to be trifl trivializ trivialized, marginized or demonized as unreasonable. we're not children who need to be parented, misguided, bitter clingers to guns and religion. we believe in our right to defend ourselves and our families with semi-automatic firearms technology. we believe that if neither the criminal nor the political class and their bodyguards and security people are limited by magazine capacity, we shouldn't be limited in our capacity, either.

>> you know, mayor, your thoughts? he's basically saying we've got to arm people, a lot of them have to be armed up to the armed power of the united states government . i mean, this is really something. this is about the survivalist who want to go out there and set up barricades in the woods to fight the onslaught of the black helicopters . this isn't about sportsmanship or self protection. it's about insurrection. this is like fighting the revenuers again.

>> and he's totally misleading his people. he knows that anyone who works for the government in any capacity with a firearm is severely reviewed before they're allowed to touch a firearm. they are required to be skillful. they are required to report in. they're required to be held acountable for every use of that firearm, something that this man, obviously, would oppose. if he is telling his people he wishes the same privilege for them, then coming with that must be the same responsibility. he's totally ignoring that. and, believe me, that limited number of people to whom he's speaking is becoming fewer and fewer in every incident.

>> gun control of any kind this year?

>> they may get some small things, but the assault guns ban is dead.

>> i think they're going to get background checks . i think we could really get that down if harry reid would get moving.

>>> when we return, let me finish with hillary clinton tonight and her strong performance. back and better than ever you'd have to say in that tv performance, an all-day performance. you're watching "hardball," the place