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He did not say that he wants to take away the rights of lawful gun owners. He did not say that he wants to ban assault weapons. He made no mention of firearms used for self-defense by law-abiding citizens.
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He said specifically that AK-47s belong with soldiers and not with criminals. Given that true AK-47 ownership by criminals is extremely rare, and when it does occur it's usually not isolated criminals deciding "gee I want an AK47 to rob that liquor store", but usually the result of affiliation with a larger criminal enterprise with logistical ties that enable such acquisitions, it's absurd to mention it in the aftermath of a mass killing by a lone shooter who used a rifle that was semi-auto and not even AK-style.
If you also notice, he gets applause for his statement. What are they applauding for? They're applauding because they think (as I think) he's talking about trying to reinstitute whatever kind of AWB II he thinks he can get away with.
"No AK-47s for criminals" may sound harmless when interpreted literally, but it sounds to me like code for, "I haven't forgotten about trying to get rid of those evil assault weapons and high capacity magazines that Bush allowed the evil gun industry to start producing again for sale to private citizens back in 2004."
These sorts of anti-gun politicians would vote for any illogical, impractical, or ineffective gun law 5 times over if they could get away with sneaking around and voting on behalf of absentee colleagues in the House and Senate. They think all such laws are stepping stones to increased public tolerance of gun regulation, even if the laws have no effect or a harmful effect on society.
I think they do this not because they are malicious, but because they genuinely believe an eventual outright ban on guns is possible, and that it would reduce murder and assault rates once completed. They are willing to sacrifice the safety of certain individuals in order to ensure fewer overall gun-related casualties, and they are willing to accept almost any negative consequences in the intermediate stages of restrictions -- gun registration and partial gun bans.
http://thefiringline.com/library/quotes/antifreedom.xml (search for Obama)