Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, in an exclusive conversation with Breitbart News, weighs in on the gun control push by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) in Chicago and President Barack Obama’s recent references to Australian-style gun confiscation as a way forward for America.

We first asked Sheriff Clarke about IACP’s new focus, whereby it turned from pushing longer prison sentences for criminals to pushing gun control exclusively, particularly universal background checks. The organization partnered with the National Law Enforcement Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence (NLEPPGV) in this endeavor.

Sheriff Clarke says:

I was extremely disappointed when I heard that my fellow law enforcement executive colleagues had gotten into bed with Obama and his gun confiscation mission. That’s really what it’s about. It’s not about reducing violence, it’s not about reducing mass murder or suicides. The real intent of Obama and these gun groups is gun confiscation and they know they are going to have to do it step by step. They’re not going to be able to go after that today, as there would be fierce blowback. So they are doing it in stealth ways and this IACP meeting is one of those ways.

Clarke indicated the NLEPPGV has embedded itself with the IACP, and that doing so is a “slick” way of not simply getting its message out but of making it look like law enforcement really does support more gun control. Clarke pointed out that funding for groups like NLEPPGV comes from the Ford Foundation, which he described as part of an “anti-Second Amendment crusade.”

He then said, “It is important to understand that the the chiefs who met in Chicago speak for themselves, they do not speak for the law enforcement profession.” Yet he lamented that the chiefs had aligned themselves with the NLEPPGV.

Clarke said:

We, in law enforcement, have an obligation to be on the side of crime victims. Not on the side of the criminal element. Gun control has nothing to do with the crime and violence that these chiefs see in their cities on a daily basis and they know it. But many of them, especially in your large urban centers, are under the thumb of anti-gun, soft on crime, mayors. And they have to sing from the same sheet of music that their mayors are singing from. But the crime and violence we see in our cities and counties is not the result of a lack of background checks, and these chiefs know that. The research and data are there. Criminals don’t care about laws in general and they don’t care about gun laws or gun restrictions. They will find a way to get around those. And that’s why I ultimately say that the chiefs’ push for more gun control has nothing to do with reducing violence. Rather, it has to do with gun confiscation.

Clarke pointed to Obama’s October 27 speech to the chiefs in Chicago, in which he said, “It is easier for young people in this city and [communities around the country] to buy a gun than it is to buy a book.” Clarke said that this is Obama doing his best to continue to soften up the American people; to convince enough of them that we do need more gun control laws and to finally get Congress to agree.

We talked with Clarke about Obama’s not-so-subtle comments on gun confiscation via an Australian-style gun ban, and of the fact that Hillary Clinton also pointed to an Australian-style gun ban on October 16 at Keene State College. So we asked how much more conditioning might be required before the actual confiscation of guns can be pushed on the American people?

Clarke responded:

They won’t be able to it before Obama leaves office. Now, under a Mrs. Bill Clinton presidency, who knows. But even they know it’s down the road. I don’t know how far, but these people are slick, they are stealth in how they go about it. What they do is lay the groundwork, they pave the road approaching their ultimate goal of confiscation. What Obama will try to do with his remaining time in office is further weaken the Second Amendment and frustrate the ability of people to keep and bear arms and purchase guns without having to jump through unreasonable hoops. Then the next person will take it step further, then the next person, then the next, and suddenly you realize gun confiscation is within reach. And that is their goal. Between now and then they will go step by step, slowly conditioning the American people to buy into the lie.

Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.