NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Fresh from beating back the administration's bullet ban, the NRA's top executives said Saturday that the group is bracing for further anti-gun moves by the lame duck president and warned that Hillary Clinton's gun control efforts as president would make President Obama "look like an amateur."

Chris Cox, executive director of the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action, told the group's annual meeting, said, "Obama says he's not going anywhere for the next 650 days. Well, we have news for the president, neither are we."

NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre added that "the next 650 days are the most dangerous" and that there is "no telling how far President Obama will go to dismantle our freedoms."



At the 144th NRA Annual Meeting here, Obama and Clinton were under fire from the group's officials and some 11 Republicans eyeing a presidential bid. But while much of the focus was on Clinton's second presidential try, Cox warned that the remaining months of Obama's term must be watched closely.

"He says he's got a phone and a pen and he'll just go around Congress and do whatever he damn well pleases. We saw it just last month when he tried to ban rifle ammunition," he said, in a reference to the ATF's effort to ban AR-15 "green tip" ammo.

"We know what he really wanted to do," said Cox. "He wanted to ban our guns."

Cox also indicated that the Second Amendment group plans to challenge Obama and Senate Democrats in pushing for a national law to let those allowed to carry concealed weapons in one state to carry in another — the National Right to Carry Reciprocity legislation.

Armed with the largest membership and bank account ever, the group is expected to run an aggressive campaign against Clinton, whose husband Bill Clinton won approval of the so-called "assault weapon ban."

In turning to Clinton, Cox said, "she's back," adding, "When it comes to attacking our Second Amendment freedoms, you can bet she'll make Barack Obama look like an amateur. Obama won't admit that he wants to register guns, but Hillary's proud to support it."

He also warned that if elected in 2016, Clinton could keep the job until 2025, two full terms during which she would push for "more gun bans, more ammo bans, and more anti-gun Supreme Court justices."

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com.