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Obama Says Buying a Gun Easier Than Buying a Book

Comments part of President's star studded fundraising tour of Los Angeles

President Obama
President Obama / AP
October 13, 2015

While speaking at a fundraiser in Los Angeles on Saturday President Obama said that buying a gun is easier than buying a book.

"It’s not just mass shootings," Obama said to 200 Democratic donors in upscale Pacific Palisades. "It is the daily shootings that take place in cities across America."

"It is easier to buy a gun than buy a book."

The president was reportedly referring to poor urban neighborhoods which he believes lack bookstores but not guns. However, the president's hometown of Chicago features dozens of bookstores but not a single gun store. Purchasing a book from a book store also does not require a federal background check or photo ID like buying a gun from a gun store does.

Obama finished his speech by calling for a change in gun politics and laying out his vision for America. "We have a different vision of what America can look like," he said. "What’s true on gun violence is true on every issue that matters to you."

The Hollywood Reporter described the audience, which included actor Jamie Foxx, Obama spoke to as "well-monied." The fundraiser was one of three different high dollar fundraisers the president attended in Los Angeles on Saturday. Another was hosted by director J.J. Abrams and the third was hosted by designer Michael Smith.