'Guns are our right'

Andrew Arulanandam's main job, as director of public affairs of the all powerful National Rifle Association, is to defend folks' right to carry guns.

Incidentally the NRA, with 4 million members, is the oldest United States civil rights organization. For 138 years it protected the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights and promoted firearm ownership rights, marksmanship, firearm safety, hunting rights and self-defense.

President Ulysses S Grant once served as the NRA's eighth president.

Arulanandam, whose father is from Chennai and who moved to the US from Malaysia as a student, says that vilifying the organization is not right because it preserves the freedoms of the country.

He says guns can be owned by law-abiding people only and the NRA does not support giving guns to people with criminal records, a history of violence or mental illness and the current laws are enough to enforce this.

When crimes occur, the prosecutors overlook the violation of the gun laws and focus on other sensational aspects of the crime to make it newsworthy, he says.

Even if guns are not available, those intent on committing crimes will look for alternatives. "Nothing can stop a criminal or a person undergoing severe crisis from committing illegal acts. We can not regulate irresponsible behavior," he adds.