The National Rifle Association is criticizing President Barack Obama for politicizing gun violence and attacking constitutional rights to bear arms after the president announced a series of executive actions aimed at strengthening background checks for would-be gun buyers.

In a statement from the executive director of its lobbying arm, the NRA said that Obama held "contempt for the Second Amendment," and called the president's emotive, tearful speech earlier on Tuesday a distracting, "condescending" lecture that was "completely devoid of facts."

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"Today's event also represents an ongoing attempt to distract attention away from his lack of a coherent strategy to keep the American people safe from terrorist attack," said Chris W. Cox, executive director of the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action, in a statement.

"We will not allow law-abiding gun owners to be harassed or intimidated for engaging in lawful, constitutionally-protected activity — nor will we allow them to become scapegoats for President Obama's failed policies."

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The president's action against gun violence

Earlier on Tuesday, Obama recalled the many instances of gun violence in recent weeks, months, and years as he announced executive actions that would impose increased safety measures for would-be gun owners. The measures, he said, were aimed at preventing the next mass shooting, and would broaden background checks for would-be purchasers at gun shows and online. Background checks are not currently required for purchases online or at gun shows.

"We've created a system in which dangerous people are allowed to play by a different set of rules than a responsible gun owner who buys his or her gun the right way and subjects themselves to a background check," he said in front of a packed room at the White House. "That doesn't make sense. Everybody should have to abide by the same rules."

Closing the so-called gun show loophole has so far been unattainable for gun control advocates seeking to make it harder for those with checkered backgrounds to get guns, and to curb gun violence.

A number of polls, including a recent Quinnipiac University survey, have found that a bipartisan majority of Americans — and a majority of gun owners and — support more background checks for potential gun buyers. The NRA's executive vice president, Wayne LaPierre, has also gone on record in the past with his support for tighter controls, saying in 1999 that "We think it's reasonable to provide mandatory instant background checks for every sale at every gun show. No loopholes anywhere for anyone."