WASHINGTON - The head of the National Rifle Association is lashing out this morning at President Obama's inaugural speech.

During a speech on Tuesday night, NRA Executive Vice-President Wayne Lapierre said the second amendment gives Americans the 'absolute right' to own a firearm, but the president wants to redefine that freedom.

In his speech Monday, the president said Americans shouldn't "mistake absolutism for principle", which was interpreted by the gun rights group as an attack on them.

Lapierre said Americans weren't given guns by the government and "no government can take them away."