Third generation gunmaker Jonathan Mossberg on Wednesday responded to a statement put out by a national gun rights group this week attacking presidential action on smart guns and calling research into the technology “questionable.”

“I like Alan, but I think he’s off base on this one,” Mossberg told Guns.com, referring to Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. “We’re so used to panicking at everything that comes out of the White House that even a ho-hum announcement creates a stir. If Obama looks at his watch and says, ‘It’s two o’clock,’ all of us gun people immediately suspect a ploy to take our guns away.”

Gottlieb on Monday issued a statement blasting President Obama after the White House announced the Friday release of a report outlining a strategy to deploy smart gun technology.

“The president continues to refer to these efforts as ‘common sense steps’ to prevent accidents,” said Gottlieb, who also heads the Second Amendment Foundation, in a statement. “But instead of placing so much emphasis on questionable research, the same safety goals could be met through public education, including safety courses as part of the public school curriculum.