Donald Trump Presidential Campaign, 2016#Gun Control

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The 2016 Republican Party Platform stated support for "the right of individuals to keep and bear arms, a natural inalienable right that predates the Constitution and is secured by the Second Amendment." The Libertarian Party Platform also stated support for "the individual right recognized by the Second Amendment to keep and bear arms."

In contrast, the 2016 Democratic Party Platform called for "sensible action to address gun violence," and the Green Party Platform called for "[t]houghtful, carefully considered gun control."

Read below what Donald Trump and the 2016 Republican Party Platform said about gun control.

Trump on gun control[edit]

• Donald Trump tweeted on June 15, 2016, that he planned to meet with the National Rifle Association (NRA) to discuss “not allowing people on the terrorist watch list, or the no fly list, to buy guns.” The NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action responded in a statement that it would be “happy to meet with Donald Trump” and that it “believes that terrorists should not be allowed to purchase or possess firearms, period.”^[2][3]

• The National Rifle Association (NRA) endorsed Donald Trump on May 20, 2016. Chris Cox, executive director of the NRA, said in a statement, “If Hillary Clinton gets the opportunity to replace Antonin Scalia with an anti-gun Supreme Court justice, we will lose the individual right to keep a gun in the home for self-defense. … So the choice for gun owners in this election is clear. And that choice is Donald Trump.” During his speech at the NRA-ILA forum in Kentucky on May 20, 2016, Trump made a similar allegation, stating that Clinton “wants to abolish the Second Amendment.”^[4]
  • Clinton responded to Trump on May 21, 2016, calling his policy to eliminate gun-free zones in schools “dangerous.” She continued, “Parents, teachers and schools should have the right to keep guns out of classrooms. Just like Donald Trump does at many of his hotels by the way.”^[5]
  • Trump partially denied the charge on May 22, 2016, during an interview. “I don’t want to have guns in classrooms. Although, in some cases, teachers should have guns in classrooms,” he said.^[6]
  • Trump clarified on May 23, 2016, that he supported “school resource officers” and trained teachers carrying guns in schools. He said, “The problem with gun-free zones is it's like offering up candy to bad people. They hear gun-free zones and they go in there with their guns blazing." He maintained his criticism of gun-free zones, but backed away from his call to eliminate all gun-free zones in schools. Instead he said, they would only be eliminated "in some cases."^[7]

• During the sixth Republican presidential primary debate, on January 14, 2016, Donald Trump discusses his position on the Second Amendment. He said “I am a Second amendment person. If we had guns in California on the other side where the bullets went in the different direction, you wouldn't have 14 or 15 people dead right now. If even in Paris, if they had guns on the other side, going in the opposite direction, you wouldn't have 130 people plus dead. So the answer is no and what Jeb said is absolutely correct. We have a huge mental health problem in this country. We're closing hospitals, we're closing wards, we're closing so many because the states want to save money. We have to get back into looking at what's causing it. The guns don't pull the trigger. It's the people that pull the trigger and we have to find out what is going on. We have to protect our 2nd amendment and you cannot do this and certainly what Barack Obama was doing with the executive order. He doesn't want to get people together, the old-fashioned way, where you get Congress. You get the Congress, you get the Senate, you get together, you do legislation. He just writes out an executive order. Not supposed to happen that way.”^[8]

• Trump said during a campaign rally in Vermont on January 7, 2016, night that he would end gun-free zones at schools and military sites. "I will get rid of gun-free zones on schools — you have to — and on military bases on my first day. It gets signed my first day,” Trump pledged. He added, "You know what a gun-free zone is to a sicko? That's bait."^[9]

• In an interview on CNN on January 4, 2016, Trump said of President Obama’s use of executive authority to expand background checks on gun buyers, “Pretty soon you won't be able to get guns. It's another step in the way of not getting guns.”^[10]

• Trump said in a statement to Breitbart on November 18, 2015, that concealed carry permit holders have an obligation to be armed. He wrote, “Carrying a weapon is not always feasible or appropriate. However, given the increased tensions that are the result of continued, escalating terrorism around the world, more legitimately armed individuals on the streets is a positive outcome. … I will carry more often than I have in the past, and I am sure other concealed permit holders will do the same. Do we have an obligation to carry? The answer is ‘yes,’ but we must do it in such a way as to raise serious doubts in the minds of those who might be considering violence in America. Deterring violence is far better than dealing with the aftermath of an act of terror. Less blood, more security. That is what will make America great again.”^[11]

• Trump said on November 14, 2015, that strict gun control laws in France led to more deaths in the Paris terrorist attacks. “You can say what you want, but if they had guns -- if our people had guns, if they were allowed to carry -- it would have been a much, much different situation. I hear it all the time, you know. You look at certain cities that have the highest violence, the highest problem with guns and shootings and killings -- Chicago is an example, toughest gun laws in the United States, nothing but problems. So our country better get smart because we're not smart right now,” he said.^[12]

• At the third Republican debate, Trump said that he opposes gun-free zones. Trump noted, "I feel that the gun-free zones and, you know, when you say that, that's target practice for the sickos and for the mentally ill. That's target. They look around for gun-free zones. You know, we could give you another example -- the Marines, the Army, these wonderful six soldiers that were killed. Two of them were among the most highly decorated -- they weren't allowed on a military base to have guns. And somebody walked in and shot them, killed them. If they had guns, he wouldn't be around very long. I can tell you, there wouldn't have been much damage. So, I think gun-free zones are a catastrophe. They're a feeding frenzy for sick people."^[13]

• In an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on October 11, 2015, Trump said he “sometimes” carries a gun. “I feel much better being armed,” he said.^[14]

• Trump suggested on October 4, 2015, that a mass shooting at an Oregon community college would have had fewer casualties if more people were armed. He said, “I can make the case that if there were guns in that room other than [the shooter's], fewer people would have died. Fewer people would have been so horribly injured.” He also pointed to mental illness and “copycat” behavior as causes of such violent incidents.^[15]

• In an April 2015 interview with Breitbart, Trump said, "It is so important that we maintain the Second Amendment and that we maintain it strongly. And one of the main reasons is because the good people, the upstanding people, follow laws and norms but the bad ones don’t. So if the Second Amendment weren’t there to protect our rights and someone tampered with them, the good people would be affected but the bad people wouldn’t care–they couldn’t care less. It is absolutely imperative that we maintain the Second Amendment in its strongest form." Trump also pointed to Chicago and New York to note "the areas that are most heavily restricted have the most crime."^[16]

• Trump suggested the 2012 movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado and the 2015 attack on Charlie Hebdo's Paris office could have had better outcomes if some of the victims had guns.^[16][17]

• In 2000, Trump declared in his book, The America We Deserve, "I generally oppose gun control, but I support the ban on assault weapons and I support a slightly longer waiting period to purchase a gun. With today’s Internet technology we should be able to tell within 72-hours if a potential gun owner has a record." Trump also suggested it was wrong that Democrats "want to confiscate all guns" and Republicans "refuse even limited restrictions."^[18]

• Read what other presidential candidates said about gun control.

Recent news[edit]

This section links to a Google news search for the term Donald + Trump + Gun + Control

See also[edit]

• Donald Trump
• Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016

Footnotes[edit]

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