While visiting South Korea Tuesday, president Trump was asked at a press conference about “extreme vetting” for gun purchasers.
Trump’s response was unequivocal. Gun control is not the answer. It’s actually part of the problem.
“If you did what you’re suggesting, there would have been no difference three days ago, and you might not have had that very brave person who happened to have a gun or a rifle in his truck go out and shoot him, and hit him and neutralize him,” said Trump.
The president was referring to the armed citizen who engaged the gunman after he shot up a church in Southerland Springs, TX, Sunday, leaving at least 26 dead.
“I can only say this: If he didn’t have a gun, instead of having 26 dead, you would have had hundreds more dead,” he continued. “So that’s the way I feel about it. Not going to help.”
SEE ALSO: Obama Calls for Gun Control Less than 6 Hours after Texas Shooting
According to reports, the shooter had a documented history of domestic violence while serving in the Air Force.
Records show he was court-martialed for assaulting his wife and cracking the skull of his infant stepson. The Air Force never reported the incident to the FBI’s background check system (NICS).
“The former airman was able to pass mandatory background checks because his military criminal record wasn’t entered into the FBI’s National Crime Information Center database,” the Air Force said in a statement Monday.
The killer should have been classified as a prohibited person. Under the law, prohibited persons (minors, felons, domestic abusers, etc.) cannot possess, purchase or sell firearms.
The system failed in this case. Gun control failed in this case. What saved lives was the heroic actions of a good guy with a gun.
While there’s no doubt that we should do what we can to keep guns out of the hands of bad people, we shouldn’t do so at the expense of our right to keep and bear arms.
We need to enforce the existing laws. We need to improve the current NICS system. Going down the slippery slope of gun control does nobody any good.
“Look at the city with the strongest gun laws in our nation — Chicago,” observed Trump. “Chicago is a disaster, a total disaster.”
To quote my favorite president of all time, Ronald Reagan…”…government is not the solution, it IS the problem”.
Don’t You know how much the Media and the demo-dumbasses loved Trump’s response to that Stupid question?
that’s my C.I.C. true and simple response
The best President we ever had !!!
Reagan was better but, Trump shares some of the same philosophies and that makes him “the best we’ve had since Reagan” in my book.
Smitty,
You do realize that Reagan is the reason we can not own modern useful guns right?
He signed the Hughes Amendment, leaving us low life citizens unable to own modern useful guns.
By useful just incase you are not knowledgeable of guns, think about a P90 as a truck gun, or an MP7.
Both are small easy to keep available, small cartridges that are easy to control (accurate). I am forced to carry an out dated, inferior caliber AR15 as a truck gun due Reagan.
No, Trump is much better than Reagan in my humble opinion.
true that
I agree 1000%!
Trump is a brash loudmouth who speaks his mind, sometimes without thinking first. He’s also EXACTLY what this country needs. We need somebody who’s not afraid of other world leaders, and doesn’t cower or bow down to the “politically correct police”. I also like that he already has opinions and isn’t afraid to let everyone know what they are. I also have a lot of subjects that I already know my position and don’t need to “think about it” first. He also knows that another “gun law” won’t stop criminals or crazies anymore than the multitude already in place. He also saved more jobs as President-elect than Obama did in 8 years in office.
Any perfectly law-abiding citizen who has had NICS put them on “Delay Status” when buying a gun (because the system was too busy for a few minutes or it was time for somebody’s donut break) would tend to call it “extreme vetting” when they have their explicit Constitutional right suspended for several days and there is no reason whatsoever even given for it. That’s one helluva lot more vetting than a lot of people crossing our borders are subject to.
And there are still veterans receiving denials with zero response as to the reason why via official channels. Odd that they can often apply for a concealed carry permit via their state government, and be approved. I agree with vetting, Full heatedly. What I do not agree with is ANT veteran receiving a “no” just because their has been no action taken on his/her application and some weak knee decided to blanket say ” no ” in a CYA attempt. My charge…get your collective shyte together and DO the background checks on time and honestly Uncle Sam. And don’t discriminate against veterans just because they seek assistance for PTSD.
Sorry…*heartedly* and *ANY* AND *there*. My bad for not proof-reading
President Trump is 200% right! What most rational people know, is that freedom has a price, it came with a price and to keep it has a price. We as human beings when looking for answers to these mass killings, or killing of any murderer. We realize that sometimes the answer is that there exist good and evil and no other explanation can be given. One of the smartest people I ever knew who was a brain surgeon, once told me when I asked him what was the greatest thing he learned in all those years of schooling and medical practice He said, that we as human beings, are not smart enough to understand our own minds!
WOW,
Where’s Blue Dog on this? LOL 🙂
Tj
obama tries to tell us that we need more gun control. he is the reason that we have all of the crime and his efforts to shut down our 2nd amendment rights shows what a traitor he is to our country. he is just another muslim working to destroy our country by taking away our freedoms. for a man who claims to be a citizen of our country but isn’t i don’t know why he is given any consideration when he starts telling us how to run our country. if i was running things he would find himself behind bars in the prison in cuba. that is where he belongs along with a lot of others in our gov’t who are trying to destroy our country with their greed and corruption. each and every congressman that wants to take away our 2nd amendment rights is a traitor to our country and should be punished accordingly!
Thank God! we have a president that has a back bone!!!! I say to all the Libtards out there. The Government failed those people at that church. Is the answer more Government? Everything that Government tries to do gets even more screwed up!
There is an estimated 270 million guns legally owned in the USA, and an estimated 2 trillion rounds of ammunition in private hands. “IF LAW ABIDING GUN OWNERS WERE THE PROBLEM YOU WOULD KNOW ABOUT IT”
Just as a point of clarification, I think you put the “Law Abiding Gun Owners” line in quotes because by definition, even if the guy bought the gun legally like the vegas shooter and then went out and murdered people, he would no longer be a law abiding gun owner.
With this guy, their own system should have stopped him if they were actually competent. Heck Obama said that he threw lots of money at improving the system and putting senior citizens on the list if they had help with their finances. If that were true, then why did this guy not get put on when it was part of the governments own job, not any regular citizen? I think you’re making same point, but I’m clarifying if I can.
Senator Feinstein, should start by banning the weapons from her protective detail.
Trump missed a great opportunity! Gun purchasers ARE ALREADY subjected to extreme vetting. The NICS system is consulted on all but a few firearms sales (all but private sales). If you are crazy, a felon, an illegal drug user, a wife beater, an illegal, or a dishonorable veteran, YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO PURCHASE OR POSSESS a firearm.
Sadly, Trump missed the chance to help the liberal media understand the firearms are heavily regulated already!
When discussing this topic, I always ask my anti-gun friends: ‘What new laws do you recommend we enact that will force folks to obey the existing laws?’
When will these people understand that taking guns from law abiding citizens will do nothing but leave them vulnerable for idiots and criminals to pray on. Criminals and crazies will always have firearms. And if all the guns were gone and they wanted what you had they would just sharpen a stick plunge it through your chest and take whatever they wanted. Seniors would be defenseless, along with most everyone else. The biggest problem I have is if you look back into history every government that took the citizens guns Eventually ended up inslaving those citizens. The reason our founding fathers put the second amendment in the Constitution was to protect the citizens from the government, and that’s a fact Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Typical government snafu. Gun control laws are on the books to protect us, but the government can’t seem to enforce them. Same thing happened in another church shooting a couple of years ago. All we got was an oops from the FBI. If it had been a private citizen like me that made such a mistake I would be sitting in prison right now.
Thank you Mr. President for understanding that firearms are not the issue. That it is the person that uses the firearms that are the issue.
YES!…Thank God he gets it!…Why does this very simple fact NOT get into most peoples brains.
ANYTHING that can be used as a weapon! can be a useful tool…with the proper mind set…but if that brain is broken….It won’t make one damn difference what is used to be that weapon.
I couldn’t agree more. I believe that it’s apparent that controlling who has guns has to start with vetting the individual attempting to purchase. In the case of the Texas massacre, the system failed. That has to be corrected to not allow it to happen again. The current gun laws must be inforced, not impose additional laws.
Vetting doesn’t work either, all it does is give the government an excuse to take peoples guns and violate the second amendment – I know of elderly citizens who committed a non-Violante, infraction of the law when they were very young, who can’t own a gun – (The right to keep and bare arms shall NOT be infringed) is for everyone – Gun laws don’t save lives, armed citizens that carry, anywhere, especially where lots of people congregate, save lives – The gun laws are created so the government can do as they please with little to NO resistance – Had those people in church been carrying, I doubt the shooter would have even attempted the assault and if he had of, he wouldn’t have killed so many people, before being taken out – I carry everywhere I go to protect me, my family, and those around me and I could care less about the stupid NO Carry Zones – The NO Carry Zones are where the bad guys often do their most carnage and meet less resistance because of the stupid gun laws – People need to quit asking the government when and where and if they can carry a gun for protection – We have already been given permission by our founding fathers – Carrying a gun is a Right NOT a privilege like your drivers license, like many would have you believe – Want to see these mass killings stop? Then learn how to safely handle a gun and start carrying one!
Unfortunately, nobody in the Air Force JAG office, or CID records department, will get disciplined. Perhaps a letter or two of reprimand will be placed in someone’s file, or maybe the 2-star in charge won’t get a 3-star, but nobody will get fired, demoted, or lose their military benefits. If this was a private industry, and your mistake cost lives or millions of dollars, you can be damn sure heads would’ve been rolling before the week was over.
Thank God that Hilary Clinton is not our President. Some one would be knocking on our door. MAGA
Yeah I still cant get them bugged out eyes 👀 outta my head of the reporter lady that took the cheap shot on Trump to ask the question. Glaring at our POTUS wildly like she was an MK ultra robot that held his kryptonite. Isn’t it refreshing to have a POTUS that does exactly what he said on campaign trail? Even if his tweets and speech aren’t as eloquent as the total BS lies Obama fed us I am thankful for him. And guys expect more assaults on our citizens and 2A as there are plenty more brain dead radical leftists out there willing to sacrifice themselves to kill us and further the agenda of Marxists and Leftists. Thank goodness we have a POTUS that isn’t trying to disarm us in such dark times if only our useless scams of Senators would do the same. MAGA!