Washington (AFP) – Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump says he sometimes carries a gun to protect himself, after a spate of shootings at colleges ramped up debate about firearms in the United States.
The revelation is likely to spark a backlash from advocates calling for tighter control of guns, after three separate shootings at US universities or colleges this month left 11 people dead.
Asked why years ago he obtained a concealed weapons permit, Trump told the CBS program “Face the Nation”: “Because I like to have myself protected.”
Host John Dickerson then asked Trump: “Do you carry?”
“Sometimes,” replied Trump, whose popularity has surged on the back of a series of bombastic comments on a range of sensitive topics, including immigration and gun control.
Last week, days after a gunman shot dead nine people at a college in Oregon on October 1, Trump said that gun laws had “nothing to do” with the spate of shootings and that such incidents were simply a fact of life.
The mass shooting at the community college in Roseburg was “horrible,” Trump told CBS.
“Had somebody in that room had a gun, the result would’ve been better,” he said, adding that “I feel much better being armed.”
I’m betting that the majority of Americans applaud Donald Trump for arming himself. If more people were armed, there would be less crime. It’s common sense. Only law-abiding citizens play by the rules and those are the people the Feds want to disarm. Criminals don’t give a fig about the law and they will get their weapons one way or the other out there. Trump is right… if someone in that room had been armed, there would be a lot fewer dead Christians today. No thanks to Barack Obama who would make all of us victims if he could. All except the wealthy and elite that is. As Harry Reid was in Congress calling for guns to be banned, he had his armed security detail right by his side. Harry Hypocrite didn’t see an issue there… America does though. And so does Donald Trump.