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| Trump to meet with NRA over barring guns for those on terrorism watch lists | Trump to meet with NRA over barring guns for those on terrorism watch lists |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he would be meeting with the National Rifle Association to discuss ways to block people on terrorism watch lists or no-fly lists from buying guns as his party scrambles to respond in the aftermath of the worst mass shooting in modern US history. | Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he would be meeting with the National Rifle Association to discuss ways to block people on terrorism watch lists or no-fly lists from buying guns as his party scrambles to respond in the aftermath of the worst mass shooting in modern US history. |
| Trump announced the meeting with a tweet, writing: | Trump announced the meeting with a tweet, writing: |
| I will be meeting with the NRA, who has endorsed me, about not allowing people on the terrorist watch list, or the no fly list, to buy guns. | I will be meeting with the NRA, who has endorsed me, about not allowing people on the terrorist watch list, or the no fly list, to buy guns. |
| He did not provide any details on the time or place of the meeting and his campaign did not immediately respond to requests for further information. | He did not provide any details on the time or place of the meeting and his campaign did not immediately respond to requests for further information. |
| An NRA spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the powerful lobbying group, which endorsed Trump last month, tweeted on Wednesday: | An NRA spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the powerful lobbying group, which endorsed Trump last month, tweeted on Wednesday: |
| Happy to meet @realdonaldtrump. Our position is no guns for terrorists—period. Due process & right to self-defense for law-abiding Americans | Happy to meet @realdonaldtrump. Our position is no guns for terrorists—period. Due process & right to self-defense for law-abiding Americans |
| “Anyone on a terror watchlist who tries to buy a gun should be thoroughly investigated by the FBI and the sale delayed while the investigation is ongoing,” Chris Cox, a top NRA official, said. “If an investigation uncovers evidence of terrorist activity or involvement, the government should be allowed to immediately go to court, block the sale, and arrest the terrorist.” | |
| He added: “At the same time, due process protections should be put in place that allow law-abiding Americans who are wrongly put on a watchlist to be removed. That has been the position of Senator John Cornyn ... and a majority of the US Senate. Sadly, President Obama and his allies would prefer to play politics with this issue.” | He added: “At the same time, due process protections should be put in place that allow law-abiding Americans who are wrongly put on a watchlist to be removed. That has been the position of Senator John Cornyn ... and a majority of the US Senate. Sadly, President Obama and his allies would prefer to play politics with this issue.” |
| Cornyn’s proposed amendment would give the federal government 72 hours to demonstrate to a federal judge that someone on the terror watch list seeking to buy a gun should not be allowed to do so. Some Democrats and gun-control advocates have criticized it for not going far enough. | Cornyn’s proposed amendment would give the federal government 72 hours to demonstrate to a federal judge that someone on the terror watch list seeking to buy a gun should not be allowed to do so. Some Democrats and gun-control advocates have criticized it for not going far enough. |
| Trump’s declaration comes days after a mass shooting in Orlando in which the gunman, Omar Mateen, investigated twice by the FBI, had been on the government’s terrorist watch list for 10 months before being removed. The shooting, which left 49 dead, has renewed the debate over gun control regulations, with several leading Democrats – including Trump’s likely general election foe, Hillary Clinton – calling for people on the federal lists to be barred from purchasing firearms. | Trump’s declaration comes days after a mass shooting in Orlando in which the gunman, Omar Mateen, investigated twice by the FBI, had been on the government’s terrorist watch list for 10 months before being removed. The shooting, which left 49 dead, has renewed the debate over gun control regulations, with several leading Democrats – including Trump’s likely general election foe, Hillary Clinton – calling for people on the federal lists to be barred from purchasing firearms. |
| Mateen was added to a government watch list of individuals known or suspected of being involved in terrorist activities in 2013, when he was investigated for making inflammatory statements to coworkers. | Mateen was added to a government watch list of individuals known or suspected of being involved in terrorist activities in 2013, when he was investigated for making inflammatory statements to coworkers. |
| But Trump’s suggestion on stopping purchases by suspects on the terrorism watch list or no-fly list would not have stopped Mateen from buying a gun since he had been pulled from the watch list roughly two years ago, and there is no mechanism in place to bar an individual who was previously on such a list from purchasing a firearm. | But Trump’s suggestion on stopping purchases by suspects on the terrorism watch list or no-fly list would not have stopped Mateen from buying a gun since he had been pulled from the watch list roughly two years ago, and there is no mechanism in place to bar an individual who was previously on such a list from purchasing a firearm. |
| Representative Adam Schiff said this week that he wants to explore the potential for a system that would trigger an alert when someone who was previously on a terrorism watch list wants to buy a gun. | Representative Adam Schiff said this week that he wants to explore the potential for a system that would trigger an alert when someone who was previously on a terrorism watch list wants to buy a gun. |
| Trump frequently declares that he is one of the nation’s biggest supporters of the second amendment, which guarantees the right to bear firearms, and he often warns his supporters that Clinton aims to take away their guns. | Trump frequently declares that he is one of the nation’s biggest supporters of the second amendment, which guarantees the right to bear firearms, and he often warns his supporters that Clinton aims to take away their guns. |
| But his suggestion to prohibit those on the lists from getting guns, though out of step with many leading Republicans, is not entirely new for the celebrity businessman. In an interview on ABC in November after a terror attack in Paris, George Stephanopoulos asked: “Mr Trump, yes or no, should someone on the terror watch list be allowed to buy a gun?” | |
| Trump replied, “If somebody is on a watch list and an enemy of state and we know it’s an enemy of state, I would keep them away, absolutely.” | Trump replied, “If somebody is on a watch list and an enemy of state and we know it’s an enemy of state, I would keep them away, absolutely.” |
| He continued, however, to suggest that if the gun control laws in Paris were not so strict, some of the victims of the terror attacks would have been able to shoot back at the terrorists, keeping the overall casualty count down. | He continued, however, to suggest that if the gun control laws in Paris were not so strict, some of the victims of the terror attacks would have been able to shoot back at the terrorists, keeping the overall casualty count down. |
| But the position he took Wednesday breaks from the NRA, which denounced any possible ban just the day before. | But the position he took Wednesday breaks from the NRA, which denounced any possible ban just the day before. |
| “Restrictions like bans on gun purchases by people on ‘watch lists’ are ineffective, unconstitutional or both,” the NRA tweeted Tuesday. The NRA has maintained previously that it “does not want terrorists or dangerous people to have firearms”, claiming that “any suggestion otherwise is offensive and wrong”. | “Restrictions like bans on gun purchases by people on ‘watch lists’ are ineffective, unconstitutional or both,” the NRA tweeted Tuesday. The NRA has maintained previously that it “does not want terrorists or dangerous people to have firearms”, claiming that “any suggestion otherwise is offensive and wrong”. |
| On Capitol Hill, Democrats are determined to force a tough election-year vote on Senator Dianne Feinstein’s proposal that would let the government bar sales of guns and explosives to people it suspects of being terrorists, a measure opposed by the NRA. | On Capitol Hill, Democrats are determined to force a tough election-year vote on Senator Dianne Feinstein’s proposal that would let the government bar sales of guns and explosives to people it suspects of being terrorists, a measure opposed by the NRA. |
| Last December, a day after the San Bernardino shootings left 14 dead, Senate Republicans led the way in rejecting that proposal by Feinstein, a Democrat from California. That same day, the Senate also fell short of the necessary votes for Cornyn’s rival plan. | |
| The Associated Press contributed to this report | The Associated Press contributed to this report |
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