President Donald Trump made some rather stunning comments regarding guns recently during a televised discussion with lawmakers. He urged Republicans not to be “afraid” of the National Rifle Association and said they don’t have to agree on everything.” Then, he even entertained the idea of more gun restrictions than President Barack Obama ever proposed.
Fox News reports that he pitched:
a mix of gun control measures as well as proposals the NRA likes — such as arming teachers. But his language, at times, was stunning coming from a Republican president.
“Take the guns first. Go through due process second,” Trump said at the White House. “I like taking the guns early.”
Trump has long been comfortable defying conventional Republican policy tenets, working ever since his entry into the 2016 race to pull the party toward him — on trade, on entitlements, on infrastructure and more.
This caused conservatives to scratch their heads. Jonah Goldberg, of National Review, tweeted, “Constitutionally speaking “due process second” is a bit like “I’ll put the condom on after.”
Constitutionally speaking “due process second” is a bit like “I’ll put the condom on after.”
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahNRO) March 1, 2018
Trump emphasized that he still likes the NRA, eve in spite of this rather shocking turn of events. “I’m a fan of the NRA. There’s no bigger fan. I’m a big fan of the NRA,” he said on Wednesday. “These are great people, these great patriots. They love our country. But that doesn’t mean we have to agree on everything.”
Later, he tweeted, “Many ideas, some good & some not so good, emerged from our bipartisan meeting on school safety yesterday at the White House. Background Checks a big part of conversation. Gun free zones are proven targets of killers. After many years, a Bill should emerge. Respect 2nd Amendment!”
Hat Tip: Fox News