Trump Says His NRA Membership Prevents Him From Advocating Limits On Assault Weapons
Donald Trump: “I Have Stayed Very Much With What They Do”
Written by Media Matters Staff
Published
From the June 20 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:
BILL O'REILLY (HOST): You and gun control, alright? Let's run down the list. They’ve got to tighten up the terror watch vis-a-vis buying gun list. That's got to happen, right?
DONALD TRUMP: Yes, sure. Absolutely.
O'REILLY: Alright.
TRUMP: Who would not agree with that?
O'REILLY: I think the NRA would agree with it, too. But we have to have a very precise thing about if you are on a terror watch list this is what you can and can't do. What about the big guns? All right? Do people need the big rifles that fire a lot of rounds? Do they need them?
TRUMP: Well the big guns, first of all, are the same guns that the enemy has and that people that can break into your home or do what this maniac did over the weekend. And the big guns are the same guns. You are going to have to have that. People use it for many other reasons.
O'REILLY: OK, so self protection --
TRUMP: You know they use them -- they also use them for recreation, Bill. I have friends that are -- my sons are in the NRA, so am I. People use them for recreation. They use them for a lot of other reasons.
O'REILLY: You have no problem, then. Would you put any limits on, you know, you can't have a mortar. You can't have hand grenades. You can't have a bazooka. Would you put any limits on what you can and cannot buy?
TRUMP: On the guns I wouldn't because, again, because it's a question of protection and, also, once you start where do you end? Where do you end?
[...]
I think that frankly, I've stayed and I really feel very strongly. I was very honored to get the endorsement of the NRA, the earliest endorsement they have ever given -- I'm pretty the sure earliest endorsement they've ever given to a presidential candidate. I have stayed with what they have been saying. I will tell you why, Bill, these people Wayne and Chris, I think they get a bad rap. They are great Americans. They love our country. This is what this they do. They really want what's good, I think more than anything else, for our country, and I have stayed very much with what they do. Having to do with the watch list, I would like to meet with them. I think we are going to meet, actually. I think something is set up or will be set up.
Previously:
Media Help Trump Rehab His Comments That Clubgoers Should Have Guns
In Reporting On Trump’s Call For Armed Clubgoers, Some Media Miss NRA’s Extremism On Guns In Bars
NRA Urges People To Buy Assault Weapons Days After Terrorist Uses Assault Weapon In Massacre Of 49