One Small Step For Trump, One Giant Leap For The 2nd Amendment

One Small Step For Trump, One Giant Leap For The 2nd Amendment (Image: MGN)

• Donald Trump, while at the NRA convention this weekend, said that “school resource officers” or trained teachers should be allowed to carry guns on school grounds.
• Trump did go on to say that he doesn’t think guns should be allowed in classrooms, except for trained teachers.
• Trump said, “we’re getting rid of gun free zones, I can tell you.”

Donald Trump has walked back his hard line on guns in schools as expressed at last week's NRA conference which came amid a string of accidental shootings in recent weeks.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee, who was recently endorsed by the NRA, told CNN on Monday that “school resource officers” or trained teachers should be allowed to carry guns on school grounds. Trump had previously argued against gun-free zones in schools and military bases.

On average, 567 people are accidentally killed by guns each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since Trump first took a stand against gun-free zones on Oct. 28, when he called them “a catastrophe” and a “feeding frenzy for sick people” during the third GOP presidential debate, there have been at least 32 school shootings. Six were unintentional, and four of them occurred this month alone, according to data collected by the Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, a New York-based nonprofit that advocates for gun control.

The most recent took place at a graduation ceremony at Augusta High School in Kansas on May 15. Police said a man who had a concealed carry permit accidentally shot his foot when he went to adjust a small gun tucked in his sock. The bullet also ricocheted off the ground before striking another person, who was rushed to the hospital in serious condition. The man was treated at a local hospital and released, according to ABC News affiliate KAKE in Wichita, Kansas.

In a separate incident two days earlier, a 16-year-old student at Southside High School in Greenville County, South Carolina, accidentally shot himself with a gun he brought to school. The teen was taken to a local hospital for non-threatening injuries. Police said a 17-year-old student at the school was also in possession of a pistol but did not discharge it. Both students are facing charges, ABC News affiliate WLOS in Asheville, North Carolina, reported.

“It's really scary to just think that your relative or child or anybody you know is inside the school and is in danger,” Angela Little, whose niece witnessed the shooting, told WLOS.

On Sunday, during a call-in interview with Fox News’ “Fox & Friends,” the billionaire businessman said he didn't want to “have guns in classrooms.”

“Although, in some cases, teachers should have guns in classrooms. Things that are going on in our schools are unbelievable. You look at some of our schools, unbelievable what’s going on. But I’m not advocating guns in classrooms,” he added.

“But remember, in some cases – and a lot of people have made this case – teachers should be able to have guns,” Trump continued. “Trained teachers should be able to have guns in classrooms.”

Speaking at the NRA's annual convention in Kentucky last Friday, Trump vowed to eliminate gun-free zones in the country, including some schools and military bases where guns cannot be lawfully carried by most individuals. He also slammed Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton over her stance on guns.

“We’re getting rid of gun-free zones, I can tell you,” he said. “Crooked Hillary Clinton is the most anti-gun, anti-Second Amendment candidate ever to run for office. And, as I said before, she wants to abolish the Second Amendment. She wants to take your guns away. She wants to abolish it.”

Clinton was quick to fire back, accusing Trump of pandering to the gun lobby and calling for “dangerous” gun policies. Trump immediately took to Twitter to respond to the former U.S. secretary of state’s remarks.

But the real estate mogul was singing a different tune in January. Trump said gun-free zones were simply “bait” for shooters.

“I will get rid of gun-free zones in schools and — you have to — on military bases,” Trump said at a campaign event in Burlington, Vermont. “My first day, it gets signed, okay? My first day. They are no more gun-free zones.”

Source: ABC News