Trump on the 2nd Amendment – NHFC Candidate Report

Donald Trump - Second Amendment
Donald Trump – Second Amendment
New Hampshire Firearms Coalition
New Hampshire Firearms Coalition

Milford, NH -(Ammoland.com)- Many of our members and friends have asked us to report on Presidential Candidate Donald Trump.

We had to work very hard to find credible information on Mr. Trump’s positions on important Second Amendment issues.

The first place I looked was in Mr. Trump’s book: “Crippled America How to Make America Great Again” ( tiny.cc/adox7x ) wherein he devotes an entire chapter to the right to keep and bear arms. He makes some strong points about blaming the criminal and not the gun and he correctly acknowledges that we enjoy the right to bear arms to protect our families. However, Mr. Trump also talks about what he calls our “Broken Mental Health System”. This is troubling because he writes that:

“All of the tragic mass murders that occurred in the past several years have something in common – there were red flags that were ignored. We can’t allow that to continue. We need to expand treatment programs, because most people with mental health problems aren’t violent, they just need help. But for those who are violent, a danger to themselves or others, we need to get them off the street before they can terrorize our communities. This is just common sense.”

We don’t know what he really means by this. How would Mr. Trump determine who is a danger to themselves or others? Would he sign legislation like we defeated in New Hampshire 2 years ago that essentially said, see a shrink, lose your guns. Mr. Trump has not been specific. Would he support due process? Or would merely seeing a psychiatrist or psychologist cause someone to lose their Second Amendment rights even if the patient had not done anything wrong? We know that shrinks have a poor track record at predicting future behavior.

Ammoland reports that, “overwhelming evidence points to the signal largest common factor in all of these incidents is the fact that all of the perpetrators were either actively taking powerful psychotropic drugs or had been at some point in the immediate past before they committed their crimes.”

So maybe we need to curb the use of psychotropic drugs? Maybe it is time for the United States as a nation to reconsider the deference that courts give to psychiatrists and psychologists.

We here at NHFC are just as concerned about curbing mass murder as everyone else. However, we are also concerned with protecting the civil liberties of those who have not done anything wrong. We would like to see specifics from Mr. Trump about who he would consider disarming and under what criteria.

He also said that he owns firearms, has a concealed carry permit and supports making those permits valid nationwide. Just like a drivers license. Mr. Trump clearly wrote that:

“That permit should be valid in all 50 states. A driver’s license works in every state, so it’s common sense that a concealed carry permit should work in every state. If we can do that for driving – which is a privilege, not a right – then surely we can do that for concealed carry, which is a right, not a privilege.”

In the past he has supported gun and magazine bans but since he became a candidate he has been pretty clear where he stands. He even pointed out after the terrorist attacks in Paris that law abiding, disarmed Parisians were unable to defend themselves. Recently, The Hill reported that Mr. Trump said:

“The Second Amendment, it’s so great to me,” Trump said at a campaign rally in Biloxi, Miss. “We’re not changing the Second Amendment.” Trump said to loud cheers that there is an “assault” on the Second Amendment as Obama considers executive action on gun control. “I will veto that. I will unsign that so fast,” Trump said.

We certainly share Mr. Trump’s sentiments. But remarks like this make us here at NHFC wonder why, with all of his billions and all of his political influence he has not been involved in Second Amendment civil rights issues in his home state of New York and home town of New York City? These jurisdictions have some of the most restrictive gun laws in the world. Yet Mr. Trump has not pushed for change. We also wonder, why, someone who professes to be so strongly in favor of the Second Amendment continues to reside and pay taxes in such a place? After all, with Mr. Trump’s billions he is free to call anyplace home.

Mr. Trump also wrote that:

“… government simply has no business and, in fact, no right to dictate to gunowners what types of firearms law-abiding Americans are allowed to own. Gun owners should be allowed to purchase the best type of weapon for their needs, whether it’s for self protection, sport shooting, or any other purpose.”

The fact that he is willing to put his views in writing in a book and on his website does give us some optimism that he is a friend and not a foe. However, he has never held elective office and has, in the past made anti-gun comments. Politico reports that Mr. Trump has financially supported politicians who are hostile to our civil right to be armed, like Hillary Clinton and Harry Reid. Now that he is a Presidential Candidate he seems to have become an opponent of Hillary.

With Trump, you could be gambling away your Second Amendment civil right to be armed.

About New Hampshire Firearms Coalition:

The New Hampshire Firearms Coalition is New Hampshire’s only No Compromise Gun Rights Organization. While many so-called “gun rights groups” work to curry favor with politicians and the media, NHFC is working aggressively to hold politicians accountable and to put a stop to gun control.

For more information, visit: www.nhfc-ontarget.org.

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DAN III

Here is my issue with keeping weapons out of the hands of those described as “mentally ill”. Who defines “mentally ill” ?

Ralphwylie

While Trump may have a few views that aren’t 100% politically correct to the NHFC, he is the best choice to protect Second Amendment Rights. If Hillary were to get elected she would be a Gun Confiscation advocate and virtually a Barack Obama fifth term.
Even beautiful roses have thorns that will prick you. Hillary brings her biggest prick with her, that being Slick Willy.

Lou

I’m no big fan of “The Donald”.
I do however know the he has had a CCW for many years, and
regularly concealed carried.
Have to figure he’s a bunch more on our side, than on the other.

Gala Poola

If you look at Mr. Trump’s history you’ll see he has bent to the whim of his business deals. Sure he could have been the opposite of Bloomberg and dumped millions into pro 2nd Amendment causes, but that would be bad business in many of the circles he operated. With that said, everyone has to assess whether he is now sincere or just saying what he needs to say in order to get elected. You decide.

John C

Of the many things I disagree with Mr. Trump on, gun rights is not one of them. His belief that prohibiting mentally ill people from ownership is spot on.

Jim

I like where Trump claims to stand on a lot of the issues, especially when it comes to the 2nd amendment. But I agree with the statement that “With Trump, you could be gambling away your Second Amendment civil right to be armed.” Trump doesn’t seem to be much of a politician as much as a business man, which I like. However, that also means that he knows how to craft a message for his “customer focus group”. I think we are reaching a point where if we want to keep the 2nd amendment alive, we can’t afford to risk… Read more »

oldshooter

The mental health (or lack thereof) issue is a very thorny one, simply because we in the mental health profession cannot reliably predict who will become a violent offender in the future, particularly for the first offense (and many of the “mentally unhealthy” mass shootings have been “first offenses”). The latest data I have seen, found that our BEST prediction rate (and this was based largely on the use of past violent behavior (which actually IS a reasonably good predictor of future violence), was only about 40 percent accurate. If we take a very strict, conservative stance on making these… Read more »

Rich

Mental health as a weapon against the people is communist in origin.. Deceptive Transformation: The Truth of Soviet Influence in America and Gun Control.. The idea of using mental health as a weapon against the people is communist in origin, and the social sciences, or the studying of human behavior has its roots in early twentieth century Russia when Ivan Pavlov developed his “classical conditioning” theories. In fact, Pavlov was disturbed that Vladimir Lenin would use these conditioning methods against the people in order to get them to accept communism. Since that time the social sciences have been used as… Read more »

VT Patriot

Al, I’m with you on your comments. Unfortunately, poitics can rear it’s ugly head too often. Tho a Ted Cruz supporter, I could and will vote for Trump in the election if the GOP doesn’t stand in his way. I believe the OP from my neighbor in NH may not be a Trump supporter, and is trying to poison the well.

Vanns40

Mr. Trump still refuses to address the matter of his supporting extended waiting periods and background checks. Until he does so, to me, coupled with his other inconsistencies, he’s just another politician.

Al Friend

So you are why legal gun owners get a bad name. Why do you not want to help people who have mental illnesses. You quote Trump and what he said in your first quote is dead on. So I will take you out of context. You say everyone should have a gun and no regulations shall be in place to monitor who owns what. How about spending your time forcing legislation to stop driving cars which kills hundreds of times more people every year than guns do, It’s about saving lives. My life, My family’s lives, my neighbor’s lives. PERIOD!… Read more »

Bruce

“With Trump, you could be gambling away your Second Amendment civil right to be armed.” While I agree that Mr. Trump could have had a better body of work on the Second Amendment issue, at least he has articulated a sane and sensible position on this issue. I think your statement about possibly gambling away your Second Amendment rights is a bit of a reach, and unfair to this candidate. While we must be careful with any politician since they all talk out of both sides of their mouth, their is nothing in his record (other than previous support of… Read more »

kent jardine

I pay taxes and my money is being spent by the O’Bama Administration to hoard ammunition. Do I have any recourse to this use of my tax money?