Franklin, TN – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Saturday channeled 1970s action star Charles Bronson in defending Second Amendment rights in the aftermath of the shooting at an Oregon community college that left nine dead.
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Trump said in a rally in suburban Nashville that he has a handgun carry permit in New York. He added that any attacker will be “shocked” if he tries to assault him, and that he would emulate Bronson in the vigilante film “Death Wish.”
“Can you imagine with Trump, somebody says, ‘Ohhh, all these big monsters aren’t around, he’s easy pickins, and then … pu-ching!” Trump said to laughter and applause. “So this is about self-defense, plain and simple.”
Trump criticized “gun-free zones,” saying that the Oregon shootings could have been limited if instructors or students had been armed. He said better mental health care would help curb future shootings.
“Many states and many cities are closing their mental health facilities and closing them down, and they’re closing them because they don’t have the funding,” he said. “And we have to start looking much stronger into mental health.”
While Trump warned that “no matter what you do, you will always have problems,” he argued that it doesn’t make sense to limit access to firearms.
“It’s not the guns,” Trump said during his hourlong speech. “It’s the people, it’s these sick people.”
He also criticized President Barack Obama’s comments in response to the shootings as “divisive.”
Trump’s positions on gun control have evolved significantly over the years. While he now touts the National Rifle Association line, he once backed the ban on assault weapons and longer waiting periods for gun purchases.
“I’m a very, very big Second Amendment person,” Trump said on Saturday.
Trump reminisced about Bronson’s “Death Wish” and got people in the crowd to shout out the title of the 1974 film in unison. In the movie, an affluent, liberal architect embarks on a vigilante mission after his life is shattered by thugs who kill his wife and rape his daughter.
“Today you can’t make that movie because it’s not politically correct,” Trump said.
Saturday marked the second time Trump had spoken in the Nashville area in five weeks. Tennessee is among the states holding their primaries on March 1, also called Super Tuesday, and he noted that his comments brought a strong response from the overflow crowd in gun-friendly Tennessee.
“As soon as I mentioned it the place went absolutely wild,” he said.
This clown seems to be painting a target on his back and inviting some crazy to “make his day”. The more hateful comments he makes, the more likely someone will take him up on his invitation. At some point, he should learn to simply shut on these tragic occasions which seems to be beyond his capability.
You may call him whatever name you like, it does not dismiss the fact that people are loving most of what he says. He dares to say what most are thinking and what we would freely say years ago. We are now living in times where people claim to be free but they are not – social media has taken our liberties away and this man says “to hell with you all, I will say what I damn please” and it’s quite refreshing.
I do not have to agree with everything he says but I sure am glad he has the guts to stand up and speak his mind. It may just start a whole new trend and just maybe some sanity will return to this country.
There’s a big difference between speaking your mind and shooting off your mouth.
I heard the speech; Trump was right, when he stated that the “Death Wish” movie starring Charles Bronson could not be made today, because of political correctness. You can call him a “clown, blowhard, big mouth, showman, reality tv contestant, braggart”, etc. The fact of the matter is that he is leading, by a substantial majority in ALL of the polls. Kindly remember that when Obama ran in 2007 and 2008, he was also written off as a nobody with very little experience. However, Obama won primary after primary, against the great Hillary, and other contenders. Trump will do the same, starting in early 2016. He will win the Republican nomination for President in 2016, and smash Hillary by a large margin, in the 2016 general election!
Since the US now has more that 300 million guns, when, exactly, will the magical power of guns make us safe?