President Trump suggested confiscating guns from individuals first then going “through due process second” during a bipartisan meeting with lawmakers Wednesday afternoon.
His comments came in response to Vice President Mike Pence’s claim that families and local law enforcement ought to have way to identify potentially dangerous individuals and rid them of firearms and other weapons.
But Pence referenced a paradigm wherein due process would be honored.
The Hill quoted Pence saying, “Allow due process so no one’s rights are trampled, but the ability to go to court, obtain an order and then collect not only the firearms but any weapons.”
Trump responded, “Or, Mike, take the firearms first, and then go to court.”
Trump also said, “I like taking the guns early, like in this crazy man’s case that just took place in Florida … to go to court would have taken a long time.” He added, “Take the guns first, go through due process second.”
These comments came during the same bipartisan meeting in which Trump showed great interest in Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) gun control bill but rejected Rep. Steve Scalise’s call to focus on national reciprocity for concealed carry.
At that same meeting, Trump asked Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) to add her “assault weapons” ban legislation to the overarching school safety legislative package, opening the door for Feinstein’s bill to receive Congressional consideration.
AWR Hawkins is an award winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for the Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.