Former President Donald Trump in his speech at the National Rifle Association (NRA) convention three days after the Texas school shooting said ‘evil’ is the reason to ‘arm law-abiding citizens’.
‘The existence of evil in our world is not a reason to disarm law-abiding citizens,’ Trump said at the NRA’s annual meeting on Friday evening. ‘The existence of evil is one of the very best reasons to arm law-abiding citizens.’
Several Republican politicians including Texas Governor Greg Abbott decided against appearing at the NRA event, in light of gunman Salvador Ramos, 18, shooting and killing 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary School. The 45th president delivered his speech as planned.
‘Unlike some, I didn’t disappoint you by not showing up,’ Trump said at the start of his speech, drawing some claps.
Trump called Tuesday’s mass shooting by an ‘out-of-control lunatic’ a ‘heinous’ act and a ‘savage and barbaric atrocity that shocked the conscience of every single American’.
‘Each precious young soul that was taken is an incomprehensible loss – literally not comprehensible – stolen from us by a malice that no words can describe,’ he said.
Trump called for ‘hardening’ school entry points so only people who are ‘checked, scanned, screened and fully approved’ should be allowed on campuses.
‘Schools should be the single hardest target in our country,’ he said.
Trump said that the US must change its approach to mental health issues because ‘there is no substitute for a strong mom and a great dad’.
‘If the United States has $40billion dollars to send to Ukraine, we should be able to do whatever it takes to keep our children safe at home,’ Trump said.
‘We spent trillions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and got nothing for it. Before we nation-build the rest of the world, we should be building safe schools for our own children in our own nation!’
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