Leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Saturday that the recent terrorist attacks in Paris would’ve been « a much, much different situation »
if the victims of the violence had been armed with guns.
Speaking at a campaign event in Beaumont, Texas, Trump said,
« When you look at Paris, you know the toughest gun laws in the world… Nobody had guns but the bad guys. Nobody. Nobody had guns. And they were just shooting them, one by one, and then they broke in and had a big shootout, and ultimately killed the terrorists. And I’ll tell you what: You can say what you want, but if they had guns — if our people had guns, if they were allowed to carry — it would’ve been a much, much different situation. »
According to the Associated Press, Trump also said it would be « insane » for the United States to allow Syrian refugees into the country after the tragedy — a notion shared by a number of Trump’s fellow Republican presidential hopefuls, including Ben Carson.
And he held a moment of silence for the Paris victims.
In the wake of the January Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris, Trump tweeted a similar sentiment.
(That tweet was widely recirculated in the wake of Friday’s attacks, with many people mistaking which « tragedy in Paris » Trump was referring to.)
At a Republican primary debate last week, Trump answered in the affirmative when asked if he would feel more comfortable if his employees carried guns to work, and discussed personally carrying a gun at times.
« Yes, I might feel more comfortable, » he said.
« I do carry on occasion. Sometimes a lot. I like to be unpredictable… unlike our country, where we’re totally predictable, and the enemy, whether it’s ISIS or anybody else, they know exactly what we’re doing, because we have the wrong leadership. »
Trump has also said on the campaign trail, of the gun permit he says he has in New York, « Somebody attacks me, they’re gonna be shocked. »
« I’m a very, very big Second Amendment person, » he told a crowd in Nashville last month. « This is about self-defense, plain and simple. »
Watch Madonna’s Powerful Speech About Paris Attacks at Stockholm Concert.
While artists like Foo Fighters and U2 were forced to cancel or postpone their European shows in the aftermath of the Paris terror attacks, Madonna decided to soldier on with her own trek with a Saturday night concert in Stockholm, Sweden, where the singer delivered a moving, heartfelt and tearful speech about the massacre in the French capital.
« It’s been really hard actually to get through the show, because in many ways, I feel torn. Like, why am I up here dancing and having fun when people are crying over the loss of their loved ones? However, that is exactly what these people want us to do. They want to shut us up. They want to silence us. And we won’t let them, » Madonna told the crowd after revealing why she decided to continue on with her Rebel Heart trek through Europe.
« There are people who have no respect for human life, and there are people that do atrocious, degrading and unforgivable things to human beings, » Madonna said during her six-minute speech. « But we will never, ever, ever change this world that we live in if we do not change ourselves. If we do not change the way we treat one another on a daily basis. The way we change the world is not to elect another president, not to kill a hundred more people. The way we change the world is that we change the way we treat one another on a daily basis, in the simplest ways. We must start treating every human being with dignity and respect, and this is the only thing that will change the world. »
Following a long moment of silence for those killed in the Paris attacks, Madonna then delivered an acoustic version of « Like a Prayer. » « So, here’s what I know how to do, and I hope you will all join me, and we will all sing this prayer together, » she told the crowd, dabbing tears from her eyes with a tissue given to her by a concertgoer.
domhertz.com 