Donald Trump Says He will end Military 'Gun Free Zones" day one in Office

 Link to video

In Burlington Vermont yesterday, 7 January, Donald Trump had another packed rally.  It seems as if it is the only kind that he has.  In the speech, near the end, the Donald starts talking about the Second Amendment.  He says that the 65 year old woman who defended herself in New Hampshire said that she is going to vote for Trump.  He went on to say that gun free zones are bait for bad guys.  He talked about how ridiculous it is that our military bases are gun free zones.  He mentioned that  we have to stop schools from being gun free zones, and that on day one of his presidency, he would end the gun free zones in the military.  You can hear what Trump said about gun free zones starting about 1:04 on the video above.

AP carries the story, but with a twist.  They claim that Donald Trump said that he would end gun free zones in schools on day one.  From Jill Colvin, AP:

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says he would eliminate gun-free zones in schools on his first day if he's elected to the White House.

There is a problem with that report.  It is not what Donald Trump said.  In context, Trump was talking about gun free zones on military bases.  Then he mentions schools (where he does want to end gun free zones) and then he says that he will get rid of gun free zones on military bases on his first day as President. From Trump:

I will get rid of gun free zones on schools.  You have to.  And on Military bases, my first day, it gets signed.

In context, it is clear that Trump wants to get rid of the gun free zones in schools.  It is also clear that on his first day as president, he will get rid of gun free zones in the military.

The President cannot unilaterally eliminate the federal law banning guns from within a thousand feed of a school, even though that law was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in U.S. v. Lopez in 1995.  Bill Clinton pushed through a slightly modified law to replace it the same year.  The Supreme Court has not ruled on the Bill Clinton version of the law, because it has not been challenged in court.  Federal prosecutors have been very careful not to prosecute cases that would be a good test case for the law.

Trump could push for a repeal of the unconstitutional Gun Free School zone law.  He could get the law repealed.  It has always been a  supremely stupid law, ruled unconstitutional once already, whose only purpose is to make carrying a gun through any urban area legally difficult.

Trump may not be able to repeal the Clinton Gun Free School Zone act on his first day in office, but he indicates that it is bad policy and should be repealed.

As far as gun free zones on military bases, as Commander in Chief, President Trump would indeed be able to sign an order to stop those policies on military bases on day one.

©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
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