Trump decries gun free zones on military bases

Once again, Donald Trump gets out in front of an issue. Paul Bedard reports in the Washington Examiner,

In an interview with the website AmmoLand.com, Trump decried the zones on military bases, suggesting that they left highly-trained gun operators without a weapon to fire at attackers, with the exception of military police.

Pistol-packing GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump ripped a policy implemented by former President Bill Clinton making military bases "gun free zones," declaring that as president bases would no longer be defenseless against terror attacks.

"As Commander-in-Chief, I would mandate that soldiers remain armed and on alert at our military bases." he told the website Ammoland.com.

"President Clinton never should have passed a ban on soldiers being able to protect themselves on bases. America's Armed Forces will be armed," he added to the website closely watched by gun rights groups and the National Rifle Association.

While military police are armed, the rules prohibit soldiers on bases from packing heat even though virtually all have been trained to use guns. In several terror attacks at military bases, critics of the policy have said that soldiers would have been able to thwart the attack if armed.

Trump agreed, telling Ammoland that as president, "They will be able to defend themselves against terrorists. Our brave soldiers should not be at risk because of policy created by civilian leadership. Political correctness has no place in this debate."

The interview was a tour de force on guns and the Second Amendment by Trump, who recently addressed the NRA annual convention in Nashville.

Trump, permitted to carry a concealed weapon, said that Americans should stay vigilant against gun control on the national and local stage.

"My advice is to remain vigilant. Harassment of this nature will always be with us, but we know that Americans have inherited a strong outdoor and shooting heritage that we are happy to defend," said Trump. "The 2nd Amendment is a right, not a privilege. The small minority of anti-everything activists may be vocal, but we have facts, and the Constitution, on our side."

He also said that gun control doesn't work. "Gun control does not reduce crime. It has consistently failed to stop violence. Americans are entitled to protect their families, their property and themselves. In fact, in right-to-carry states the violent crime rate is 24 percent lower than the rest of the United States and the murder rate is 28 percent lower. This should not be up for debate."

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