Trump urges end to gun-free school zones, easier confinement of 'deranged' people

[May 28, 2022] By Arathy Somasekhar and Kanishka Singh

HOUSTON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Former President Donald Trump on Friday argued the United States should make it easier to confine "deranged" people and eliminate gun-free school zones after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers this week at a Texas school.

"Clearly, we need to make it far easier to confine the violent and mentally deranged into mental institutions," Trump said in a speech at a convention in Houston of the National Rifle Association, a gun rights advocacy group.

Tuesday's fatal shooting of 19 pupils and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, by an 18-year-old gunman equipped with an AR-15 style semiautomatic rifle again focused attention on the NRA, a major donor to Congress members, mostly Republicans.

On suggestions to improve the security of schools, Trump said every school should have a single point of entry, strong fencing and metal detectors, adding there should also be a police official or an armed guard at all times in every school.

"This is not a matter of money. This is a matter of will. If the United States has $40 billion to send to Ukraine, we can do this," he said, referring to Washington's financial and military support for Ukraine after Russia's invasion in February.
 

A sign showing former U.S. President Donald Trump, who will be speaking at the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum, stands posted inside the National Rifle Association (NRA) annual convention at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas, U.S., May 26, 2022. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

The former U.S. president also called for eliminating gun-free school zones, adding that such zones leave victims with no means to defend themselves in case of an attack by an armed person.

"As the age-old saying goes, the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," Trump added.

"The existence of evil is one of the very best reasons to arm law-abiding citizens."

Video images of the main auditorium in Houston, which holds about 3,600 people, showed it to be about half-full as Trump took the stage on Friday afternoon.

(Reporting by Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; additional reporting by Steve Holland in Washington; writing by Kanishka Singh; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Cynthia Osterman)

[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.