“I do have a gun, and I have a concealed-carry permit, actually, which is a very hard thing to get in New York. And, of course, the problem is once you get to the border line of New Jersey or anyplace else, you can’t do it, which is ridiculous, because I’m a very big Second Amendment person.” That’s a quote from a recent Field & Stream interview with The Donald [via ammoland.com]. What they forgot to ask . . .
is whether or not Mr. Trump supports constitutional (a.k.a., permitless) carry. It’s easy enough to say “I support gun rights” without addressing the crux of the matter: do all Americans have a right to keep and bear arms without government infringement? If you believe that the government should be able to decide who carries, then you don’t support the Second Amendment.
The problem with that position is, of course, political. Gun control advocates would have a field day with any Republican candidate who’d come out for constitutional carry. Extremist! Gun nut! Baby killer! Even so, I’d like to see Mr. Trump and all his fellow presidential candidates thread the needle on constitutional carry — if only to get the idea into the mainstream.
Mr. Trump’s comment raises another issue which F&S and everyone else in the media have neglected to address: how did Mr. Trump get his New York City concealed carry permit? The average NYC resident has as much chance of getting a permit as I do dating Michal Idan. Maybe less. What strings did Trump pull to get his permit?
Never mind New Jersey’s failure to recognize out-of-state permits. Why doesn’t Trump highlight the fact that millions of law-abiding citizens of his home state are denied the same right that he enjoys? My theory: because he doesn’t care. Not really. I reckon Trump is an narcissistic elitist masquerading as a man of the people. Your thoughts?