Trump: Teachers with guns could have prevented Oregon shooting

 

Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump said armed teachers could have protected the students who were killed in a mass shooting at a community college in Oregon this week.

 

“This is in light of what’s gone on in Oregon,” Trump said Saturday during a campaign stop in Franklin, Tenn., after talking about his Second Amendment stance. 

 

{mosads}“And by the way, it was a gun-free zone,” he said of the Umpqua Community College shooting Thursday. 

 

“I’ll tell you, if you had a couple of the teachers or someone with guns in that room, you would have been a hell of a lot better off,” he added.

 

The shooting has drawn another round of calls for background checks from gun control advocates.

But Trump was quick to say he would “defend the rights of law-abiding gun owners.”

“They have background checks already in place,” the businessman added. “That was in in 1998. People slipped through, and our government’s not doing a great job.”

Trump also turned his attention toward Syrian refugees, who he has previously threatened to “send back” if he is elected president. 

During his speech Saturday, Trump warned of “young, strong people” among Syrian refugees that could turn out to be affiliated with ISIS. 

He made repeated references to a “Trojan horse,” echoing comments he made earlier Saturday during an interview with FOX News.

“This could be like a Trojan horse,” he said on Fox. “Two-hundred-thousand people coming into the United States and they come in here and we’re totally unprepared.” 

Trump closed his remarks with a look ahead toward the holiday season.

“You can’t use Christmas anymore,” Trump told the crowd. “I will tell you one thing. If I win, you’re going to be using Merry Christmas all the time, all the time.”

– Updated at 5:53 p.m.