NEW YORK — Donald Trump said Wednesday that he will be meeting with the National Rifle Association to discuss ways to block people on terrorism watch lists or no-fly lists from buying guns as his party responds to the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
Trump announced the meeting with a tweet, writing "I will be meeting with the NRA, who has endorsed me, about not allowing people on the terrorist watch list, or the no fly list, to buy guns." He did not provide any details on the time or place of the meeting and his campaign did not immediately respond to requests for further information.
An NRA spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the lobbying group, which endorsed Trump last month, tweeted Wedensday: "Happy to meet @realdonaldtrump. Our position is no guns for terrorists_period. Due process & right to self-defense for law-abiding Americans."
Trump's declaration comes days after a mass shooting in Orlando in which the gunman, Omar Mateen, had been on the government's terrorist watch list for 10 months before being removed. The shooting, which left 49 dead, has renewed the debate over gun control regulations, with several leading Democrats — including Trump's likely general election foe, Hillary Clinton — calling for people on the federal lists to be barred from purchasing firearms.
His suggestion to prohibit those on the lists from getting the guns, though out of step with many leading Republicans, is not entirely new for the celebrity businessman. In an interview on ABC in November after a terror attack in Paris, George Stephanopoulus asked "Mr. Trump, yes or no, should someone on the terror watch list be allowed to buy a gun?"
Trump replied, "If somebody is on a watch list and an enemy of state and we know it's an enemy of state, I would keep them away, absolutely."
Read Thursday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.