Donald Trump will admit that he has a concealed carry permit in New York City, but he doesn’t like to go into detail bout what guns he owns. Until now.
This is a new feature exploring the firearms owned by high-profile individuals. Click here to read the first in the series on Rep. Paul Ryan, the 2012 Republican vice presidential candidate.
I interviewed the real estate mogul in Florida during the Republican convention in late August and asked him about his gun ownership. “I have a carry permit - I’ve said that publicly,” he told me. “I own a couple of different guns, but I don’t talk about it.”
I mentioned that I bought a Sig Sauer P229 in 9mm last February. The billionaire’s director of security, Keith Schiller, who was protecting him on the trip, said that he also owned a Sig. We discussed the function and fit and styles. The gun owners’ friendly conversation seemed to give Mr .Trump the comfort to give out details on his gun collection.
The star of “Celebrity Apprentice” said he owns a “H&K .45 and a .38 Smith & Wesson.”
Asked about the gun-control measures being pushed by people like New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Mr. Trump said that, “The way I view it, if nobody has guns, then only the bad guys have them. And they aren’t giving up their guns.”
I mentioned the dangers of gun-free zones like Washington, D.C. and, largely, Manhattan because of all the red tape it takes to exercise the right to bear arms.
Mr. Trump said an example of this was seen in the Aurora, Colo. shooting. “If some of the people in the movie theater had a gun, they’d have been shooting at him. Nobody had a gun so they were totally defenseless.”
The Donald is a true Second Amendment enthusiast.
