President Trump asked about mass shootings:

“It’s not the gun that pulls the trigger; it’s the person that pulls the trigger. And we have to protect our Second Amendment rights.”pic.twitter.com/QmXhoV48BM

— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) May 11, 2023

At a recent town hall hosted by CNN in New Hampshire, former President Donald Trump spent 70 minutes discussing various topics, including his commitment to protecting the Second Amendment and addressing the country’s mental health crisis.

The event demonstrated that Trump remains a formidable figure in American politics, continuing to pose a significant challenge to the Biden administration.

During the town hall, Trump expressed pride in his defense of the Second Amendment and highlighted the importance of addressing mental health issues as the root cause of gun violence.

He argued that better security measures, rather than stricter gun control, are the key to reducing gun violence in the country.

“There’s been nobody that’s protected the 2A, as you know like I have.  I have protected it through thick and thin.  Not easy to do,” said Trump in response to an audience member’s question about how he’d defend the 2A and restore gun rights that have been taken away.

“But we have a very big mental health problem in this country.  And again, it’s not the gun that pulls the trigger, it’s the person that pulls the trigger,” Trump continued. “And we have to protect our Second Amendment.”

CNN moderator Kaitlan Collins interjected and asked 45 what steps he would take and what gun laws he would sign to improve public safety.

“I would do numerous things. For instance, I would, we would very much harden schools… Many of these teachers are soldiers, ex-soldiers, ex-policemen. They’re people that really understand weapons. Five percent of the teachers would be more than you could ever have if you were gonna hire security guards,” explained Trump.

“But in addition to that, have security guards. And you have to harden your entrances to make schools safe. And you can make other places safe. But it is a big mental health problem in this country more than anything else,” he said.

He also cited the 700 million guns in America as a source of security for many citizens and acknowledged the various uses for guns, including entertainment, hunting, and personal protection.

“Now you need them [guns] for entertainment, you need them for hunting, you need them for a lot of different things. But there are people who if they didn’t have the privilege of having a gun in some form, many of them would not be alive today, he said.

In discussing global examples, Trump mentioned Brazil’s loosening of gun laws leading to a decrease in crime rates and contrasted this with cities like Chicago and New York, which have strict gun control policies but high rates of gun violence.

According to Trump, these examples demonstrate that stricter gun control is not the solution to reducing violence in America.

CNN’s decision to give the former president a largely unfiltered prime-time platform backfired in the eyes of many. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) took to Twitter to voice her displeasure with the cable news network.

This falls squarely on CNN. Everyone here saw exactly what was going to happen. Instead they put a sexual abuse victim in harm’s way for views. This was a choice to platform lies about the election & Jan 6th w/ no plan but to have their moderator interrupted without consequence.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 11, 2023

However, the significance of Trump’s performance at the town hall lies in the opinions of voters rather than politicians or media elites. The key question is what the viewers and voters thought about his remarks and proposals.

So, what’d you think?