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A MAN WAS removed from the audience at US President Donald Trump’s speech to the National Rifle Association (NRA) after throwing a mobile phone towards the stage.
The phone flew toward one side of the lectern as Trump was approaching from the other side. The president proceeded with his speech without delay.
In his speech, Trump said he is withdrawing the US from an international agreement on the arms trade, saying the United Nations treaty is “badly misguided”.
Trump made the announcement as he vowed to fight for gun rights and implored members of the nation’s largest pro-gun group to rally behind his re-election bid.
“It’s under assault,” he said of the constitutional right to bear arms. “But not while we’re here.”
Trump said he would be revoking the United States’ status as a signatory of the UN Arms Trade Treaty, which regulates international trade in conventional weapons, from small arms to battle tanks, combat aircraft and warships.
His predecessor President Barack Obama signed the pact in 2013 but it has never been ratified by US lawmakers. It has long been opposed by the NRA.
“Under my administration, we will never surrender American sovereignty to anyone,” Trump said, before signing a document on stage asking the Senate to halt the ratification process.
We will never allow foreign diplomats to trample on your Second Amendment freedom.
“I hope you’re happy,” he told the group, to cheers.
‘Embolden terrorists’
Gun activists denounced the treaty when it was under negotiation as an infringement of civilian firearm ownership, despite the well-enshrined legal principle that says no treaty can override the Constitution or US laws.
The treaty is aimed at cracking down on illicit trading in small arms, thereby curbing violence in some of the most troubled corners of the world.
Advocates of tighter gun restrictions denounced Trump’s decision. Kris Brown, president of the Brady Campaign, said it was a “reckless move” that will “only embolden terrorists and other dangerous actors around the world”.
‘I didn’t need a gun’
In a speech full of grievance, Trump railed against the Mueller investigation, which did not establish a criminal conspiracy between Russian and the Trump campaign but raised serious questions about the actions of Trump and his associates.
Special counsel Robert Mueller outlined potential episodes of obstruction of justice by the president without concluding that he had committed any crime, leaving such questions for Congress to pursue as it saw fit.
“They tried for a coup,” Trump said. “It didn’t work out so well.”
“And I didn’t need a gun for that, did I?” he quipped, adding:
Spying. Surveillance. Trying for an overthrow? And we caught ‘em.
And in a pre-emptive attack against his 2020 Democratic challengers, Trump claimed that the other party wants “to take away your guns”.
An emboldened NRA had high hopes and ambitious plans for easing state and national gun regulations after pouring tens of millions of dollars into the 2016 presidential race, seeing its dark horse candidate win and Republicans in control of both branches of Congress.
But much of the legislation the group championed has stalled, due, in part, to a series of mass shootings, including the massacre at a Parkland, Florida, high school last year that left 17 dead and launched a youth movement against gun violence that has had a powerful impact. And Democrats won control of the House in the midterm elections.
At the same time, the group is grappling with infighting and money issues as well as facing a series of investigations into its operating practices, including allegations that covert Russian agents seeking to influence the 2016 election courted its officials and funneled money through the group.
As Trump landed in Indianapolis, a judge imposed an 18-month prison term on gun rights activist Maria Butina, an admitted Russian agent who tried to infiltrate American conservative groups.
Opinion polls
The NRA’s shaky fortunes have raised questions about the organisation’s clout heading into 2020.
“I’ve never seen the NRA this vulnerable,” John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit that advocates for gun control measures, said.
A March AP-NORC poll found that 67% of Americans overall think gun laws should be made stricter — up from 61% in October 2017.
A June 2018 Gallup poll found overall favorable opinions of the NRA down slightly from October 2015 – from 58% to 53%. Unfavourable views have grown – from 35% to 42%.
With reporting by Órla Ryan
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Shut that door quick
@ian kennedy:
I hear the sound of millions of stable doors being bolted…
Anyone looking to get irish citezionship should be only given it with the knowledge that legaly it will be revoked if you engage ,support ,preach ,terrorism, your out same applies to there children ,grand children ect,ect.
@ian kennedy: you are right it should happen but would Angela Merkel allow us to do it?
@siobhan pat mulcahy:we should just leave the EU ,if we cannot use our own laws
@ian kennedy: i would rather live in a poor safe country,might as well be ,no homes ,people dieing on waiting lists for hospital app,ect
@ian kennedy: plenty of Irish citizens in the IRA that have engaged in terrorism here, in Britain and on mainland Europe.
@Darren Bates,AND
@Darren Bates: you are so right, so this is all ok now then. Nothing to see here, move along.
@Darren Bates: and your point is?
@Gus Sheridan: it was pretty clear, he was pointing out that under the proposal in the first comment in this thread they too would have their citizenship revoked. I’m not entirely sure it’s a bad thing
Another failed asylum seeker let wander around Europe until he goes on a rampage. Our political leaders are a disgrace and people wonder why Le pen and afd are getting stronger and stronger
Jeez they didn’t waste anytime of their october attack! I’m sure there will be another though by months end. I’m gonna say Germany
@kevinhunt101: right on the money – German police stopped a terror attack in Bremen 2 days ago – you just see it on local news though : https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article169196761/Bremer-Polizei-verhindert-Ueberfall-mit-terroristischem-Hintergrund.html
RIP young women. More women’s lives brutally taken by men who hate women and our society where women are treated better than in his own. Pathetic.
@Veronica:
And the male victims of all the other Islamic State attacks? Did we get a similar comment from you?
@Fred Jetson: We sure didn’t.
@Veronica: learn a new song
@Fred Jetson: ? Yeah, I did, but this attack, similar to one recently in Finland, was directed specifically against women.
I’m allowed to comment on attacks that specifically target women and express sympathy for the group of people who were specifically targeted. Ffs
@Veronica: it was an attack on Europeans. Not just women. An attack in the name of Islam on our freedoms
@Michael Geraghty: looks like they (Is) hate to see others happy, or enjoying themselves. They (is) are happiest when Women cover up allowing only the Eyes to be seen. That’s why they (is) feel in control, and to do that they murder women who don’t fit into their corrupt taught pattern, it’s their evil thoughts that cause harm, not Women.!!
@Veronica : It started at the Aria grande concert , targeting western females to kill . In isis controlled areas they kill the men and take the women as sex slaves , same with Boko haram , kill the men take the women , that’s the mentality of this crowd , and still people here think this ideology deserves a free pass in Ireland .
Cowardly F)ucking Pr)cks
COWARDS…not fighters.
Islamic state… Bronze Age cowards… slit woman’s throat as an act of power…only in their culture so.
Cultural differences
http://img4.imagetitan.com/img.php?image=16_a8d0faac-513c-40a2-a4a9-c75ea40ca8cd.jpeg
@Tomasz Kuchnik: Poland is awesome man. Thinking of emigrating there.
Off course they have….most likely found an ISIS flag and an well polished passport!! these guys are very professional……the so called “War of Terrorism” is ticking along nicely.
@methodical2020:
So who exactly to you think the (now dead) killer was? A CIA agent?
Las Vegas cops have just said theyre searching for female Asian American suspect who fled the scene. Was it terrorism too?
@siobhan pat mulcahy: surely it’s terrorism regardless of ethnicity of shooter?
@siobhan pat mulcahy: as u see were not allowed freedom to express our selves .its happing already
@ian kennedy: who is preventing you from expressing yourself?
@Jane: the journal
@siobhan pat mulcahy: it’s definitely terrorism but it doesn’t seem to be this brand of terrorism. Could be wrong though. Ethnicity does not determine whether it’s terrorism or not
@Jane:
Depends if there was a political motive. Ethnicity doesn’t come into it.
@Dave O Keeffe:
Why do you say definitely terrorism? It could be just mass murder (although the word ‘just’ seems a bit inappropriate).
@Avina Laaf: Yeah, you’re right. My apologies.
@siobhan pat mulcahy: don’t tell Veronica.
If you shout ‘Allahu Akbar ‘ during your morning dump, IS will claim responsibility
@Larissa Caroline Nikolaus: are you trying to devalue the threats posed by islamic terrorism ? Patethic
@Larissa Caroline Nikolaus: maybe so Larissa but they tend to prefer taking responsibility for the murder of innocent people.
@Larissa Caroline Nikolaus: childish and irresponsible comment. No respect for the women murdered at all.
@Larissa Caroline Nikolaus: Why would anyone want to shout ‘God is great’, if God already knows anyway, he doesn’t need puny weak women haters to go around shouting this out, now would he.!!
@Larissa Caroline Nikolaus: You’re quite right , isis will claim any islamist attacker , the only ones who don’t claim them are the mosque he would have come from , or the muslim community he lived among .
Killed two women! what a brave man. Typical of these types of individuals.
Fu(k Islamic fundamentalism
When will feminists speak out about Islamic barbarity against women? Very sad day for the ladies concerned and their families. Macron can take responsibility.
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