President Donald Trump likes , though maybe not the one heâs getting this week. After Trump expressed support for certain gun control measures, some of his staunchest allies in the gun rights community say they may abandon a man
On Monday, Trump addressed the country from the White House after mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio,
âWe must make sure that those judged to pose a grave risk to public safety do not have access to firearms,â Trump said. âAnd if they do, those firearms can be taken through rapid due process. That is why I have called for âred flagâ laws, also known as Extreme Risk Protection Orders.â
Gun rights groups were not thrilled.
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âThatâs what Trump is doing now, he is supporting that legislation,â said Aaron Dorr, president of Iowa Gun Owners, . âThatâs whatâs going on and itâs a great big disaster.â
Some vowed to fight a man they usually see as an ally.
âWe are going to do everything we can to stop President Trump and the Senate Republicans from ever implementing this,â said Idaho Second Amendment President Greg Pruett.
Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs), or âred flagâ laws, give law enforcement the ability to temporarily confiscate guns from someone deemed a threat to themselves or others. Trump also signaled support Wednesday for , a third-rail for gun rights activists.
Other Republicans, like Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fl., a âred flagâ bill. Graham even went so far as to say he is planning on
These laws receive wide support nationally. A found that 85% of Americans back a âred flagâ law. Support for background checks on all purchases is .
But that doesnât sway those in the of gun rights activism.
âWe cannot forget that guns are not the problem,â Erich Pratt, senior vice president of Gun Owners Of America, said in âThey are overwhelmingly used for good.â
Pratt thinks there will be more massacres if this type of gun control passes,
The NRA gave initial support for âred flagâ laws in the wake of the 2018 mass shooting in Parkland, before cooling on the idea. In response to Trumpâs call this week for a âred flagâ law, the g supporting restricting access to guns for those âadjudicated as a danger to themselves or others.â
Groupâs like Prattâs see that position as capitulation. And they are sounding the alarm for their tens of thousands of followers.
These have been some of Trumpâs most ardent supporters over the last few years.
Battleground Support
In battleground states, leaders of these groups are now suggesting gun control could doom Trump in 2020. This includes Ohio Gun Ownersâ president, Chris Dorr.
âHe, more than anybody, should know how gun owners are going to react to a betrayal like that,â Dorr said in an interview with Guns & America.
President Donald Trump, center, poses with Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, second from the left, and hospital staff in Dayton, Ohio, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019. Trump went to Ohio following a shooting over the weekend in Dayton.
Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead / Flickr
Ohio is not only a presidential battleground state, but it has recently been ground zero in the gun control debate.
There, Republicans like Gov. Mike DeWine have expressed support in the wake of the mass shooting in Dayton.
Chris Dorr, whose brother is Iowa Gun Ownersâ Aaron Dorr, says he had long given up on DeWine. But he never expected this from Trump.
âHe literally turned around and dropped a hand grenade into the crowd that he needs the most to win,â Chris Dorr said. âStates like Ohio, and Pennsylvania and Michigan and Wisconsin.â
Chris Dorr thinks a lot of gun owners will stay home next election if their guy supports anything they see as contrary to the Second Amendment. So much so that Dorr wouldnât even consider supporting Trump if he signed a âred flagâ bill into law.
âAbsolutely not, Iâd walk away from him in two seconds,â Dorr said.
And, while Dorrâs fellow hard-line activists, like Rocky Mountain Gun Owners director Dudley Brown, are taking to to alert followers to what they feel is a threat to the Second Amendment, theyâre also soliciting donations.
, Brown urged supporters to text a specific number with the word âredflag.â Doing so shoots back a plea for money with a link to his groupâs donation page.
A screenshot from a text message campaign by promoted by Rocky Mountain Gun Owners director Dudley Brown.
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