The story of Donald Trump and the Glock: The former president’s spokesman claimed Monday that he purchased a firearm on a visit to South Carolina – something that would likely be illegal for someone under indictment. Then, all hell broke loose.
Donald Trump and a Glock? What?
Donald Trump may be beloved by Americans who own guns and are concerned with Second Amendment rights, but the question of the former’s president’s own personal experience with guns is much harder to pin down.
Trump told the Washington Times in 2012 that he owns handguns and received a concealed-carry permit in New York although, per a Politico story in in 2018, Trump did not much emphasize his own gun usage as president. However, Trump has not traditionally been photographed holding or brandishing firearms.
That led up to a surprising episode on the campaign trail on Monday, when Trump visited South Carolina.
According to the New York Times, the former president visited a gun shop in Summerville, S.C. A spokesperson for Trump posted a video to X, the former Twitter, showing Trump holding a “Special Trump Edition Glock” that is offered by the Palmetto State Armory. The gold gun features both the former president’s picture and says “Trump 45th,” and in the video Trump is repeatedly heard stating “I want to buy one.”
The spokesman, Steven Cheung, then posted that Trump had in fact purchased the weapon. And when that happened, several commentators on special media noted that Trump, because he is under federal indictment, would likely not be legally allowed to buy a gun. This could have led to legal consequences both for Trump himself and for the store that sold him the weapon.
However, Cheung soon backed off, deleted the original post, and issued a statement stating that “President Trump did not purchase or take possession of the firearm. He simply indicated that he wanted one.”
According to NBC News, the law that would prevent those under federal indictment from buying a gun was struck down by a federal judge in Texas last year, although the final adjudication of that case will likely be decided by a higher court later on.
That particular Second Amendment jurisprudence has also come up in relation to the criminal case against President Biden’s son Hunter, who was charged earlier this month on three counts related to his purchase of a gun. Hunter Biden, according to federal prosecutors, had lied on a form, connected to the gun purchase, in which he claimed not to have used drugs. The younger Biden had stated in his autobiography that he had, in fact, been using drugs during that period.
That case has put many people on opposite sides of where they normally stand when it comes to gun rights, to the point where President Biden has been accused by one columnist of hypocrisy for not speaking out against his son’s own gun purchase.
Meanwhile, the Jacksonville TV station WIS-TV reported in August that at least one of the weapons used in this summer’s racially-motivated shooting in that city had been purchased from a Palmetto State Armory location.
Trump went on to speak to a crowd in South Carolina at a business called Sportsman Boats, while also visiting other stops in the state.
“I’ll take care of all issues. We will take care of that. We’ll take care of all issues. We’ll take care of the border issue, we’ll take care of the energy independence,” Trump said during his visit, according to local TV station 2 News. “We were energy-independent just a short time ago. Think of it, three years ago we had so much energy we were going to be energy dominant. Now we’re going to Venezuela and begging them for energy. And they sell us their tar. There’s tar that they sell us. So people who believe in the atmosphere, they got a big problem. It’s so horrible what’s happening. We’ll take care of a lot of problems. That problem is easy.”
Author Expertise and Experience
Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Stephen has authored thousands of articles over the years that focus on politics, technology, and the economy for over a decade. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
From the Vault
