Donald Trump Calls For End To Gun Ban In Recruiting Offices After Shooting in Chattanooga

Donald Trump was among Republican candidates who Friday called for an end to the gun ban in military recruiting offices. Others who called for changes to the law include candidates Jeb Bush and Scott Walker.

The criticisms by Donald Trump, Bush, and Walker comes in response to the recent attack at a military office that killed four Marines and left one Marine and one sailor wounded Thursday at two military offices in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Donald Trump made his thoughts known Thursday while speaking at a fundraiser in Arkansas. In his remarks, Donald Trump talked about the alleged shooter and called for an end to the laws that make military offices gun-free zones, according to the Associated Press.

“This sick guy had guns and shot them down. These are decorated people. These are people who could have handled guns very easily. They would have had a good chance if they had a gun… If these Marines yesterday, the four of them, had guns they probably, at least some of them, would be with us today.”

Speaking at a town hall meeting in Carson City, Nevada, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush echoed Donald Trump’s thoughts, according to the Associated Press.

“It seems to me that if you have military bases or recruiting offices, these are symbols of American might, they’re targets. This is how you garner attention. You go to places where there’s vulnerability, and it’s a very powerful symbolic attack on our country.”

Bush went on to say that simply taking the law off the books and allowing service members to be armed may deter future incidents.

“If the Marines were armed, I think people would’ve known that, and if they had known it, maybe they wouldn’t have come in. Who knows. I just think it ought to be reviewed, for sure.”

Wisconsin Governor and GOP Presidential candidate Scott Walker took his comments a step further than Donald Trump and Bush, linking the Marine killings to terrorist threats both domestically and abroad.

“I think with ISIS now and the threats that we have not only abroad, but domestically, when our military in particular is potentially a target, we need to make sure that in places like this, a recruiting facility, they’re able to be armed so our heroes are protected.”

ISIS has not officially taken credit for the attack in Chattanooga, though accounts linked to the organization have publicly applauded the shootings on Twitter.

What do you think of the stance taken by Donald Trump and other GOP candidates? Could allowing Marines and military personnel to carry guns in military offices deter future attacks?

[Photo of Donald Trump by Richard Ellis / Getty Images]