The National Rifle Association has been pulling away from remarks made by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who responded Monday by clarifying his position about an aspect of last week’s Orlando shooting he said could have minimized the number of casualties there.
Trump said at a rally Friday that if the 49 people killed at Pulse nightclub were armed, “that would have been a beautiful sight.”
Wayne La Pierre, NRA executive vice president, told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that no one “should have firearms where people are drinking.”
The gun lobby’s other top executive, Chris Cox, was also on the media circuit to distance his organization from Trump’s comment.
“No one thinks that people should go into a nightclub drinking and carrying firearms,” he said. “That defies common sense. It also defies the law.”
Cox earlier praised Trump for speaking the obvious about good guys with guns stopping bad guys with guns.
The NRA endorsed the Republican candidate last month at its annual convention in Louisville, Kentucky.
Following statements from the NRA executives, Trump on Monday tweeted he was talking about security guards or employees being armed, not club patrons.
When I said that if, within the Orlando club, you had some people with guns, I was obviously talking about additional guards or employees
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 20, 2016
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