This is a story which has cropped up in the past, but it’s making the rounds again this month. Donald Trump gave an interview to the French magazine Valleurs Actuelles this month where he weighed in on how their nation has seen better days. Both the country and its capital were criticized for sagging a bit in the modern era. Saying, “France isn’t what it was” during his comments, Trump noted that the country might be in better shape if the citizens had the right to keep and bear arms. For evidence, the man who the Weekly Standard just described as being in the driver’s seat on the way to the nomination, cited the recent terror attacks and noted that he’s always ready for action and that things might have gone differently if he’d been there. (The Local, France)

“Do you really think that if there were people in the crowd, who were armed and trained, things would have turned out the same way?,” Trump said.

“I don’t think so. They would have killed the terrorists. It makes sense.

“I always have a gun on me. I can tell you that if I had been in the Bataclan or in the cafes I would have opened fire.

“I may have been killed, but I would have drawn.”

It seems that some people have raised doubts about whether or not this claim is true. I’ve gotten some questions on this in the past and it came up again with this article. The default assumption seems to be that Trump is a Big Apple guy and nobody gets a concealed carry permit in New York City. I’ll grant you that, particularly these days, it’s darned hard to get one, but it can be done. And in years past it was at least somewhat easier. Public figures who regularly receive plausible threats on their lives can actually obtain one fairly easily if they don’t have a criminal record or other disqualifying items in their history. It seems unlikely that Trump would be fibbing on this one, particularly since he puts the claim right on his Second Amendment issues page. Further, Trump is on record out on the campaign trail as claiming that he’s had the permit for years, an item noted by our Katie Pavlich last fall.

Boulder, Colo. – During one of the final questioning sessions of Wednesday night’s debate, Donald Trump proudly proclaimed that he has a concealed carry permit and that he “carries, sometimes a lot.”

What sort of heat is The Donald packing? He’s normally rather hesitant to go into details (which many people consider a rather private matter) but in one interview he did give a peek behind the curtains. He has a fair collection, including at least one Sig Sauer, a H&K .45 and a .38 Smith & Wesson. On a slightly off topic subject, there’s one type of weapon the real estate mogul probably isn’t packing, and that’s a “smart gun.” Just for some extra credit reading, take a look at this article on why smart guns are probably your stupidest choice when looking for personal protection. (Real Clear Science)

The whole point of owning a gun is that you only need to use it in the most extreme situations (and you pray these never arise). You don’t plug your gun into a USB port before going to bed, knowing that tonight is the night that you’ll need it. You don’t pop on your special RFID digital watch before slipping between the sheets. A gun needs to be ready for the only circumstances it is designed for: the unimaginably horrible ones.

A gun that is hamstrung by special technological conditions to fire is a liability to an owner who keeps it for protection from these terrifying moments. Science would say that smart guns are a stupid idea.

Just some food for thought in case you’re thinking about picking up one of these very expensive toys.