The presence of evil in the world is the reason why law-abiding citizens in the United States should be permitted to have guns, the former US president Donald Trump has said.
In a speech on Friday, Mr Trump gave a strong defence of gun rights just days after the second worst mass shooting in a school, in which 19 children and two teachers were killed.
Addressing the conference of the gun rights organisation, the National Rifle Association (NRA), in Houston, Texas, about four hours from the scene of the school attack in Uvalde, he urged greater security at school premises and improvements in mental health services.
Mr Trump gave details of occasions in which armed civilians had saved the lives of members of the public by taking on gunmen.
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The former president called for dramatic changes in mental health services.
He said the United States had experienced a contagion of school shootings carried out by “deeply evil and mentally disturbed young men”.
“Clearly, we need to make it far easier to confine the violent and mentally deranged into mental institutions.”
He said there should be improvements in school discipline regimes and that bad behaviour should be confronted head-on.
He also hit out at the issue of “broken families”, saying, “There is no substitute for a strong mom and a great dad.”
Mr Trump said every school should have a single point of entry, strong fencing and metal detectors. He said there should also be a police official or an armed guard at all times in every school.
The former president said, “The existence of evil in our world is not a reason to disarm law-abiding citizens - the existence of evil is one of the very best reasons to arm law-abiding citizens.”
Mr Trump has said if he runs again and takes control of the White House he would crack down on crime. He blamed his Democratic opponents for rising crime rates in some American cities.
