Nikki Haley has some pretty impressive credentials for a presidential candidate. A former governor and a former ambassador to the United Nations, she’s got executive and foreign policy experience. That’s something few presidential candidates have going for them.

Despite that, she’s clearly looking at an uphill battle for the Republican nomination.

While some recent comments of hers aren’t likely to be enough to cover all that ground, a firm pro-gun stance ain’t gonna hurt.

Former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Sunday that she doesn’t “trust government to deal with red flag laws” during a CNN Town Hall, and called for addressing mental health and abolishing gun-free zones.

“I don’t trust government to deal with red flag laws,” Haley said in response to an audience member’s question regarding mass shootings. “I don’t trust that they won’t take them away from people who rightfully deserve to have them, because you’ve got someone else judging whether someone should have a gun or not. It is a constitutional right that people can protect and defend themselves.”

…

“Let’s deal with the cancer in America that nobody has dealt with and we have to deal with and that’s mental health. One in four people have a mental health issue, but if treated, they can have a perfectly normal life,” Haley said. She added: “17 of the last 18 mass shootings were all mental health related.”

Haley’s comment about not trusting the government to determine who can and cannot have a gun is precisely the right note to hit.

No, it may not convince a lot of people to vote for her, but that’s not my point. I’m not here to beat the drum for any candidate.

Instead, I’m simply saying that distrust of the government is why we have a Second Amendment in the first place.

Whether power corrupts or power just attracts the corruptible, the truth is that there’s always the specter of our nation embracing tyranny in the name of literally anything. Some want to quell free speech to avoid things like “hate speech.” Others want to eradicate our Fourth Amendment rights in the name of national security.

Hell, we’ve got nearly a third of a generation who think that putting cameras in people’s homes sounds like a swell idea.

Tyranny is only a few moments away, so Haley’s distrust of government is perfectly warranted, as it should be.

Removing gun-free zones is also a winning idea in my book. How many mass shootings have you seen in a gun-free zone?

Most of them, right?

The truth is that a gun-free zone doesn’t make anyone safer. At best, it allows yet another charge to get dropped on someone found with a firearm. That’s literally it. Criminals will still use a gun to rob a gun-free zone and a mass shooter will often pick such a place because they figure they won’t meet armed resistance.

When they misjudge that, though, we get a situation like Greenwood Park Mall.

Haley’s hitting the right notes with these comments.