Former President Donald Trump is, as of now, a convicted felon. While it seems likely that he'll win his appeal in some form or fashion, that's something for down the road. Right now, he's a prohibited person, much like a lot of other people, up to and including Hunter Biden.
And yet, he was a gun owner before he was indicted. It was well known that he had a couple of handguns, as a matter of fact. That's more information than most gun owners want out in public about their collections.
Trump reportedly gave up a couple of his guns, but it seems he still has one. According to the law, if that's true, Trump is in violation of the law prohibiting felons from owning guns.
What's funny, though, is that people who seem fine with turning jail cell doors into revolving doors are extremely upset about the idea of Trump having a gun.
Take this piece from Salon, for example.
An official who was briefed on the pre-sentencing meeting told CNN that Trump admitted to still possessing one of the three fireams listed on his New York City permit to carry concealed weapons. Two of the three pistols he was licensed to carry were handed over to police in March 2023, after his gun license was suspended in light of his arrest by the Manhattan District Attorney's office. The third gun was "lawfully moved to Florida," presumably to his estate at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, where Trump was for the remotely-conducted hearing.
Palm Beach police told CNN that they were not told of any gun that Trump might have, and none were turned over to them since his conviction in May. The New York City Police Department has now notified police in Florida and asked them to take appropriate action.
The thing is, Trump is a non-violent felon. He represents absolutely no threat to anyone when it comes to violent crime. While there's plenty of alarmism about Trump, none of it suggests he's going to start robbing liquor stores or mugging Democrats.
Now, rules are rules and all that, but it's just hilarious to me how Salon has plenty of pieces celebrating criminal justice reform efforts that basically treat recidivist criminals like Boy Scouts. They acted like George Floyd was the proverbial choir boy prior to his last run-in with police. They routinely act like criminals and shouldn't be punished for their crimes.
Why is this different?
Because, like so many others, they're outright hypocrites.
They could blast the idea that Alec Baldwin should get a reality show despite his manslaughter trial--a trial he's likely to lose.
They could have pointed out how anti-gun groups were completely silent about Hunter's issues, but they didn't. Hell, they could have taken issue themselves.
Instead, they celebrate felons of all stripes, desperate to say they should be treated as if they're anything but...unless their last name is Trump.
Now, I'm not the biggest Trump fan out there. He was a lot better than I thought he'd be, but he was far from perfect and I've had plenty to take issue with since 2016. However, I also try to be honest with myself and note that I don't have to like the guy to recognize that he's not the villain he's been portrayed as.
What's more, I can be consistent and say that neither he nor Hunter Biden represents a threat to commit violent crime. Both are convicted felons but both were convicted for non-violent felonies. They shouldn't be stripped of their gun rights for that.
So yeah, Trump may well still have a gun. My thing is that he should still have all of his guns and it shouldn't be anyone's business what he has.
