By Elizabeth Landers, CNN
President Donald Trump, during a bipartisan meeting Wednesday with lawmakers to discuss school safety and gun measures, said it might be better in some cases to allow law enforcement to confiscate weapons from potentially disturbed individuals before allowing due process.
“Take the gun first, go through due process second,” Trump said.
After listening to his Vice President Mike Pence discuss due process and the conversation that the President had with governors earlier this week, Trump suggested: “Or, Mike, take the firearms first and then go to court.”
Trump pointed to the shooter in the Parkland case, citing the red flags and calls from neighbors — all warning signs that law enforcement failed to follow up on.
“A lot of times by the time you go to court, it takes so long to go to court to get the due process procedures, I like taking the guns early,” the President said.
Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, who was not at the bipartisan meeting, slammed Trump’s statement.
“We’re not ditching any constitutional protections simply because the last person the President talked to today doesn’t like them,” he said.
