Trump Claim:
Trump Claimed That There Were “No Guns On The Other Side” During The Mass Shooting In Orlando And If There Had Been, There Would Have Been Fewer Deaths. According to FactCheck, “Donald Trump said there were ‘no guns on the other side’ in the mass shooting in Orlando and there would’ve been fewer deaths ‘if the bullets were going in the other direction, aimed at the guy who was just in open target practice.’ […]Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee for president, made his claim during a campaign rally in Atlanta on June 15. He said the U.S. needs to accept immigrants who ‘don’t want to destroy us, that don’t want to go to a club where you have innocent people, and where you had no guns on the other side.’ He said that someone at the club shooting back at Mateen could have prevented at least some of the deaths of the 49 people killed. Trump, June 15: If some of those great people that were in that club that night had guns strapped to their waist or strapped to their ankle, and if the bullets were going in the other direction, aimed at this guy who was just open target practice, you would’ve had a situation folks, which would have been always horrible, but nothing like the carnage that we all as a people suffered this weekend.” [FactCheck, 6/16/16]
Reality:
Trump’s Claim That There Were “No Guns On The Other Side” During The Orlando Mass Shooting Was False; Pulse Nightclub Had Armed Security Who Traded Shots With The Shooter. According to FactCheck, “Donald Trump said there were ‘no guns on the other side’ in the mass shooting in Orlando and there would’ve been fewer deaths ‘if the bullets were going in the other direction, aimed at the guy who was just in open target practice.’ But at least one person at the club fired at the shooter. Adam Gruler, an Orlando police officer working security for Pulse nightclub that night, traded gunshots with the gunman, Omar Mateen, near the club’s entrance.” [FactCheck, 6/16/16]
