Former President Donald Trump visited a gun store in South Carolina on Monday where he admired a Glock handgun and said, “I want to buy one.”
But because he’s under felony indictment, Trump would actually not be allowed to purchase or possess a firearm, according to federal law.
Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said Monday on social media that the former president bought a Glock, but then another Trump spokesperson clarified that the purchase did not actually happen. Cheung deleted his tweet and did not respond to a query from HuffPost.
A representative from Palmetto State Armory in Summerville, South Carolina, told HuffPost that Trump visited the store on Monday but didn’t buy anything.
Federal law prohibits several categories of people from buying or owning guns, including people who use marijuana or any other federally criminalized drug, people who have been convicted of a felony, and people who have merely been charged with a felony. Trump has been charged with 91 felonies in the two federal and two state indictments against him this year.
When someone buys a gun from a federally licensed dealer, the buyer has to fill out a standard form from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with a series of questions, including whether the purchaser is addicted to drugs or whether the person has been charged with felony or crime for which a judge could levy a prison sentence longer than a year.
The form asks the buyer to sign their name under a warning that a “yes” response to any of the questions means the buyer “is prohibited from receiving, possessing, or purchasing a firearm.”
It’s unclear whether Trump has been entered into the FBI NICS database, which allows gun stores to conduct instant background checks. If he had been able to complete the purchase, however, he likely would have broken multiple federal laws. Lying on ATF form 4473 is a felony. |