--- title: Trump's 'Take the Guns' Remark Sparks Due Process Debate description: Trump’s dismissal of due process prompted calls to Congress and a snap visit to the White House by NRA officials. canonical: https://time.com/5184160/trump-guns-due-process/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-03-03T16:10:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T09:01:16.617Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump's 'Take the Guns First' Remark Sparks Due Process Debate og:description: Trump’s dismissal of due process prompted a visit by NRA officials og:url: https://time.com/5184160/trump-guns-due-process/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbadca32e99efb6f3/6989297dab6d7728a66b1f61/trump-guns-meeting.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5603 og:image:height: 3152 og:image:alt: President Trump Meets With Bipartisan Members Of Congress To Discuss School And Community Safety og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump's 'Take the Guns First' Remark Sparks Due Process Debate twitter:description: Trump’s dismissal of due process prompted a visit by NRA officials twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbadca32e99efb6f3/6989297dab6d7728a66b1f61/trump-guns-meeting.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump's 'Take the Guns First' Remark Sparks Due Process Debate > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=db76b3ee-7afc-478d-84b2-0a5391ca3cc9&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Trump Discusses Gun Control Reforms With Congress Members [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Discusses Gun Control Reforms With Congress Members](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zO5Fa8SC.m3u8) (1:52)  _Published 2018-02-28. President Trump met with a bipartisan group of Senators and Representatives to discuss various ideas to curb gun violence._ by [Toluse Olorunnipa, Anna Edgerton and Greg Stohr / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Toluse Olorunnipa, Anna Edgerton and Greg Stohr / Bloomberg Contributor Mar 3, 2018 4:10 PM UTC by [Toluse Olorunnipa, Anna Edgerton and Greg Stohr / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Toluse Olorunnipa, Anna Edgerton and Greg Stohr / Bloomberg Contributor Mar 3, 2018 4:10 PM UTC President Donald Trump hit a nerve with gun-rights enthusiasts this week after suggesting firearms should be confiscated from potentially dangerous people without a court’s approval, remarks that raised concerns among conservatives about his respect for the concept of due process. “I like taking the guns early,” Trump said during a televised meeting on gun laws at the White House on Wednesday. “To go to court would have taken a long time.” His remarks cut to a visceral fear of the most ardent supporters of gun rights: the government seizing weapons from law-abiding citizens. It’s the basis for the defiant bumper-sticker slogan the NRA popularized: “I’ll give you my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.” Trump’s dismissal of due process prompted calls to Congress and a snap visit to the White House late Thursday by top officials of the National Rifle Association. Chris Cox, the group’s top lobbyist, assured supporters in a tweet after the meeting that Trump had backpedaled and supports “the Second Amendment” and “strong due process.” White House spokespeople didn’t respond Friday to inquiries about Trump’s Wednesday remarks or Cox’s statement. David Kopel, a gun-rights supporter who is research director at the Independence Institute in Denver, mocked Trump’s position as “lose your rights today, followed by due process that will take years to resolve.” ### Pence Divide The incident also revealed an exceedingly rare divide between Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. The former Indiana governor, a social conservative with an “A” voting record from the NRA, tried to nudge Trump away from provoking the gun lobby’s supporters during Wednesday’s White House meeting as participants discussed so-called gun violence restraining orders. “Allow due process, so that no one’s rights are trampled,” Pence said during the meeting, in which a bipartisan group of lawmakers discussed a legislative response to school shooting that killed 17 people last month in Parkland, Florida. “But the ability to go to court, obtain an order, and then collect not only the firearms, but any weapons in the possession of that individual.” Trump disagreed. A party to hundreds of lawsuits, he argued it is too risky to wait for a court to act when a potentially dangerous person has a gun. “Or, Mike, take the firearms first and then go to court,” Trump said. “You could do exactly what you’re saying, but take the guns first, go through due process second.” The suggestion drew sharp rebukes from his own party. Senator Ben Sasse, a Republican from Nebraska, said in a statement that “we have the Second Amendment and due process of law for a reason.” “Strong leaders don’t automatically agree with the last thing that was said to them,” Sasse said. “We’re not ditching any Constitutional protections simply because the last person the president talked to today doesn’t like them.” ### Constitutional Protections Legally, Trump’s position bumps up against fundamental constitutional protections. Whether it would pass muster in the courts would depend on the details. “In general, property seizures are not allowed because an executive branch employee suspects the property might be used in a future crime,” Kopel said. But John Banzhaf, who teaches at George Washington University Law School, says the Supreme Court would probably allow a law that lets police respond to a student’s threatening social-media posts by seizing his weapons until a hearing could take place. “A narrowly tailored ‘take the guns first’ law would probably be found constitutional,” Banzhaf said. ### Rubio Proposal A White House official said both Trump and Pence had discussed a proposal supported by Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio that would create gun violence restraining orders at the federal level. The official said Trump’s comment was likely a reference to such a bill. The proposal, which doesn’t yet have formal White House backing, would allow law enforcement and family members to obtain a court order to restrict gun access for people deemed a threat. The White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Rubio’s proposal would allow guns to be taken away even before a legal process fully runs its course. Those who had their gun rights restricted under a restraining order would have the opportunity to appeal the court ruling after surrendering their firearms, the official said. House Democrats introduced a similar proposal in May, modeled on gun restraining order initiatives in Connecticut, California, Indiana and other states that include an appeal process. The bill received renewed attention last week and its first GOP cosponsor: Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican and former FBI agent. “This is a common sense bill,” Fitzpatrick said Tuesday. “I’m expecting more Republicans to sign on.” ### Previous Support Some congressional Republicans have said simply that Trump didn’t mean what he said. Trump’s comment was “certainly a cause for concern,” according to Steve King, a conservative Republican from Iowa, but he, like other Republicans, hopes that “the president will make a statement and then something else will come along.” But Trump has previously endorsed gun-rights restrictions without a court order, though that support hasn’t translated into action during his presidency. During the presidential campaign in 2016, Trump said he favored a proposal backed by President Barack Obama to deny gun sales to people on the government’s terror watch lists. The National Rifle Association opposed the idea, citing due process concerns and errors on the watch lists that restrict some people from being able to board an airplane. “I will be meeting with the NRA, who has endorsed me, about not allowing people on the terrorist watch list, or the no fly list, to buy guns,” Trump said in a June 15, 2016 tweet. During a debate against Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in September 2016, Trump agreed with her when she endorsed the idea of banning gun purchases for those on terrorwatch lists. “I agree with you, when a person is on a watch list or a no-fly list,” Trump said. “And I have the endorsement of the NRA, which I’m very proud of, these are very, very good people and they are protecting the Second Amendment. But I think we have to look very strongly at no-fly lists and watch lists.” Trump has not pushed for such a bill since he took office. ## Transcript We continue to mourn the lose of so many precious young lives in [ UNKNOWN ] We are determined to turn our grieve into action, I really believe that, I think that the people of the state have wanted and I see some folks don't nice things about me and that's okay because is you turn that into this energy. I love you. I don't care. Mr. President it's gonna have to be you that brings the Republicans to the table on this, because right now, the gun lobby would stop it in it's tracks. I like that responsbility, Chris, I really do. I think it's time that a President stepped up. And we haven't had them and I'm talking Democrat and Republican presidents. They have not stepped up. We can do that with an executive order. I'm gonna write the bump stock, essentially write it out. So you won't have to worry about bump stock. Shortly that'll be gone. It doesn't make sense that I have to wait until I'm 21 to a handgun but I can get this weapon at 18. I don't know. So I was just curious as to what you did in your bill. You don't address it. We didn't address it, Mr. President. You know why, because you're afraid of the NRA, right? [ LAUGH ] If you look at the concealed carry population, these are people by and large who are helping us stop crimes, these are people who are well trained, who actually go out there and help prevent crimes. So, hope that that's not immediately dismissed because there is a lot of talk of Just putting that on the side. Just view it like this. You know I'm your biggest fan in the whole world, right. I know. I think that maybe that bill will someday pass, but it should pass as a separate. If you're gonna put concealed carry between states into this bill we're talking about a whole new ball game. And You know, I'm with you but let it be a separate bill. All right, I understand that. You'll never get this passed. If you add concealed carry to this, you'll never get it passed. One of your other ideas that are being talked about [ UNKNOWN ] I don't think, again, you'll never get it passed. So we want to get something done. 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