The Note: Trump on Guns
— -- NOTABLES
--NRA OFFICIALS SAY PEOPLE DRINKING AT CLUBS SHOULDN’T BE ARMED: The NRA's top lobbyist said no one should go into a nightclub "drinking and carrying firearms" when asked about Donald Trump's comments about whether armed club-goers may have prevented the Orlando nightclub shooting, and NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre echoed those remarks in a separate interview, according to ABC’s QUINN OWEN. "What Donald Trump has said is what the American people know as common sense: If somebody had been there to stop this faster, fewer people would have died," Chris Cox, executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, said on ABC's "This Week." When pressed, Cox said people drinking alcohol at a nightclub shouldn't be armed. "No one thinks that people should go into a nightclub drinking and carrying firearms," he said. "That defies common sense. It also defies the law." On CBS' "Face the Nation," LaPierre also said he doesn't think armed club-goers is a good idea. "I don't think you should have firearms where people are drinking," LaPierre said. http://abcn.ws/1Qe3ZGu
--TODAY’S TWEET: @realDonaldTrump: When I said that if, within the Orlando club, you had some people with guns, I was obviously talking about additional guards or employees
--FLASHBACK -- TRUMP SAYS ARMED CLUBGOERS COULD HAVE STOPPED ORLANDO GUNMAN. Trump reiterated that the Orlando nightclub massacre might not have ended so tragically had clubgoers been armed, ABC’s CANDACE SMITH reports. "If in that club, you had some people, not a lot of people...but if you had somebody with a gun strapped on to their hip, somebody with a gun strapped on to their ankle and you had bullets going in the opposite direction, right at this animal who did this, you would have had a very, very different result," Trump, who has called himself the protector of the Second Amendment, said Saturday at the Arizona State Fairgrounds. http://abcn.ws/1ZZqMWH
--FLASHBACK II: At a rally on Friday in Texas, the presumptive Republican nominee said: "If some of those wonderful people had guns strapped right here -- right to their waist or right to their ankle -- and one of the people in that room happened to have it and goes 'boom, boom,' you know, that would have been a beautiful sight folks.” http://abcn.ws/1Qe3ZGu
--ANALYSIS -- ABC’s RICK KLEIN: Will the Trump campaign start before his fellow Republicans get their chance to end it? All the focus on Muslim bans, the heritage of federal judges, and – most recently - gun laws have obscure a more fundamental reason for GOP worry about Donald Trump’s prospects: He still does not have a fully running national campaign for president. Thirty paid campaign field staffers would be impressive distributed among Iowa’s 99 counties. That number means almost nothing spread over 15 or so potential swing states. Hillary Clinton’s campaign is spending eight figures in an initial battleground buy. Trump is so loath to tap his personal fortune for the general election that the comparable number on his side is zero. It still might be possible that Trump turns his campaign messaging around for the general election. But the impact of any such shift would be muted if he doesn’t have a campaign behind him to execute.
LAST WEEKEND ON THE TRAIL with ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI
TRUMP: THOSE WITH ‘EVEN AN INCLINATION TOWARD TERRORISM’ SHOULDN’T BUY GUNS. Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump is reaffirming his stance on potentially restricting individuals on the terror watch list from being able to purchase firearms, a week after the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. "We have to make sure that people that are terrorists or have even an inclination toward terrorism cannot buy weapons, guns," Trump told ABC’s JONATHAN KARL in an interview Sunday on "This Week." Asked by Karl if his position is that those on the no-fly or terror watch list should not be able to purchase a gun, ABC’s NICKI ROSSOLL notes, Trump responded, "I'd like to see that, and I'd like to say it. And it's simpler. It's just simpler." http://abcn.ws/264febE
TRUMP: U.S. SHOULD ‘SERIOUSLY’ CONSIDER PROFILING MUSLIMS. Trump also said Sunday that we should "start thinking about" profiling in order to prevent events like the mass shooting in Orlando, ABC’s CORINNE CATHCART notes. In an interview with John Dickerson on CBS's "Face The Nation," the GOP presidential candidate said the profiling of Muslims in America is something that should be considered "seriously." "Well, I think profiling is something that we're going to have to start thinking about as a country," he said, adding that countries like Israel had used the tactic successfully. http://abcn.ws/1Oxarrs
1,000 PEOPLE DIAL IN TO CONFERENCE CALL TO UNBIND GOP DELEGATES. Organizers say more than 1,000 people, including GOP delegates, alternates and other supporters, dialed in for a conference call last night to hammer out details for a last-ditch, sweeping rules change that would unbind delegates at the Republican National Convention and deny Donald Trump the presidential nomination, ABC’s ALANA ABRAMSON, RYAN STRUYK and KATHERINE FAULDERS report. This was the group's second conference call in four days, following a Thursday night call with about three dozen delegates. This effort is spearheaded by two Colorado delegates. Speakers on the call encouraged participants to start "traditional grass roots campaigning" for the idea of unbinding delegates, calling for delegates to send information from their home states and for participants to write letters to the editor and call in to talk radio. "We're not promoting a single candidate," said Steve Lonegan, who is heading up a Super PAC supporting the effort. "This is about allowing the delegates to do the job they're elected to do." http://abcn.ws/1Y3qzEE
TRUMP: ‘IT WOULD BE HELPFUL IF THE REPUBLICANS COULD HELP US A LITTLE BIT.’ The presumptive nominee of the Republican Party seems to be having a problem with the Republican Party. "We're going to beat Hillary. And it would be helpful if the Republicans could help us a little bit," Trump said Saturday at a rally at the Treasure Island Resort in Las Vegas, according to ABC’s JOHN SANTUCCI. Repeatedly throughout his remarks, Trump returned to the party, saying that over the course of the last several days he has "raised 12 or 13 million dollars for the Republican Party." http://abcn.ws/1PA4Awu
HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY CHAIRMAN: ‘DISTURBING FLAGS’ IN ORLANDO SHOOTING CASE. House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul, said there are some “disturbing flags” in the Orlando shooting case and that his committee will conduct oversight hearings to determine whether the FBI did all it could to investigate them prior to the attack. "There are some disturbing flags going up in this case that we're going to take a close look at," the Texas Republican said on ABC's "This Week," adding, "The FBI tells me they didn't have predication to detain or arrest" the alleged shooter, Omar Mateen, in its prior investigations of him. ABC’s NICKI ROSSOLL has more. http://abcn.ws/1Y2Ki7o
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
CHELSEA CLINTON GIVES BIRTH TO SON. Over the weekend, Chelsea Clinton gave birth to a son, Aidan Clinton Mezvinsky, the former first daughter announced Saturday. "Marc and I are overwhelmed with gratitude and love as we celebrate the birth of our son, Aidan Clinton Mezvinsky," Clinton, who is married to hedge fund manager Marc Mezvinsky, tweeted. The couple also has a nearly two-year-old daughter, Charlotte, ABC’s LIZ KREUTZ reports. http://abcn.ws/1UoXJdG
WHO’S TWEETING?
@AnnieLinskey: HRC's general election challenge might be similar to her primary election challenge: Convincing supporters her opponent really is a threat.
@PhilipRucker: Quite a suck-up scene of Cory Booker auditioning for veep w/ 13-min Hillary intro, via @amychozick @thomaskaplan… http://nyti.ms/28IK3ZY
@thehill: Report: Sanders's Secret Service protection costs taxpayers more than $38,000 a day http://hill.cm/LXdXR0W
@katiepack: Would be wise for RNC rules cmte to refuse to nominate someone who had released no tax returns. Big vulnerability.
@pkcapitol: I'm not sure anyone in DC journalism has had impact of @mikeallen last decade. My fav dispatches were w/ his family. Hats off, Uncle Mike.
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