Did Donald Trump Illegally Buy A Glock Despite Criminal Indictments?

Over the past twenty-four hours, a firestorm has erupted around former President Donald Trump. It’s not exactly a new thing

Ivy Griffith

Sep 26, 2023

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Over the past twenty-four hours, a firestorm has erupted around former President Donald Trump. It’s not exactly a new thing that the business mogul is the center of a massive controversy. But this time, the subject is a little out of the norm for Trump.

This time, the former President is being accused of illegally buying a handgun. Federal law prohibits anyone under federal indictment from purchasing a firearm. But Trump appears to have gone gun shopping with Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene on Monday. Did he actually purchase a Glock? Here’s what we know about the rumors and the truth behind it all.

Trump Rages At Mark Milley

Before he stirred up the hornet’s nest of fury online over his firearms-related activity, Donald Trump was causing controversy of another kind. Over the weekend, Trump suggested that his former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, should be executed.

It was a breathtaking escalation of violence in the former President’s rhetoric. And it may even have run afoul of his pre-trial release conditions. Milley recently spoke with The Atlantic about his time under Trump. And he accused the former President of disrespect towards wounded veterans. At one point, Milley says that Trump reacted to a wounded veteran by saying, “Why do you bring people like that here? No one wants to see that, the wounded.”

Trump was seemingly disgusted by Milley’s revelations. He took to Truth Social to write, “Mark Milley, who led perhaps the most embarrassing moment in American history with his grossly incompetent implementation of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, costing many lives, leaving behind hundreds of American citizens, and handing over BILLIONS of dollars of the finest military equipment ever made, will be leaving the military next week.”

Trump added, “This will be a time for all citizens of the USA to celebrate!” He then claimed that Milley “turned out to be a Woke train wreck who, if the Fake News reporting is correct, was actually dealing with China to give them a heads up on the thinking of the President of the United States.” He then seemed to suggest Milley should be executed, writing, “This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!”

If Milley is a witness to any of Trump’s upcoming legal cases, that statement alone could land him in hot water.

Did Donald Trump Actually Illegally Buy A Glock Despite Federal Law Saying He Can’t?

“I want to buy one.”

— Indicted former President Donald Trump while admiring a Glock at a campaign stop in South Carolina. A Trump spokesperson later said he purchased the gun, which would be an apparent violation of federal law. pic.twitter.com/UN05jcGhMH

— The Recount (@therecount) September 25, 2023

But suggesting that one of his appointees should be executed isn’t where Donald Trump‘s whirlwind days of firestorm ended.

On Monday, Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene took to a gun shop in South Carolina. There, Trump admired a gun with his face engraved on it, and told the owner, “I wanna buy one.” The person guiding him through the store responded, “Sir, if you want one, this one’s yours.” Trump then argued back, “No, I wanna buy one.” He added at one point, “Isn’t a Glock a great gun?” Trump is later seen posing with the gun that sports his face.

The owner of the store in a post on X claimed that Trump purchased the gun. There’s just one problem: legally, he can’t purchase a firearm while under federal indictment. Online, people picked up on this fact immediately and many suggested he should be hauled off to jail. Others cheered over the fact that Trump was so openly supporting the Second Amendment.

But the Trump campaign later clarified that Donald Trump did not actually purchase the gun, he simply admired it. They released a statement that read, “President Trump did not purchase or take possession of the firearm. He simply indicated that he wanted one.”