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Former President Donald Trump visits the Palmetto State Armory and takes a picture with owners Jamin McCallum and Julian Wilson in Summerville, S.C., Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. (AP)
Video shows Donald Trump admiring a Glock handgun, not buying one
If Your Time is short
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Video footage shows former President Donald Trump saying he wanted to buy a Glock pistol during a recent visit to a South Carolina gun shop. But his campaign told PolitiFact that Trump did not purchase a firearm.
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Trump faces 91 criminal charges in four separate indictments. Federal law prohibits merchants from selling guns to people under felony indictment.
Donald Trump’s recent visit to a South Carolina gun shop has sparked false claims that the former president purchased a firearm.
A video shared on Instagram Sept. 25, the same day Trump visited the gun shop, shows Trump admiring a handgun and posing for photos. The special edition Glock pistol’s design included the words "Trump 45th" and Trump’s image.
"I want to get that," Trump says in the footage. "Isn’t a Glock a great gun?"
Text on the video said, "Trump just bought a handgun!" And the post’s caption read, "Trump carries!"
Screengrab from Instagram
Other Instagram posts shared Sept. 27 included the same footage and made the same claim.
These posts were flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
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Although Trump, who is the Republican presidential front-runner for the 2024 election, repeatedly says in the video that he wants to buy the handgun, he did not complete the purchase. And the Instagram video did not include proof that he made the purchase.
"President Trump did not purchase or take possession of the firearm," his campaign said in a statement to PolitiFact. "He simply indicated that he wanted one."
Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesperson, posted a video Sept. 25 on X, formerly Twitter, saying that Trump had purchased a Glock handgun. People quickly questioned the legality of such a purchase; Cheung deleted the post and made a statement correcting the record, The New York Times reported.
If the gun merchant had sold Trump the Glock, the merchant would have violated federal law because Trump faces 91 criminal charges across four indictment cases.
Federal law prohibits the sale of firearms or ammunition to people under felony indictment. It also bars indicted defendants from transporting or receiving guns across state lines.
However, some judges are challenging this law. After a 2022 Supreme Court ruling struck down a New York gun restriction, a federal judge in Texas ruled the federal statute about selling guns to people under indictment was unconstitutional. That ruling was handed down Sept. 18, and it was not clear whether it would be appealed, the Texas Tribune reported.
We rate the claim that Trump just purchased a handgun False.
RELATED: Read all of PolitiFact’s coverage on Donald Trump indictments
Our Sources
Instagram post, Sept. 25, 2023
Instagram post, Sept. 27, 2023
Instagram post, Sept. 27, 2023
Email exchange with Steven Cheung, spokesperson for Donald Trump’s campaign, Sept. 27, 2023
U.S. Code, Title 18, Section 922, accessed Sept. 27, 2023
PolitiFact, "Read all of PolitiFact’s coverage on Donald Trump indictments," Aug. 1, 2023
The Associated Press, "Trump admires a Glock handgun — but stops short of buying — as he campaigns in South Carolina," Sept. 25, 2023
The New York Times, "Trump tells gun store he’d like to buy a Glock, raising legal questions," Sept. 25, 2023
USA Today, "No, Donald Trump did not buy a gun in South Carolina. Here's what happened when he saw a Glock.," Sept. 25, 2023
CNBC, "Trump doesn't buy gun after saying he wants to in South Carolina," Sept. 25, 2023
The Texas Tribune, "Texas judge rules that people under felony indictment have the right to buy guns under the Second Amendment," Sept. 19, 2022
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Video shows Donald Trump admiring a Glock handgun, not buying one
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