Paris May 6 (IANS) France has strongly criticized US President Donald Trump s remarks suggesting more flexible arms rules in the country could have helped prevent deadly terrorist attacks in 2015.
"France expresses its firm disapproval of President Trump s comments about the Paris attacks on November 13 2015 and demands that the memory of the victims be respected " the French foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
"Every country freely decides on its own laws on carrying firearms as in other areas. France is proud to be a country where acquiring and carrying firearms is strictly regulated " the statement added.
Trump on Friday told a gathering at the National Rifle Association (NRA) which advocates for gun rights that if civilians had been armed it would have been a different outcome to the 2015 series of explosions and shootings that left 130 people dead.
"The free flow of arms within society does not constitute a bulwark against terrorist attacks it can instead facilitate the planning of this type of assaults " the ministry fired back.
Former French president Francois Hollande who was ruling the country at the time of the Paris attacks rejected Trump s remarks as "shameful" and "obscene" which "tell a lot about what he thinks about France and its values".
--IANS
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