Donald Trump condemned by France over claims guns would have stopped 2015 terror attacks

France has hit back at Donald Trump after he suggested arming civilians could have stopped the 2015 Paris attacks, in a speech in which he mimicked shooting the victims.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian expressed his "firm disapproval" of President Trump's remarks and vigorously defended France's gun controls.

In a statement, Mr Le Drian said gun violence statistics "do not lead us to reconsider France's choice on this issue." Gun violence death rates are much higher in the US.

Donald Trump pretends to shoot with his hand while speaking about the Paris shootings
EPA

Mr Le Drian continued: "Free circulation of weapons in society does not constitute a rampart against terrorist attacks, to the contrary, it can facilitate... this type of attack."

It marks France’s strongest criticism of the Mr Trump since the country’s leader Emmanuel Macron took office a year ago.

Mr Macron recently made the first state visit to the US of any world leader since Mr Trump became president.

On Friday, Mr Trump referred to him as a "great guy" before pointing to France as an example of a country with tough gun laws.

"No one has guns in Paris," Mr Trump said, adding that the Paris victims were killed by "a small group of terrorists".

He referred specifically to an attack by Islamist militants at the Bataclan concert hall, where 90 of the 130 victims of the Paris bomb and shooting rampage died.

"If one employee, or just one patron had a gun, or if one person in this room had been there with gun, aimed at the opposite direction, the terrorists would have fled or been shot," Mr Trump said.

Former French president Francois Hollande, who was head of state at the time, said on Twitter that Trump's comments were "shameful" and "obscene".

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