Trump Under Fire: US president's comments on Europe gun controls anger France, UK

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Europe

02:31

US President Donald Trump took aim at two of America's closest allies in a speech at the National Rifle Association on Friday. He said strict gun laws failed to prevent the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris and highlighted a recent increase in knife violence in London. CGTN's Timothy Ulrich has more.

DONALD TRUMP US PRESIDENT "If one employee or just one patron had a gun, or if one person in this room had been there with a gun, aimed at the opposite direction, the terrorists would have fled or been shot. It would have been a whole different story."

The French government struck back, issuing its strongest criticism of Trump since he took office. It comes at a time when President Emmanuel Macron has been reinforcing bilateral ties following a state visit.

MAXIME BERTHOLET FRENCH STUDENT "If someone had a gun maybe it would still have been a massacre and it would have created tensions. This person cannot assume the responsibility to deal with a problem like this all alone."

Former French president Francois Hollande, who was head of state at the time, tweeted that Trump's comments and antics were "shameful" and "obscene". Trump also linked a wave of knife crime in the British capital to a ban on handguns.

DONALD TRUMP US PRESIDENT "I recently read a story that in London, which has unbelievably tough gun laws, a once very prestigious hospital - right in the middle - is like a war zone for horrible stabbing wounds. Yes, that's right, they don't have guns, they have knives, and instead, there is blood all over the floors of this hospital."

This drew anger from some British doctors and MPs. They said there are many ways to reduce violent crimes. But applying gun rights isn't the answer.

SARAH JONES LABOUR PARTY LAWMAKER, UK "We have a problem with knife crime - it is true - as we do across the country, but it is nowhere near on a scale of the deaths that we see from gun crime in America, so I would like Donald Trump to come here, I'd like him to see what a fantastic city we actually are."

It's not the first time Trump has advocated gun rights. The seemingly endless debates on gun control rage on not only in the country, but have now spread to Europe.