Donald Trump might feel more comfortable if his employees brought guns to work

Presidential hopeful Donald Trump told moderators during the third republican debate on CNBC on Wednesday (28 October), that he might feel better going into the office if his employees carried guns to the workplace, before touting his own gun-toting ways.

"Yes, I might feel more comfortable. I would say that I would, and I have a permit, which is very unusual in New York, a permit to carry. I do carry on occasion, sometimes a lot. But I like to be unpredictable," he said after a CNBC anchor asked him whether he would feel more comfortable if his employees brought guns to work.

His remarks came in the wake of several high profile mass-shootings, many of which occurred in gun-free zones, which Trump described as "target practice for the sickos and the mentally ill."

Conventional wisdom suggests that any push for gun control in a US presidential election year will go nowhere because all of the energy and motivation is on the side of people who oppose gun restrictions. But the umbrella group campaigning for tighter firearms legislation thinks that after a series of mass shootings 2016 may be the year that gun control gains traction as an issue in the race for the White House.