Trump cares about safety?

Emperor Trump insists banning people he and some dim bulb followers don’t like — let’s be honest, in reality it’s a Muslim ban — is a great way to keep America safe.

Yep, safety is all the emperor cares about. That, and talking about himself and trashing Arnold Schwarzenegger’s TV ratings, and maybe starting wars with Australia and Mexico. Kind of makes you all proud and misty-eyed to have him as the face of our country, doesn’t it?

But back to safety, which the emperor likes to emphasize.

Of course, if he was truly concerned about safety, there’s a much better way to secure it.

According to a study by the Cato Institute, the chances of being killed in America by a refugee committing a terrorist attack is one in 3.6 billion per year. Reminds me of the classic line from Dumb and Dumber: “So you’re saying there’s a chance?”

You get much worse odds when you look at gun deaths. Guns kill about 30,000 peeople a year in America.

So, if the emperor really cared about safety, he could talk up ways to tighten gun laws, close gun law loopholes, get assault-type weapons off the streets, things like that. But he will never do that. The emperor got elected by cozying up to folks who believe the best way to stop gun violence is with more guns. Yeah. Make America Locked and Loaded Again. Trump’s minions love that.

Those same folks don’t care much for immigrants or refugees. Keep those people out, they figure, and we’ll be safe.

The problem is that immigrants aren’t nearly as dangerous as our home-grown terrorists, who have no trouble getting guns and doing horrible damage. The primary threat is at home, not in a majority Muslim nation.

Omar Mateen, who slaughtered 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando? Home grown. Born in New Hyde Park, New York. Esteban Santiago, accused of killing five people at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport? Born in New Jersey.

There have been countless people — Americans — who have committed heinous crimes with guns. Yet the emperor will never say a bad word about guns. He would never say that fewer guns on the streets would make us safer. He has cozied up to the NRA even closer than he has snuggled up to Putin.

Trump is on record opposing universal background checks, he doesn’t favor an assault weapons ban, and overall he just talks about how much he values gun rights and the NRA. That is, when he isn’t talking about himself and “Apprentice” ratings and bogus voter fraud.

It would be nice if he said we should put more money into mental health screening and trying to recognize the potential shooters among us. Just last week, the House voted to roll back an Obama administration regulation designed to keep guns out of the hands of some Social Security recipients with mental illness. Not a peep of a protest from the emperor.

The Florida Legislature, no doubt emboldened by Trump’s NRA lust, could be a little gun crazy themselves this session. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, filed six gun-related bills last week, basically letting you carry concealed weapons on college campuses, letting you have guns in airport terminals, letting you have guns at legislative and local government meetings, you name it.

If you ask me, it’s pretty embarrassing Trump says he is keeping you safe with the Muslim travel ban, and yet he’ll do absolutely nothing about getting guns off the street.

But I shouldn’t be surprised. Trump has embarrassed us a lot so far.

Gary Stein