NRA fires back at Trump’s endorsement of civil asset forfeiture for guns

The National Rifle Association offered a response to President Donald Trump's endorsement of civil asset forfeiture for guns, and it wasn't exactly flattering.

What's the history?

Trump, during a meeting Wednesday with lawmakers, apparently discussed a measure that would permit local authorities to confiscate legally owned firearms from the hands of citizens in the absence of a criminal conviction.

In a case like this, citizens would then have to go to court to prove that they should be permitted to have their guns returned.

Speaking to the bipartisan group of legislators, Trump also accused many of being afraid of the NRA, and seemed to blame that assertion for inaction on gun regulation.

"They [the NRA] do have great power, I agree with that. They have great power over you people," Trump said during the meeting. "They have less power over me. I don’t need it. What do I need? … Some of you people are petrified of the NRA. You can’t be petrified."

You can read more about Trump's controversial meeting here.

What was the NRA's response?

NRA spokeswoman Jennifer Baker told The Hill in a Wednesday statement that the organization does not agree with Trump's proposals.

"While today’s meeting made for great TV, the gun control proposals discussed would make for bad policy that would not keep our children safe," Baker said. "Instead of punishing law-abiding gun owners for the acts of a deranged lunatic, our leaders should pass meaningful reforms that would actually prevent future tragedies."

According to the outlet, Baker and the NRA's suggestions on reform included "fixing the broken mental health system, strengthening background checks to ensure the records of people who are prohibited from possessing firearms are in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, securing our schools, and preventing mentally ill individuals deemed dangerous from accessing firearms."

A second statement read, "Doing everything we can as a nation to address the problem of dangerous people committing heinous acts is not inconsistent with the Second Amendment — the systemic failures of government to keep us safe reinforces the need for the Second Amendment."

"We will continue to support legislative efforts to make our schools and communities safe and oppose gun control schemes that cannot keep us safe and only punish law-abiding Americans," the statement added.

NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch added her comments on "Fox & Friends" Thursday, and  said that the government shouldn't punish law-abiding citizens for the "failures of government."

"There's a way that you can respect and protect due process and the rights of millions of Americans while also hardening our schools and keeping our kids safe," Loesch said. "NRA members, we're moms and dads too."

She later added, "When you talk about the background check system and you talk about keeping firearms out of the hands of those who are mentally unstable and therefore dangerous to themselves or others, this is something that we're all in agreement on."

But she was adamant in her beliefs that punishing law-abiding gun owners and the NRA over the "failures of government" is simply wrong.