France slams Trump for remarks on guns and Paris attacks

PARIS – France is sternly rejecting US President Donald Trump's argument that if Parisians had more guns they could have stopped the deadly 2015 extremist attacks on the French capital.

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

In a statement Saturday, 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.

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."

Trump spoke at a National Rifle Association meeting.