Ronald Reagan carried a gun with him at all times and stashed it in his briefcase whilst he was away on official business.

An American author has claimed that the former president never left the White House without a .38 caliber pistol by his side.

He even took it on Air Force One in case a disturbance broke out in mid-air said Brad Meltzer, who writes political thrillers.

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Carrying: Ronald Reagan carried a .35mm handgun in his briefcase throughout his presidency, a new book on the 40th president of the United States claims

Armed: Author Brad Meltzer says Reagan took the gun even on board Air Force One. Above, stock image of a .38mm handgun

Meltzer did not specify when the President started carrying the firearm, though it could well have been after the attempt on his life.

On March 30, 1981, Reagan and three others were shot by would-be assassin John Hinckley Jr.

James Brady, one of Reagan’s assistants, later died.

Reagan was the first serving president to survive an assassination attempt and, surprisingly, later endorsed a gun control law named after Brady.

In an article in the New York Daily News, Meltzer said that on a tour of the Secret Service headquarters whilst researching his latest book, he came across the actual car door from the limousine where Reagan was shot.

Close call: Reagan may have stared carrying the gun after an assassination attempt just 69 days into his presidency, which resulted in the death of his press secretary James Brady

Meltzer wrote: ‘It was an eerie keepsake for sure.

‘But not nearly as eerie as the next detail they told me. We were talking about Reagan and that day he was shot.

‘Then one of the agents offered this secret: When Reagan was President, he carried his own gun. I couldn’t believe it.

‘It’s true,’ they said. A .38. Reagan used to hide it in his briefcase and take it on Air Force One.’

Meltzer added: ‘Whatever you think of Reagan, you have to admit, he had a black belt in badassery’.

The claims are all the more extraordinary as most Presidents do not even carry any money on them and rely on aides to pay for things.

Meltzer said that he contacted former President George H.W. Bush who said he was ‘impressed’ with the idea that Reagan carried a gun as he had ‘no idea’ about it.

His son George W. Bush did not carry a wallet but did carry around the NYPD badge of George Howard, a first responder who was killed on 9/11.