President Donald Trump has slammed the gun laws of major US allies, claiming foreign countries could better protect their citizens – and possibly stop terrorist attacks – by loosening their gun control laws.

In a speech to the National Rifle Association (NRA) Leadership Forum, Mr Trump sought to reassure members of the US’s largest gun rights lobbying group of his support for the Second Amendment, after briefly expressing support for gun control measures in the wake of a school shooting in Florida.

In his keynote address on Friday, the president suggested members of the NRA could have stopped a recent terrorist attack in Paris if they had been in the crowd. Calling France’s gun laws “the toughest in the world”, he described how terrorists had “brutally” shot and killed 130 people in the 2015 attack.

“But if one employee or just one patron had a gun – or if one person in this room had been there with a gun, aimed at the opposite direction – the terrorists would have fled or been shot, and it would have been a whole different story,” he said.

In the UK, too, Mr Trump said things would be different if gun laws were loosened. He recounted a story he had heard about a central London hospital that looked like a “military war zone hospital” because of all the stabbing victims it admitted.

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“Yes that’s right, they don’t have guns, they have knives,” he said to cheers.

“London hasn’t been used to that,” he added. “They’re getting used to it. It’s pretty tough.”

The US murder rate is seven times higher than other high-income countries, including France and the UK, according to a 2016 study published in The American Journal of Medicine. The rate of gun murders is 25.2 times higher.

Mr Trump also alluded to the van attacks that have killed dozens of people in France, the UK and several other countries in recent years. He joked that Democrats who wanted to ban guns should ban cars too, because they are the “new form of death for the maniac terrorists”.

“We will never give up our freedom. We will live free and we will die free,” he said, rallying attendees for the 2018 midterm elections. “We’ve got to do great in ’18.”

Florida shooting – in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Florida shooting – in pictures Florida shooting – in pictures Police arrest a suspect in connection with the shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida Reuters Florida shooting – in pictures Parents wait for news after reports of a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida AP Florida shooting – in pictures Anxious family members wait for news of students AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee Florida shooting – in pictures Students being evacuated from the school AP Florida shooting – in pictures Students being evacuated from the school Getty Florida shooting – in pictures People gather waiting for word from students AP Florida shooting – in pictures Parents waiting for news on their children AP Florida shooting – in pictures People gather at a hotel where students were taken after the shooting Getty Florida shooting – in pictures Florida Governor Rick Scott speaks to the media as he visits Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School following the shooting AFP/Getty Florida shooting – in pictures Dr. Igor Nichiporenko, Medical Director Trauma, left, and Dr. Evan Boyer, Medical Director, Emergency Services, speak about treating victims and the suspect at a press conference outside Broward Health North hospital AP

Mr Trump’s speech came in the wake of the 30th mass shooting in the US this year – a school shooting in Parkland, Florida, in February that left 14 students and three faculty members dead. An armed security guard stationed outside the school failed to confront the shooter and stop the massacre, surveillance video has shown.

Mr Trump made no mention on Friday of the gun control measures he had proposed in the wake of the Parkland shooting, including banning bump stocks and strengthening background checks – all measures the NRA opposed.

Instead, the president played up his plan to arm teachers, as well as mentioning the $2m he allotted to school safety improvements and mental health assistance.

“Your Second Amendment rights are under siege, but they will never, ever be under siege as long as I’m your president,” he told the crowd.

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Mr Trump has previously suggested preventing school shootings by arming teachers, giving “highly skilled” school employees licences to carry concealed firearms. He repeated the idea in his speech on Friday, as did Vice President Mike Pence.

“Firearms in the hands of law-abiding citizens makes our communities more safe, not less,” Mr Pence said, criticising the media for failing to cover instances in which gun owners saved lives.

Mr Pence cited the example of Stephen Willeford, a Texas native who opened fire on the man who went on a shooting spree in the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs last November. The vice president failed to mention that Mr Willeford confronted the gunman only after he left the church, where he murdered 25 people, including a pregnant woman.

Mr Willeford was honoured with a lifetime membership to the NRA earlier in the day.

Students walk out of US schools to protest gun violence Show all 10 1 /10 Students walk out of US schools to protest gun violence Students walk out of US schools to protest gun violence Young people march from the White House to Capitol Hill while participating in the national school walkout over gun violence. EPA Students walk out of US schools to protest gun violence Thousands of local students march down Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House to the US Capitol during a nationwide student walkout for gun control. AFP/Getty Students walk out of US schools to protest gun violence A student has the words,'don't shoot,' written on her hands as she joins with other students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after walking out of their school to honor the memories of 17 students and teachers that were killed. Getty Students walk out of US schools to protest gun violence Students take part in a walkout at General McLane High School. AP Students walk out of US schools to protest gun violence Students from Harvest Collegiate High School stand in Washington Square Park in New York to take part in a national walkout to protest gun violence. AFP/Getty Students walk out of US schools to protest gun violence Students rally in front of the White House in Washington after walking out of school to protest gun violence in the biggest demonstration yet of the student activism that has emerged in response to last month's massacre of 17 people at Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. AP Students walk out of US schools to protest gun violence Airport High School juniors Tony LaFata, 16, left, and Noah Doederlein, 17, stands for a moment of silence during a walkout at General McLane High School. AP Students walk out of US schools to protest gun violence Young people rally on the West Front of the US Capitol to participate in the national school walkout over gun violence, in Washington. EPA Students walk out of US schools to protest gun violence Students from Passaic High School hold photos of some of the 17 victims killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. AP Students walk out of US schools to protest gun violence Students join hands as they take part in a student walkout in Lafayette. AP

Heading to the forum on Friday, Mr Trump addressed comments by the newest addition to his legal team, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Mr Giuliani recently told Fox News’s Sean Hannity that the president reimbursed his lawyer for a $130,000 “hush money” payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels – a payment Mr Trump has claimed he knew nothing about.

Boarding the Marine One helicopter to Dallas, Mr Trump chalked the comments up to Mr Giuliani’s inexperience.