Trump's Hoped-For NRA Backing on Gun Limits May Prove Elusive
President expects National Rifle Association to back his gun laws, which include arming teachers.
(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump predicted the National Rifle Association will sign on to legislation he says will come together “very soon” to tighten gun laws -- although the group’s national spokesman suggested little or no change in its positions.
The White House wants to address increased background checks on firearms purchases, limits on gun ownership by the mentally ill and “perhaps” raising the minimum age for more sales to age 21, the president has said.
“There’s no bigger champion than I am for the Second Amendment,” Trump said in an interview Saturday with Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro, in which he also restated his support for arming as many as 20 percent of teachers as a way to deter school shooters.
“I think you’re going to have tremendous support,” for a plan he said the White House is drafting. Trump also suggested he favors a combination of new gun limits and “offensive” approaches such as a controversial call to arm teachers. “It’s time. I think the NRA’s going to be for it.”
Dana Loesch, national spokeswoman for the NRA, declined on Sunday to specifically endorse the president’s proposals.
“These are just things that he’s discussing right now,” Loesch said on ABC’s “This Week.” “He’s really looking for solutions.” She restated the group’s opposition to raising the legal age of owning a high-powered rifle such as the AR-15 to 21 from 18, or a ban on so-called bump-stocks.
Bipartisan Meeting
Trump plans to convene lawmakers from both parties next week at the White House on the issue of school safety, following the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 students and staff. The NRA, a powerful lobby, has for years successfully pushed back against approaches to increase gun regulation in Congress after massacres at schools in recent years.
“It’s time to get it done and get it done right,” the president said of gun legislation. “Somebody who’s mentally ill should not have a weapon, should not have a gun.”
Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, has been invited to Trump’s meeting. “I was encouraged that President Trump said he was in favor of comprehensive background checks,” Murphy said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday. “I’m hopeful the president may be willing to take on the NRA.”
Senator Pat Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania, predicted on Sunday that Trump’s backing would make a difference on efforts in Congress to address recent mass shootings.
Presidential Impact
“The president’s expression of support for strengthening our background check system is very constructive,” Toomey said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “Our president can play a huge and in fact probably decisive role in this.”
Still, Toomey said he was skeptical about certain proposals being floated, including raising the age to legally buy certain assault weapons to 21 from 18.
Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, said on NBC that Congress was likely to show the “courage” that lawmakers didn’t exhibit after Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012, in which 20 young children and six staff members were killed.
Part of that could be self-preservation as mid-term elections loom. Murphy said that Republican lawmakers “are realizing that they are badly mis-positioned on this issue and they may pay a big price in the polls if they continue to do nothing.”
Sentiment Shifts
Support for stricter gun laws in the U.S. has jumped to the highest level since 1993, according to a new CNN poll released on Sunday that was conducted after the Parkland, Florida, shooting. Some 70 percent now say they back stricter gun laws, up from 52 percent in October, not long after a mass shooting in Las Vegas that was the deadliest in modern U.S. history.
The White House is also considering using restraining orders to take firearms away from people considered dangerous as part of its response to last week’s massacre, two people familiar with the matter said.
Under extreme-risk protection orders, which are also known as red flag laws or gun violence restraining orders, firearms can be confiscated from people found to be at risk.
The White House is studying an Indiana version of the law and is considering other measures as well, according to the people, who requested anonymity to discuss policy deliberations. Four other states also have such laws.
At the White House on Thursday, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi described to Trump efforts underway in her state to allow law enforcement to seize firearms from someone who is deemed to be a danger to themselves or others.
“Good,” Trump responded.
--With assistance from Jennifer Jacobs and Craig Torres
To contact the reporter on this story: Margaret Talev in Washington at mtalev@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Ros Krasny, Mark Niquette
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