Trump accused of backpedaling on guns

PRESIDENT Donald Trump stood accused on Monday of caving in to the US gun lobby a month after the Florida school shooting, as the White House pushed ahead with plans to arm teachers but backpedaled on curbing access to assault rifles.

Under pressure to act after a teenager killed 17 people with a semiautomatic rifle in Parkland, Trump had signalled support for raising from 18 to 21 the federal minimum age for purchas- ing the powerful weapons. But a new policy statement focused on Trump’s idea of arming teachers, “making sure our schools are safe and secure, just like our airports, stadiums and government buildings”.

As for age limits on gun purchases, it only said the government would form a special commission on school safety.

It made no mention of expanding the vetting of firearms buyers to sales online and at gun shows, another idea previously floated by the White House. However, the policy statement did endorse minor legislation in Congress to improve federal and state databases used for background checks by licensed dealers.

Trump himself admitted in an earlier tweet he is not pushing age restrictions that could have prevented 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz from buying the AR-15 assault rifle used on February 14 to kill 14 students and three adults at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida.

“On 18 to 21 Age Limits, watching court cases and rulings before acting. States are making this decision. Things are moving rapidly on this, but not much political support (to put it mildly),” the president wrote.

Trump’s step backwards, after two extraordinary meetings in recent weeks with NRA executives, has critics accusing him of wilting after three of the worst mass shootings in US history scarred his first year in office.

“President Trump has completely caved to the gun lobby,” said Democratic Senator Diane Feinstein.