NRA open to talks on tougher gun laws
Trump wants to keep people on terrorist watch list from being able to buy guns
WASHINGTON— Donald Trump seemed to modulate his position on Second Amendment protections on Wednesday, saying in a Twitter message that he would be meeting with the National Rifle Association to discuss preventing individuals on the terrorist watch list from purchasing guns.
“I will be meeting with the NRA, who has endorsed me, about not allowing people on the terrorist watch list, or the no-fly list, to buy guns,” Trump wrote Wednesday morning.
In a Twitter post of its own, the NRA said it would be happy to meet with Trump.
Trump frequently boasts of his endorsement from the NRA, which he said came earlier for him than any other Republican presidential candidate.
His message, which came after 49 people were shot and killed on Sunday at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., seemed to echo a measure that congressional Democrats were planning to take up this week that would seek to prevent individuals on the government’s terror watch list from purchasing guns. In a speech on Monday in New Hampshire, Trump addressed the Orlando massacre in more fiery terms, dismaying some of his own supporters as he called for an expansion of his proposal to bar Muslim immigrants.
Trump advocated barring immigrants from any nation with “a proven history of terrorism,” and said that Muslim-Americans could be held accountable for domestic acts of terrorism if they failed to turn in their neighbours.
While campaigning, Trump also frequently talks of how more guns — not fewer — could have helped prevent mass shootings much like the one in San Bernardino, Calif., last December that killed 14 people and wounded 22. Trump contends that if people had guns to shoot back, the killers might not have tried the attack or would have injured fewer people.
The killings were carried out by a couple who were inspired by terrorists abroad.
During a Republican debate in January, when asked about the San Bernardino attack, Trump explicitly said he did not believe there were any circumstances in which the nation should limit the sale of guns, of any kind.
Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In Congress, Republicans and Democrats were meeting to discuss how to address the gap in current law that allows some people on terrorist watch lists to purchase guns.
The fight over tightening gun laws has taken on urgency after the shootings in Orlando, with signs that some Republicans were willing to compromise on long-held opposition to gun restrictions.
In the Senate, Democrats also plan to seek increased funding for the FBI in a challenge to Republicans who have sought to stem domestic spending.
Congressional Democrats have pledged to force votes on a measure that would seek to ban gun sales to anyone listed on a government terror watch list, or suspected of ties to terror groups. The measure, which Republicans have criticized, would leave the decision on prohibiting a sale to federal law enforcement officials.