Trump’s U-turn on gun control

DONALD Trump has stunned politicians after calling for tighter gun controls, accusing congressmen of being ‘petrified’ of the National Rifle Association.

During a meeting with Democrat and Republican congressmen, the US president pledged to support wide-ranging gun safety laws that most of his party and gun lobbyists opposed.

It marks a huge U-turn for the 71year-old, whose campaign received a £22million endorsement from the NRA during the 2016 election.

Announcing that ‘it’s time that a president stepped up’, Mr Trump called for legislation that would expand buyer background checks to weapons bought at gun shows and on the internet.

This would close a loophole that has allowed people to buy firearms without a check on their suitability.

Republicans at the meeting looked increasingly horrified and their Democrat opponents delighted as Mr Trump condemned decades of White House failure to tackle America’s gun nightmare.

It comes after 17 students were shot dead in the Florida school massacre on February 14. Mr Trump said authorities should have the power to seize guns from the mentally ill or others who posed a threat without going to court first.

Democrat senator Chris Murphy said he ‘underestimated the power of the gun lobby’, while Mr Trump shot back: ‘They have great power over you people; they have less power over me. Some of you people are petrified of the NRA. You can’t be petrified.’

Last year, Mr Trump told the NRA at its annual conference: ‘I will never let you down’. The NRA said his comments ‘made for great TV’, but added that the policies discussed ‘wouldn’t keep our children safer’.