Trump calls for ban on ‘bump stocks’ used to convert guns.
But gun control supporters say steps don’t go far enough
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump — under pressure from angry, grieving students from a Florida high school where a gunman killed 17 people last week — ordered the Justice Department on Tuesday to issue regulations banning bump stocks, which convert semiautomatic guns into automatic weapons like those used last year in the massacre of concertgoers in Las Vegas.
A day earlier, Trump signaled that he was open to supporting legislation that would modestly improve the national gun background check system.
But both moves, Trump’s first embrace as president of any gun control measures, were dismissed by gun control supporters as minor. The National Rifle Association supports the background check legislation and also backs bump stock regulation, although not an outright ban.
Speaking at the White House days after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Trump said he had directed Attorney General Jeff Sessions to develop the regulations.
“We cannot merely take actions that make us feel like we are making a difference,” Trump said at a ceremony as he conferred the medal of valor on public safety officials. “We must actually make a difference.”
In Florida on Tuesday, the state House rejected efforts to immediately consider a bill to ban assault rifles even as students from Stoneman Douglas High School watched from the gallery. But the vote was on an unusual procedural motion, and legislative leaders said they would consider other gun control measures before the session ends in March.
Hope and skepticism
At the White House, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the president’s spokeswoman, said the president was determined to find ways to protect Americans, and especially children, from gunmen.
Asked about a broader ban on assault weapons, Sanders said the White House has not “closed the door on any front.”
Despite the day’s developments, there was deep skepticism in Washington that anything would change because of the long history of inaction by state and federal politicians after similar mass shootings. Gun control activists said they were braced for another disappointing battle with lawmakers.
The president, they noted, promised unwavering fealty last year to the National Rifle Association, drawing thunderous applause at its annual convention by declaring, “To the NRA, I can proudly say I will never, ever let you down.” The group in turn enthusiastically endorsed Trump and spent $30 million on his campaign.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who sponsored the latest background check measure with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he was unimpressed by Trump’s openness to it. “Let’s not pretend this is some huge concession on his part,” he said. “If this is all the White House is willing to do to address gun violence, it’s wholly insufficient.”
Loopholes remain
The background check bill, which seeks to improve the existing database used to prevent gun purchases by criminals and the mentally ill, is a small nod in the direction of gun control that does nothing to close loopholes that allow millions of gun sales without a background check. Last year, NRA officials said they were fine with it.
It is also unclear whether Trump’s statement of support for the measure, which included a desire for some “revisions,” might be linked to other legislation that the NRA backs. In the House, a similar background check measure was combined with legislation that would effectively allow people to legally carry concealed weapons in all 50 states.
That legislation is the top priority for the NRA, and gun control activists have promised to fight it aggressively.
“That normalizes the carrying of guns on all American streets,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, a group that advocates gun control measures. He said joining the two measures would be a “craven” bait-and-switch and “disrespectful for all the families” of the Florida school that suffered through last week’s shooting.
The president’s bump stock announcement surprised the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which did not appear to have been informed of the pending remarks from Trump. The Justice Department announced a review of the devices in early December. Led by the ATF, the review sought to determine whether the bureau — which is responsible for policing firearms — was able to regulate the devices without action from Congress.