Leaves door open to tighter gun controls
President Trump on Tuesday said he wants to ban bump stocks — devices that can turn ordinary rifles into weapons that fire like machine guns, such as the one used in the mass murder in Las Vegas last year.
“We must move past clichés and tired debates and focus on evidence-based solutions and security measures that actually work,” Trump said at the White House.
They were his first public comments on tighter gun controls since last week’s school massacre in Parkland, Fla., in which troubled loner Nikolas Cruz, 19, used an AR-15 to fatally shoot 14 students and three school staffers.
Trump said the Las Vegas massacre — the worst in modern US history with 58 people slain — prompted him to direct Attorney General Jeff Sessions to explore what could be done.
“After the deadly shooting in Las Vegas, I directed the attorney general to clarify whether certain bump- stock devices like the one used in Las Vegas are illegal under current law,” Trump said at a ceremony honoring first responders. “Just a few moments ago, I signed a memorandum directing the attorney general to propose regulations to ban all devices that turn legal weapons into machine guns. I expect that these critical regulations will be finalized very soon.” The White House also left the door open to restricting sales of semiautomatic assault rifles, possibly by raising the minimum age to legally purchase one. Under Florida law, people 18 and over can legally buy assault rifles like the one that Cruz used in the bloodbath. “We’re working very hard to make sense of these events. We cannot imagine the depth of their anguish, but we can pledge the strength of our resolve. We can do more to protect our children. We must do more to protect our children,” Trump said, adding that school safety was now a top priority of his administration.
The White House said Monday it would consider backing a Senate bill that would tighten background checks for gun buyers.
A day later, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the administration was also considering a host of other options to improve safety and stop school shootings.
“We haven’t closed the door on any front,” she replied when asked specifically about an assault-weapons ban.
Trump once supported the assault weapons ban that was enacted in 1994 but was allowed to expire a decade later. Since running for the presidency, Trump has sided with gun-rights advocates.
Trump will meet Wednesday with parents, students and teachers who survived the Florida school shootings, as well as people affected by past school shootings in Columbine, Colo., and Newtown, Conn.
He will also meet later this month with governors and attorneys general from across the US, Sanders added.
President Trump took a step in the right direction in the wake of the horrific school shooting in Florida. On Tuesday, he demanded new rules banning devices, such as bump stocks, that turn firearms into virtual machine guns.
Press Secretary Sarah Sanders notes he may also back upping the age to buy semiautomatic rifles, like the AR-15 Nikolas Cruz used in his massacre, from 18 to 21.
Trump ordered Attorney General Jeff Sessions to “finalize” new regulations “very soon,” and Sanders made clear that includes bump stocks — attachments that make it easier to fire semiautomatic rifles faster. The Las Vegas gunman used the device in slaughtering 58 and wounding hundreds more in October.
It’s already illegal to turn a semiautomatic into a fully automatic weapon. But bump stocks, which enable fire nearly as rapid, remain legal. Sanders says the Justice Department is done with a review of the issue it began after Vegas.
As for raising the age to buy semiautomatic rifles, Sanders said, “I think that’s certainly something that’s on the table for us to discuss.” After all, federal law now bans sales of
handguns to anyone under 21, but lets 18year-olds buy rifles like the AR-15. Raising the age will allow more time for information to surface about whether someone is truly fit to buy such a weapon.
Trump’s moves Tuesday follow his tentative support for a bipartisan bid to toughen up the nation’s gun-purchase backgroundcheck system. They’re all sensible steps.
And Sanders even says Team Trump hasn’t “closed the door” on backing a full ban on assault-style rifles. So credit the president for resisting absolutist pro-gun ideology. He vowed to protect the Second Amendment, but none of these measures pose any threat to it.
Rather, they represent reasonable steps to deal with the mass shootings that have shocked the nation. Kudos to Trump for being open to them.