The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Lack of Trump support may doom gun measures
White House official rejects idea that Trump has shifted his stance.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump appears to be backing away from potential support for gun background check legislation, according to White House aides, congressional leaders and gun advocates, dimming prospects that Washington will approve significant new gun measures in the wake of mass shootings that left 31 dead.
What’s happening
Immediately after the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, Trump said “there is a great appetite” for tightening background checks on people who buy firearms.
But the Atlantic magazine reported Tuesday that the president told Wayne LaPierre, chief executive of the National Rifle Association, that universal background checks were off the table. “He was cementing his stance that we already have background checks and that he’s not waffling on this anymore,” the magazine quoted a White House source as saying.
Instead, Trump has focused in recent public remarks on the need to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill.
Behind the scenes, Trump’s communication with key lawmakers, including Sen. Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat from West Virginia who has sought to develop bipartisan gun-control measures, has gone mostly cold, according to Capitol Hill aides, in part because Congress has left town for its summer recess.
What both sides are saying
On Monday, Democratic leaders said they viewed Trump’s shifting posture as a sign that he was never serious about leading a push to tighten gun laws.
“We’ve seen this movie before: President Trump, feeling public pressure in the immediate aftermath of a horrible shooting, talks about doing something meaningful to address gun violence, but inevitably, he backtracks in response to pressure from the NRA and the hard-right,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement. “These retreats from President Trump are not only disappointing but also heartbreaking, particularly for the families of the victims of gun violence.”
A White House official rejected the notion that Trump has shifted his stance, pointing to remarks he made to reporters last week in which he stated support for “strong, meaningful background checks” that would help prevent “people that are insane, people that are mentally ill” from obtaining firearms.
“The president is not backing down,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the president’s position. “The White House continues to work through a policy process and is engaging with congressional staff on several fronts.”
Status of House bill
On Monday, Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to let his chamber vote on a bill approved by the Democratic-led House that would mandate universal background checks for gun purchases. But McConnell has rebuffed calls to bring the Senate back to Washington to deal with the issue. McConnell has told advisers that he would only push legislation if the president was fully on board.