Trump to ban bump-stock guns

WASHINGTON — US 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 semi-automatic guns into automatic weapons like those used last year in the massacre of concert goers 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, and on Tuesday night, he posted on Twitter that Democrats and Republicans “must now focus on strengthening Background Checks!”

But Trump’s first embrace as president of any gun control measures was 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 a 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.”

At the White House, Sarah Sanders, the president’s spokeswoman, said Trump was determined to find ways to protect Americans, and especially children, from gunmen.