Washington roiled by Trump’s stance on guns
President seems to endorse action
WASHINGTON — Republicans reacted cautiously Thursday to President Donald Trump’s call for quick and substantial changes to the nation’s gun laws, while elated Democrats said they will try to hold Mr. Trump to his promises and seized on the opening to reach beyond a modest measure gaining traction in Congress.
Without a clear path forward for any legislation, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell shelved the gun debate, for now, saying the Senate would turn next week to other measures. Mr. McConnell had been preparing to push ahead with an incremental proposal from Sens. John Cornyn and Chris Murphy, but even that measure faced someGOP opposition.
“I’m hoping there’s a way forward,” he told reporters.
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Democrats were “stunned and surprised, many of us pleasantly, by what we saw” from Mr. Trump at a televised meeting Wednesday at the White House — an apparent disconnect between Republican leaders and the president on guncontrol legislation.
Mr. Schumer said he was especially pleased that Mr. Trump seemed to endorse universal background checks for gun purchases and even seemed open to a politically controversial ban on assault weapons such as the AR-15 rifle used in last month’s shooting at a Florida high school that killed 17 people and sparked a renewed national debateaboutgunlaws.
“The president started on the right foot, but we must work together to get it done,” Mr. Schumer said Thursday at a news conference where he outlined new Democratic proposals for gun control: background checks, the ability to take guns away from those who pose a “clear danger” and at least a debate on banning assault weapons like the AR-15 used at the Florida high school.
Among those at Wednesday’s meeting were Sens. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who are pushing their bill to broaden background checks to include firearm purchases online and at gun shows. The bill failed in 2013 after the elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn.