Trump promises changes but assures gun lobby

President hopes that NRA won’t interfere

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Friday he believes he has influence to rally Republicans around stronger federal background check laws as Congress and the White House work on a response to last weekend’s mass shootings in Texas and Ohio.

At the same time, Mr. Trump said he had assured the National Rifle Association that its gun-rights views would be “fully represented and respected.” He said he was hopeful the NRA would not be an obstacle to strengthening the nation’s gun laws.

Mr. Trump has promised to lead on tougher gun control measures before, including after the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Fla., but little has come of it. His comments in the wake of the twin massacres marked his most optimistic and supportive words in favor of more stringent gun laws, though he left the details vague and it remained to be seen how much political capital Mr. Trump would throw behind marshaling Republicans on the issue.

He said Friday he now is looking for “very meaningful background checks” but is not considering a resurrection of an assault weapons ban. He said he also believes lawmakers will support “red flag” laws that allow guns to be removed from those who may be a danger to them-selves and others.

“I see a better feeling right now toward getting something meaningful done,” Mr. Trump told reporters when asked why the political environment was different now. “I have a greater influence now over the Senate and the House.”

Democrats and others have been skeptical of Mr. Trump’s commitment to genuine gun control, judging from past experience. But he said he was behind it.

“The Republicans are going to be great and lead the charge along with the Democrats,” he declared, saying he’d spoken with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, whom he proclaimed to be “totally onboard.”

But Mr. McConnell has only committed to a discussion of the issue. Republicans have long opposed expanding background checks — a bill passed by the Democratic-led House is stalled in Mr. McConnell’s Senate — but they face new pressure after the shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, that left 31 people dead.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer tweeted in response Friday that Mr. McConnell must bring up the House-passed legislation, which Mr. Trump had previously threatened to veto. “To get anything meaningful done to address gun violence, we need his commitment to hold a Senate vote on the House-passed background checks legislation,” Mr. Schumer said.

As for the NRA, which has contributed millions to help Mr. Trump and other Republicans, the gun lobby’s chief executive, Wayne LaPierre, said this week that some federal gun control proposals “would make millions of law-abiding Americans less safe and less able to defend themselves and their loved ones.”

But Mr. Trump said he’d spoken with Mr. LaPierre this week and “I think in the end, Wayne and the NRA will either be there or either be a little more neutral.”

“Frankly, I really think they’re going to get there also,” he added.

On Thursday, Mr. McConnell said he now wants background checks and other action, setting up a potentially pivotal moment when law-makers return in the fall.

The Republican leader won’t be calling senators back to work early, as some are demanding. But he told a Kentucky radio station that Mr. Trump called him Thursday morning and they talked about several ideas. The president, he said, is “anxious to get an outcome and so am I.”

“What we can’t do is fail to pass something,” Mr. McConnell said.

Traveling with Mr. Trump to New York, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said he intended to discuss the issue with the president over the weekend. He said he’s in favor of a state-run list system that would prohibit certain people frombuying guns.

“I just think the space to do nothing is gone,” he said. “And that’s a good thing.”