President endorses age requirements, tougher background checks.
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Thursday endorsed a higher minimum age for buying certain rifles and tighter background checks for purchasers, saying “there’s nothing more important than protecting our children,” amid a public outcry for action after the Florida school shooting.
Trump said he spoke Wednesday night with many members of Congress and “they’re into background checks.” The president commented as he opened a school safety discussion at the White House with state and local officials from around the country.
Early Thursday, Trump tweeted his strongest stance on gun control one day after an emotional White House session where students and parents poured out wrenching tales of lost lives and pleaded for action.
Trump said on Twitter, “I will be strongly pushing Comprehensive Background Checks with an emphasis on Mental Health. Raise age to 21 and end sale of Bump Stocks!” The president did not immediately offer more details.
The current federal minimum age for buying or possessing handguns is 21, but the limit is 18 for rifles including assault-type weapons such as the AR-15 used by a former student last week in his attack in Florida that killed 17 students and staff members.
“We’re going to work on getting the age up to 21 instead of 18,” Trump said at the White House, adding that he thinks the NRA will back it — despite the group’s stated opposition. “The NRA will back it and so will Congress,” the president predicted.
He has previously expressed an interest in efforts to strengthen the federal background check system. It was not clear if he would back closing loopholes that permit loose private sales on the Internet and at gun shows.
The National Rifle Associated on Wednesday quickly rejected any talk of raising the age for buying long guns to 21.
“Legislative proposals that prevent law-abiding adults aged 18-20 years old from acquiring rifles and shotguns effectively prohibits them for purchasing any firearm, thus depriving them of their constitutional right to self-protection,” the group said in a statement.
Trump, despite his new push for at least some guncontrol changes, stressed his backing for the NRA on Thursday, tweeting that “the folks who work so hard at the @NRA are Great People and Great American Patriots. They love our Country and will do the right thing. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Speaking at CPAC, Vice President Mike Pence said that in a meeting with governors at the White House next Monday, Trump and the state leaders will “make the safety of our nation’s schools and our students our top national priority.”