President Trump on Thursday pledged to take three steps to address gun violence and school safety in the wake of last week’s shooting at a Florida high school.
“I will be strongly pushing Comprehensive Background Checks with an emphasis on Mental Health,” Trump tweeted. “Raise age to 21 and end sale of Bump Stocks! Congress is in a mood to finally do something on this issue — I hope!”
I will be strongly pushing Comprehensive Background Checks with an emphasis on Mental Health. Raise age to 21 and end sale of Bump Stocks! Congress is in a mood to finally do something on this issue – I hope!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 22, 2018
Trump’s plan outlined some of the ideas he talked about in his Wednesday White House meeting with survivors of recent shootings.
The first idea is aimed at making sure people with mental health issues aren’t allowed to have access to a gun, something conservatives have discussed after it was revealed there were several warnings about the mental state of the Florida shooter. One bipartisan bill would put pressure on government agencies to report incidents to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, but nothing has passed yet.
Banning the sale of rifles to anyone under 21 is another idea that was raised — the Florida shooter used an AR-15 style rifle he bought even though he was 19 years old.
The third idea, banning bump stocks, is something the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives is already considering.
President Trump pledged Thursday to push a three-pronged strategy to change the nation’s gun laws in the wake of last week’s high school shooting in Florida.
Trump’s tweet didn’t explore another idea he has raised, which is to arm some qualified teachers to carry weapons inside a school. But Trump tweeted several times about that idea Thursday morning, in part to argue that some in the press were misinterpreting his idea to mean that all teachers should be armed.
