The latest shooting massacre which happened in Florida caused an outcry. This outcry reached all the way to the White House.
Many people young and old wanted something to be done about assault weapons. Many lost their lives at the hand of persons wielding such guns.
Now Trump sought to find a way to appease both the NRA and those asking for assault rifles to be banned. He however found himself at odds with many gun associations.
Trump talked about banning “bump stocks” and raising the age that a person can buy a gun. Those who supported his rise to the office of President felt betrayed by this move.
Gun Changes
Tony Fabian, President of the Colorado Sports Shooting Association replied to Trump’s decision to make modest changes to gun laws.
“Out in the firearms community there is a great feeling of betrayal and abandonment, because of the support he was given in his campaign for president,” he said.
Trump won’t find the going easy and few have dared to tread in this area.
“The President has a unique ability right now to maybe really do something about these school shootings,” said Rep. Tom Rooney, a Republican from Florida. “Nobody is more popular in my district — and I know in a lot of other people’s districts — than Donald Trump. He’s more popular than the NRA. … So it’s up to him whether or not anything happens with guns.”
Red Flag Laws
The White House Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah said they were looking into red-flag laws regarding guns.
“I think some states have had these red-flag laws, for example, that remove firearms after you go to a judge for potentially dangerous individuals. That’s something that’s being done right now in a variety of states, right? They have due process rights for these individuals. It seems to be working in certain areas. That’s something that we’re looking at and other places we’re looking at,” Shah added.
Not everyone was happy about changes to gun laws. One such person was House Majority Whip Steve Scalise.
He said “I haven’t heard a strong, loud outcry for gun control.”
“All of these failures of Government to properly deal with mentally ill people make people strengthen their resolve on why they need a gun for their own protection,” he said. “It concerns people when more threats come to the gun rights of law-abiding citizens when Government failed at every level when they should have stopped this kid.”