Though the Trump administration dropped its support for raising the age limit for some guns, the White House said restrictions weren’t off the table.
March 12 (UPI) — Though the Trump administration dropped its support for raising the age limit for the purchase of some firearms, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Monday the restrictions weren’t completely off the table.
The administration released a list of proposals Sunday night to improve school safety in the wake of shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., that killed 17 people. The plan includes „rigorous“ firearms training for some school officials, support for a bill to strengthen background checks for gun purchasers and the creation of a task force to study school shootings.
What the proposal doesn’t give is support for raising the age limit to purchase certain firearms, something President Donald Trump earlier indicated he was in favor of. The president faced immediate backlash from Democrats for failing to include the restriction in his list of proposals.
„To no one’s surprise, the president has caved to the gun lobby. Responding to the murder of 17 students and educators by endorsing the gun lobby’s platform is a shameful abdication of the president’s responsibility to lead,“ Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said Monday.
Sanders said, though, the idea was still being considered.
„The president as you know doesn’t have the ability to just create federal law,“ Sanders said. „So what he is pushing forward are things that can be immediately accomplished either through the administration or that have broad-based bipartisan support in Congress. But that doesn’t mean that he has wiped away some of those others things. We’re still looking at how best we can move forward.“
She said Trump still supports raising the age limit for purchasing some guns. On Twitter, Trump indicated it was a matter for the states to consider.
„On 18 to 21 Age Limits, watching court cases and rulings before acting,“ he wrote . „States are making this decision. Things are moving rapidly on this, but not much political support (to put it mildly).“
