During his speech at the Conservative Political Action conference last Friday, the president spent his time talking about allowing teachers to carry weapons to schools. In his speech, he failed to mention implementing a ban on bump stocks nor strengthening Background Checks and raising the age limit to purchase a gun.
President changes his mind
It seems the president has had a change of heart. During the recent televised meeting with legislators on Wednesday, Trump's remarks about the NRA were dramatically different from his speech last Friday. The President publicly admitted the NRA has no control over him; he urged the lawmakers to defy the NRA and pass a bill that would ensure the safety of all children in schools.
Trump was quoted saying guns should be taken away from those who were considered dangerous to themselves and the public before they had the chance to appear in court.
The president also urged the Republicans not to bother incorporating the legislation passed in the House of Representatives last as it would never pass. The bill aimed at expanding provisions for carrying concealed guns. He also asked the lawmakers not to strain themselves including a ban on bump stocks as he would enact the ban through Executive Order.
Trump open to strengthening background checks
The president also dwelled on strengthening background checks; he encouraged combined efforts from lawmakers urging them to merge their ideas: the bipartisan proposal for stricter background checks and the Fix NICS Act, which enable reporting and information sharing of relevant records for background checks.
Trump has decisively taken a stand against the NRA despite the fact that the organization poured over 30 million dollars into his campaign for the presidency. Though he acknowledged the organization's influence and hailed them as patriots, he encouraged lawmakers not to be afraid of the organization.
Trump went ahead and asked Senators Toomey and Manchin if they were addressing the issue of raising the age limit for purchase of semi-automatic weapons in their proposal.
When they replied to not addressing the issue, the president was quoted saying it was because they were afraid of the NRA. "They have great power over you people. They have less power over me. What do I need?" Trump also supported Feinstein's assault weapons ban telling Toomey and Manchin to add it to the bill.
Many of the president’s proposals and remarks were in direct conflict with the NRA though the organization is still opposed to raising the age limit for purchasing firearms.
