A week after 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire on the students and teachers of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Trump met with the survivors to hear their stories. The White House said he had spoken about a bipartisan bill created to strengthen the Federal Bureau of Investigation database of prohibited gun buyers.
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The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) now relies on state and federal officials to report any criminal convictions and mental health issues that should legally stop someone buying a gun.
“It only works when you have people very adept at using firearms, of which you have many”, Trump said.
After earlier mass shootings, Trump has said little about guns, focusing instead on the mental health of shooters.
Even during his presidential campaign, Trump advocated for reversing “gun free zones” in schools.
Trump’s announcement comes nearly one week after the Florida school shooting that left 17 people dead.
Many Republicans generally oppose measures to tighten gun restrictions, citing the US Constitution’s Second Amendment protection of the right to bear arms.
“I think we all have to be aware that the cause of this was a deranged individual that made a decision to take the lives of 17 other people”, Sanders said.
This was how Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock was able to kill and injure so many people late previous year.
Students have turned activists in the wake of the Stoneman Douglas High School atrocity and have led calls for stricter gun controls in the country where school shootings have become routine.
“I’m never gonna see my kid again”.
President Trump announced Tuesday he signed a directive ordering Attorney General Jeff Sessions to craft regulations banning “bump stocks” and other devices that turn semi-automatic firearms into automatic weapons.
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“I don’t understand why I can still go in a store and buy a weapon of war, an AR”, said Sam Zeif, 18, sobbing after he described texting his family members during the Florida shooting.
