President Donald Trump will propose arming school staff and raising the minimum age to 21 to purchase certain firearms on Sunday, a White House spokesman said.
As part of his administration’s school safety proposal Trump is also expected to announce his support for banning bump stocks, a modification to high-capacity rifles that lets them fire like an automatic weapon.
Trump is also likely to back a bipartisan Senate bill known as Fix NICS that Republican Senator John Cornyn and Democratic Senator Chris Murphy introduced to improve federal compliance with criminal background checks, White House spokesman Raj Shah said on Sunday on ABC’s ‘This Week.’
President Donald Trump is expected to propose arming school staff and raising the minimum age to 21 to purchase certain firearms on Sunday, the White House has announced
Trump held a listening session with gun violence victims last month (pictured) following the Parkland shooting
However, Shah said Trump will not advocate for universal background checks.
The president will reportedly also support the congressional STOP School Violence Act, which would give schools $50 million annually for safety improvements such as training staff and students in how to prevent violence.
The White House’s announcement comes nearly a month after a mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, renewed debate over gun control.
Student survivors of the shooting have mobilized to call for stricter gun control laws after the deaths of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School at the hands of a 19-year-old former student.
Shah did not say whether Trump’s proposal to raise the minimum age for buying certain arms would be through supporting federal legislation or encouraging states to take it on. Many Republican lawmakers say it should be left to the states.
The White House spokesman said there would be a provision that would involve having ‘trained individuals’ in schools, including staff, and that the president. Pictured are two students as they honor those killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
Students have mobilized to call for stricter gun control laws after the deaths of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School at the hands of a 19-year-old former student
‘Some [proposals] will be legislative, some will be administrative,’ Shah said. ‘And some will be recommendations for states, as well as a task force to study this issue in more depth and make more additional policy recommendations. So it’s going to be consistent with what the president has talked about.’
On Saturday, the Department of Justice formally submitted a regulation to ban bump stocks that would not need congressional approval.
Shooter Stephen Paddock used a bump stock in an October 2017 shooting rampage in Las Vegas that left 58 people dead and more than 850 injured – the worst mass shooting in American history
Nikolas Cruz, 19, (left) killed 17 people last month at a school shooting in Florida, and Stephen Paddock (right) used a bump stock in 2017 to kill 58 people and injure 850 others in Las Vegas
Trump is expected to announce his support for banning bump stocks (pictured in a stock photo), a modification to high-capacity rifles that lets them fire like an automatic weapon
During his presidential campaign, Trump touted his support for gun rights and was endorsed by the National Rifle Association, the powerful gun lobby group.
Since the Florida shooting, he has offered conflicting statements about his views on gun policies, at times calling for new restrictions and at other times rowing back on his comments.
Trump has recently held listening sessions with gun violence victims, legislators and with the NRA – which on Friday filed a lawsuit against the state of Florida after a Republican Governor Rick Scott signed a law that bans the purchase of firearms by anyone younger than 21.
On Friday, the NRA filed a lawsuit against the state of Florida after a Republican Governor Rick Scott signed a law that bans the purchase of firearms by anyone younger than 21