Good Sign: Trump is Reversing Course on Universal Background Checks

The Washington Post reports that President Trump has pulled universal background checks off the table after chatting with National Rifle Association chief executive Wayne LaPierre.

However, Trump told LaPierre that the White House is still interested in measures that get rid of weapons from mentally ill people, and even indicated his support for some red flag gun confiscation measures.

Such news has disappointed anti-gun activists.

Senator Chris Murphy stated, “I know the gun lobby is putting the full-court press on everyone surrounding the president.” Murphy was hopeful that a bipartisan consensus on background checks would emerge.

He added, “I have not received any different signal than I got last week.”

For Murphy, Trump has routinely disappointed on the issue of gun control.

“Every time he raises expectations, then he clearly and publicly walks away from the commitments he made, it makes the lives of Republicans more miserable,” Murphy said.

Right after the El Paso and Dayton shootings, Trump got many gun controllers’ hopes up by claiming that “there is a great appetite” for expanding background checks.

However, the President is likely coming back to his senses, recognizing that many of his constituents are staunchly pro-gun and will not tolerate any form of gun compromise.

Trump’s changing tune on gun control could also be a result of the advice he’s receiving from Donald Trump Jr, who BLP reports is skeptical of red flag laws and other forms of gun control expansion.

This is good news for gun activists who worry about how certain Republicans such as Lindsey Graham and Dan Crenshaw are becoming soft on the issue of gun rights.