President Trump is No Longer Supporting Gun Control

Bearing Arms reported that the Trump White House has been “quietly reaching out” to gun rights organizations and notable supporters to inform them that the President is no longer supporting any form of “red flag” firearms legislation or embracing universal background checks.

An anonymous source told Bearing Arms that Trump is shifting his focus on addressing mental health, and is “looking at something along the lines of Cornyn’s bill”, referring to John Cornyn’s RESPONSE Act revealed this week. This source did note, however, that the White House did not endorse Cornyn’s bill and is not in agreement with all of its provisions.

The news of Trump’s refusal to push new gun control bills will likely have an impact on D.C. leadership. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he will only bring legislation to the Senate floor for a vote if President Trump is willing to sign it. If Trump is not keen on signing a red flag or a universal background check law, it’s likely these bills will just languish in the Senate.

This represents good news for gun owners, who will likely be a major constituency that Trump cannot afford to lose during the 2020 elections. There are some concerns with the politicization of mental health to target broad swaths of the population who clearly don’t exhibit any of these illnesses. However, the Trump administration is mostly focusing on trying to promote a better mental health infrastructure that gives states and localities to have more autonomy over the matter.