Trump pushes for tighter gun rules backed by NRA after Florida shooting
President Donald Trump  who ran as a gun-rights advocate   has started to publicly discuss tighter restrictions on firearms following the massacre of 17 people at a Florida high school.
So far  he  has proceeded carefully  balancing a desire to take action with a desire to keep  his  political base happy. This week   the president  has pushed mostly for modest steps already backed by the National Rifle Association — which is a powerful influence among gun owners in many of the areas that propelled  Trump  to the presidency.
While  Trump 's support gives Republicans in Congress more cover to pass narrow gun control measures  it is unclear what action lawmakers will take following the latest in a string of mass shootings  including last week's rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland  Florida. Pressure has increased this week amid widely followed protests and calls for action from students at the school.
 Trump  may provide more detail on  his  gun control stance on Wednesday afternoon.  The president  is scheduled to host a listening session with students  teachers and parents involved in the Florida shooting as well as the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut and the 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado.
On Tuesday   Trump  signed a memorandum recommending that Attorney General Jeff Sessions propose rules banning so-called bump stocks  which can effectively turn semi-automatic weapons into machine guns. The gunman who massacred more than 50 people at a concert in Las Vegas last year used such a device.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders also told reporters  Trump  is open to supporting a bipartisan Senate bill to close holes in the current background check system.  It  aims to make federal agencies better at following rules that require them to submit criminal convictions to the FBI  which could help stop high-risk individuals from getting guns.
[TGT]has started to publicly discuss tighter restrictions on firearms following the massacre of 17 people at a Florida high school.
So far  [TGT]  has proceeded carefully  balancing a desire to take action with a desire to keep  [TGT]  political base happy. This week   [TGT]has pushed mostly for modest steps already backed by the National Rifle Association — which is a powerful influence among gun owners in many of the areas that propelled  Trump  to the presidency.
While  Trump 's support gives Republicans in Congress more cover to pass narrow gun control measures  it is unclear what action lawmakers will take following the latest in a string of mass shootings  including last week's rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland  Florida. Pressure has increased this week amid widely followed protests and calls for action from students at the school.
 Trump  may provide more detail on  his  gun control stance on Wednesday afternoon.  [TGT]is scheduled to host a listening session with students  teachers and parents involved in the Florida shooting as well as the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut and the 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado.
On Tuesday   Trump  signed a memorandum recommending that Attorney General Jeff Sessions propose rules banning so-called bump stocks  which can effectively turn semi-automatic weapons into machine guns. The gunman who massacred more than 50 people at a concert in Las Vegas last year used such a device.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders also told reporters  Trump  is open to supporting a bipartisan Senate bill to close holes in the current background check system.  It  aims to make federal agencies better at following rules that require them to submit criminal convictions to the FBI  which could help stop high-risk individuals from getting guns.