President Donald Trump on Friday acknowledged he has spoken in recent days with National Rifle Association officials to ensure the powerful gun lobby’s interests are “fully represented and respected” in negotiations on gun reform legislation following two mass shootings over the weekend.
“Serious discussions are taking place between House and Senate leadership on meaningful Background Checks.
I have also been speaking to the NRA, and others, so that their very strong views can be fully represented and respected,” Trump“Guns should not be placed in the hands of … mentally ill or deranged people,” he
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday urged Trump to use his Constitutional authority to call the Senate into session so the chamber can consider gun control legislation approved by House Democratic lawmakers, including a bill passed in February mandating federal criminal background checks on all gun sales.
“This extraordinary moment in our history requires all of us to take extraordinary action to save lives,” Pelosi wrote in a letter to the president.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday said strengthening background checks and “red flag” laws will “lead the discussion” in upcoming gun reform talks, but declined to summon senators back to Capitol Hill from their August recess.
“If we did that we’d just have people scoring points and nothing would happen,” McConnell told a Kentucky news radio show, after speaking with the president Thursday morning. “There has to be a bipartisan discussion here of what we can agree on. If we do it prematurely it will just be another frustrating experience for all of us and for the public.”
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine