Donald Trump has repeatedly endorsed a series of gun control proposals that put the Republican president at odds with the National Rifle Association and stunned lawmakers within his own party.
The president made the remarks during an extraordinary, hour-long White House meeting on Wednesday with congressional Republicans and Democrats who are under pressure to address gun violence in the aftermath of the massacre at a Florida high school earlier this month.
During the meeting, Trump called for a “beautiful” comprehensive bill that would expand background checks on gun purchases, remove guns from the hands of the mentally ill, bolster security on school campuses and restrict young people from purchasing certain weapons.
Within hours of the meeting’s conclusion, conservatives and some Republicansturned on Trump, who was elected with broad support from the gun lobby and claimed on Wednesday that the National Rifle Association had “no bigger fan”. Breitbart, the far-right news organization that fanned the flames of Trump’s rise, denounced the president as a “gun grabber” who “cedes” to Democrats.
Senator Ben Sasse, a conservative Republican who was not in the meeting, lacerated the president for his tendency to shift positions on a whim.
“Strong leaders do not automatically agree with the last thing that was said to them. We have the second amendment and due process of law for a reason,” Sasse said. “We’re not ditching any constitutional protections simply because the last person the president talked to today doesn’t like them.”
For more read the full of article at The Guardian
