Trump: 'I don't want guns in the hands of a lunatic'
President Trump speaks on the introduction of background checks for gun ownership and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's willingness to pursue gun control legislation.
President Trump is calling for “meaningful background checks” to keep firearms out of the hands of dangerous individuals.
“There’s nobody more pro-Second Amendment than Donald Trump, but I don’t want guns in the hands of a lunatic or a maniac,” the president told reporters before boarding Air Force One on Tuesday.
Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, has expressed to strengthening background check legislation and red flag laws in the wake of a pair of deadly shootings that killed least 22 people at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas and at least nine people outside of a bar in Dayton, Ohio.
Trump said he has spoken to McConnell and he is convinced the Senate majority leader wants to move forward on a universal background check bill.
“I believe that Mitch and I can tell you from my standpoint, I would like to see meaningful background checks,” he said.
Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., a survivor of gun violence, told FOX Business the Fix NICS Act of 2017 is a gun control measure he fully supports and voted for which Trump signed into law. The act is a bipartisan measure aimed at improving the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
“Let’s focus on the root of the problem. Why are so many bad people doing these bad things, and getting guns that maybe they shouldn’t have legally been able to get because the system had not worked in many places,” he said on “Mornings with Maria” Tuesday.