The NRA’s embattled Executive Director Wayne LaPierre warned President Trump that promoting additional gun control would not go over well among his supporters. LaPierre, breaking from the NRA’s past tendency to maintain a low profile following news-making spree killings, reportedly made the comments in a phone call with President Trump Tuesday.
From The Greenwich Time:
President Donald Trump has repeatedly told lawmakers and aides in private conversations that he is open to endorsing extensive background checks in the wake of two mass shootings, prompting a warning from the National Rifle Association and concerns among White House aides, according to lawmakers and administration officials.
It’s notable that President Trump has repeatedly said publicly that he supports “strong background checks” not necessarily the universal background checks that would end private gun sales in America.
Trump, speaking to reporters Wednesday before visiting Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, where weekend shootings left 31 dead, said there “was great appetite for background checks” amid an outcry over government inaction in the face of repeated mass shootings.
NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre spoke with Trump on Tuesday after the president expressed support for a background check bill and told him it would not be popular among Trump’s supporters, according to officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely discuss internal talks. LaPierre also argued against the bill’s merits, the officials said.
The NRA, which opposes the legislation sponsored by Sens. Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., and Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., declined to comment.
Advisers to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he would not bring any gun-control legislation to the floor without widespread Republican support. Trump has waffled, current and past White House officials say, between wanting to do more and growing concerned that doing so could prompt a revolt from his political base. Even some supporters of the Manchin-Toomey bill, which would expand background checks to nearly all firearm sales, say it is unlikely to pass.
One can’t help but wonder if Democrats really want to pass meaningful gun control or if they prefer to politicize select tragedies for political gain going into an election year.
As for Republicans, despite the mainstream media’s narrative and fervent wishes, only a handful have gone wobbly on guns. Aside from Lindsey Graham, Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger has marked himself as one of the few turncoats on gun rights.
Kinzinger says he supports all manner of gun control now, including raising the minimum purchase age for all guns to 21, a ban on some magazines and banning private gun sales.
On a personal note, I look forward to assisting in Kinzinger’s retirement from Congress in the coming election season. Guns Save Life will no doubt be doing everything it can to help facilitate either a successful primary challenge on Kinzinger or his loss in the general election. After all, we can’t sit idly by as our so-called friends stab us in the back, promoting gun control after they were elected to oppose it.