Just days after expressing interest in passing “meaningful” background check legislation, President Trump appears to have cooled on the idea.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, the President’s tone on gun action was significantly different as he touted the quantity of background checks that “we already have” and harped on the issue as a “mental health problem,” a marquee Republican talking point on the topic.
“I’m not saying anything. I’m saying Congress is going to be reporting back to me with ideas. And they’ll come in from Democrats and Republicans. And I’ll look at it very strongly. But just remember, we already have a lot of background checks. OK?” he told reporters, according to a transcript.
“They have bipartisan committees working on background checks and various other things. And we’ll see,” he continued. “I don’t want people to forget that this is a mental health problem. I don’t want them to forget that, because it is. It’s a mental health problem.”
In the aftermath of two mass shootings earlier this month, Trump ham-handedly told reporters about his interest in producing bipartisan legislation that would enact “meaningful” background checks, all while praising the National Riffle Association and promising the powerful gun group would come around or at least be “neutral” on potential legislation.
