Trump’s Mixed Record on Gun Control
When asked what he was going to do about the “gun problem,” President Donald Trump responded that “we have done much more than most administrations.” Trump has taken some action to strengthen federal gun control, but his administration also has eased gun restrictions.
Trump made his remark on Aug. 4, after the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, saying: “We’re talking to a lot of people, and a lot of things are in the works, and a lot of good things. And we have done much more than most administrations. And it does — it’s not — really not talked about very much, but we’ve done, actually, a lot. But perhaps more has to be done.”
Here’s what the administration has done, and not done, so far.
Fix NICS Act
On March 23, 2018, Trump signed into law an appropriations act that included the Fix NICS Act, a bipartisan measure aimed at improving the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. The act, pushed by Republican Sen. John Cornyn and Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, and co-sponsored by a bipartisan mix of 76 other senators, required federal agencies to submit semiannual certification reports to the attorney general on their compliance with record-keeping and transmission requirements, and to come up with plans to increase coordination and automated reporting. It carried financial penalties for political appointees who didn’t comply.
The new law also required the attorney general to “establish implementation plans for each state and tribal government” and to “determine if the state is in compliance with the benchmarks contained in the implementation plan,” according to a February bipartisan letter from senators urging agencies, specifically the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security, to fully comply with the act.
Universal Background Checks
Over the course of his presidency, Trump has sent mixed public signals about his support for universal background checks, which would cover private sales by unlicensed individuals, including some sales at gun shows and over the internet. But when the Democratic-controlled House passed such a bill in February, Trump said he would veto it, and the bill stalled in the Republican-controlled Senate.
In the wake of the at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Trump held a on Feb. 28, 2018, to discuss measures to address gun violence. During the meeting, Trump seemed to offer support for legislation — proposed by Sens. expanded background checks to private sales by unlicensed individuals at gun shows and over the internet. The measure failed in a close
