Politics: 'I like taking the guns early': Trump splits with Republicans in riveting gun control meeting

President Donald Trump held a freewheeling White House meeting on Wednesday to discuss various gun-control measures with a bipartisan group of lawmakers.

• President Donald Trump hosted a bipartisan group of 17 lawmakers at the White House on Wednesday.
• It was a freewheeling, open discussion with members of both parties passionately speaking about what they could do on gun control.
• Trump chastised fellow Republicans for being "afraid" of the National Rifle Association.

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President Donald Trump held a freewheeling White House meeting on Wednesday to discuss various gun-control measures, at one point jabbing a Republican senator over his reluctance to raise the age of all gun purchases to 21 from 18.

"I think you're afraid of the NRA," Trump said to Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, arguing that raising the age limit was "something we have to think about."

"A lot of people are afraid to bring it up," Trump said, referring to the National Rifle Association's vehement opposition to the proposal. Some Democrats, such as Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, smiled and nodded at Trump's remarks.

Toomey said his reservations were due to fear that such a regulation would punish the "vast majority" of 19- and 20-year-olds in his state who own rifles or shotguns and are "law-abiding citizens."

Trump said he had lunch with NRA leadership on Sunday, noting that they "have great power" over Republicans but "less power over me."

In a particularly eye-opening comment, Trump said "I like taking the guns early" when discussing people with mental illnesses having firearms.

"Take the guns first, go through due process second," he continued.

The unusual meeting, which was open to the media and broadcast live, came just two weeks after a gunman killed 17 students and staff members at a Florida high school using a legally purchased AR-15 rifle.

Trump held a similar meeting on immigration in January. Trump reneged on several of his proposals and congressional negotiations collapsed just weeks later.

'I don't want mentally ill people to be having guns'

In Wednesday's meeting, Trump made clear to the lawmakers that all options of gun-control and school-safety measures were up for discussion.

He declared at the outset he was "going to write" an order banning bump stocks, the devices used in last year's Las Vegas massacre that accelerated the gunfire from the shooter's semiautomatic rifles.

Trump also doubled down on his solution to arm some teachers with concealed weapons to both prevent and deter active shooters at schools, though he conceded that many disagreed with the proposal.

Trump emphatically backed solutions that would prevent people with mental illnesses from buying or owning guns, a popular Republican position.

"Number one, you can take the guns away from people you can judge easily are mentally ill," he said, noting that no one confiscated the alleged Florida shooter's weapons, despite numerous run-ins with law enforcement, documented mental illnesses, and multiple tips that he would commit a school shooting.

"You have to have very strong provisions for the ill," Trump said. "I don't want mentally ill people to be having guns."

Trump appeared to be referring to so-called "red flag" laws that have gained some traction among lawmakers of both parties in recent weeks. Five states so far have laws that allow people to request that police confiscate weapons belonging to family members who may pose a threat to themselves or others.

But Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa pushed back on Trump's emphasis on mental health, arguing that there are many people with mental illnesses "who are not a danger to others."

"It's not fair to other people that have mental illness," Grassley said. "We have to have a culture in our schools where people are attuned to people who have problems."

'Maybe you could all get together?'

Democrats in the meeting appeared heartened by some of Trump's proposals, with Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut telling Trump that bills could likely pass the senate with Trump's support.

"Mr. President, it's going to have to be you that brings Republicans to the table on this because right now the gun lobby will stop it in its tracks," Murphy said. "The reason that nothing's gotten done here is because the gun lobby has had a veto power over any legislation that comes before Congress."

Trump ended the meeting by encouraging four senators, Democrats Joe Manchin and Chris Murphy and Republicans Pat Toomey and John Cornyn, to get together and start a bill that addressed several of the proposals discussed.

"Chris and John, Pat, Joe — maybe you could all get together? You'll start it?" he said, adding that he thought it was "going to be a very successful bill and I will sign it."

"But you have to be very, very powerful on background checks," he continued. "Don't be shy. Very strong on mentally ill."

President Donald Trump held a freewheeling White House meeting on Wednesday to discuss various gun-control measures with a bipartisan group of lawmakers. Read Full Story