Trump supports improved background checks for gun purchases after Florida school shooting

Trump has backed a 2017 bipartisan bill aimed at improving national background checks; he has not supported new legislation

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US President Donald Trump (seen with Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel on February 12) has signalled support for a bipartisan effort to improve background checks for gun purchases in the wake of the Florida school shooting. Photo: AFP

Published: 12:39am, 20 Feb 2018Updated: 3:28am, 26 Jun 2018

US President Donald Trump supports efforts to improve federal background checks for gun purchases, two days after a shooting at a Florida school killed 17 people, the White House said on Monday.

Trump spoke to Senator John Cornyn, a Republican, about a bipartisan bill that he and Democratic Senator Chris Murphy introduced to improve federal compliance with criminal background checks, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.

“While discussions are ongoing and revisions are being considered, the president is supportive of efforts to improve the federal background check system,” Sanders said in a statement.

Sanders’ carefully worded statement comes days after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida that left 17 people dead. It stops short of an endorsement of the proposal.

Adin Chistian, 16, student of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and his mother Denyse, look at the crosses and Stars of David placed to commemorate those killed in the Parkland, Florida, mass shooting. Photo: Reuters

The bill, called the Fix NICS Act, would ensure that states and federal agencies comply with existing law on reporting criminal history records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which is used to verify the criminal history of gun buyers.

Cornyn, upon introducing the bill, called authorities’ use of the system “lousy”.