Trump Claims Little Support For Raising Gun Age To 21: Fox’s Shepard Smith Slams Trump, ‘That’s Not True’
Monday afternoon’s White House press briefing had Sarah Huckabee Sanders painting the picture of Trump up against a lot of roadblocks when it came to upping the age for purchasing a gun fro 18 to 21. A reporter in the room cited various polls that put a high percentage of Americans wanting that age change. Huckabee Sanders said it is not the polls that pass these bills, and Congress is not offering support for this age change.
When the press conference cut out and live news coverage from Fox resumed, Shepard Smith was ready to have his say about Trump’s take on this. The president not having support around raising the age limit for gun ownership is “just not true,” Smith told the audience. He claims both parties are for raising the age limit and that what Trump said is “not factually accurate.” Smith claims it is the NRA that is against this age limit change, and both parties in Congress are all for raising the age to 21.
Mediate reports on Shepard Smith “ripping Trump’s gun control plan” on Monday afternoon’s Fox News broadcast. This came on the heels of Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders being “grilled today on the President seeming to back off some gun proposals.” Some reporters even outright asked Huckabee Sanders if Trump himself might be “petrified of the NRA,” which is something he accused other Republicans of.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump is defending his decision to not include age restrictions on the federal level in his plan to reduce violence with guns at schools. His reason behind this was due to the lack of support “amid a cool reception on Capitol Hill for other parts of his proposed gun bill,” they report.
Trump released the White House’s plan for school safety that included arming the school staff, but the age restriction change to 21 was not included in that plan. Trump released the plan on Sunday night. According to BBC News, that proposal included the following.
- Fund programs to train school staff to use firearms.
- Encourage military veterans and retired police officers to become teachers.
- Improve background and mental health checks.
Along with this plan, which did not include raising the federal age for gun ownership, the White House conveyed that a new federal commission on school safety will examine the issue of age limit. Trump tweeted on his plan, which is seen below.
….On 18 to 21 Age Limits, watching court cases and rulings before acting. States are making this decision. Things are moving rapidly on this, but not much political support (to put it mildly).
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 12, 2018
Chuck Schumer’s take on Trump’s gun proposal was offered up in a tweet, which is seen below.
.@WhiteHouse has taken tiny baby steps designed not to upset @NRA when the #gunviolence epidemic demands giant steps be taken. @SenateDems will push to go further: passing universal #backgroundchecks, actual fed legislation on protection orders & a debate on #AssaultWeaponsBan.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) March 12, 2018
Earlier this month, Trump left lawmakers baffled with his call for a hard stance on guns and at the same time declaring his “fealty to the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms,” suggests CNBC. It appears his latest move of dropping the idea to raise the age limit to 21 for gun ownership out of his plan is equally as baffling to the media today after the polls show Americans are much in favor of this, This is what a reporter cited at Monday’s afternoon White House press briefing with Srah Huckabee Sanders.
