‘Surreal’ Trump Meeting On Guns Left Republicans Reeling, Democrats Optimistic
After a wide-ranging, televised meeting Wednesday at the White House, Democrats walked away stunned and with some tepid optimism that something substantial could happen on guns, while Republicans appeared flummoxed.
After all, President Donald Trump had defied traditional GOP orthodoxy on an issue as essential to the Republican brand as any: guns.
And unlike earlier meetings where Trump has embraced bipartisanship without any specificity, Trump was explicit about what he wanted Wednesday.
On camera, he’d pushed to raise the age at which an individual can purchase a rifle from 18 to 21 even after a weekend lunch with officials from the National Rifle Association, who have publicly opposed the change.
Trump called to expand background checks and told the House’s Majority Whip Steve Scalise that a concealed carry bill would never pass attached to legislation to incentivize states to enter data into the national background checks database.
