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Report: Trump Says More Background Checks for Gun Buyers 'Off the Table'

VOA News

   President Donald Trump has told the head of the National Rifle
   Association that strengthening background checks for gun buyers is "off
   the table," the Atlantic magazine reports.

   "He was cementing his stance that we already have background checks and
   that he's not waffling on this anymore," Atlantic quotes a top White
   House official who witnessed a telephone call between Trump and NRA
   chief Wayne LaPierre.

   Trump came out in favor of stricter background checks for gun buyers
   immediately after mass shootings this month in El Paso, Texas, and
   Dayton, Ohio.

   But he now appears to be lukewarm on the idea, telling reporters
   Tuesday the country already has "very, very strong background checks."
   He said he is worried about a "slippery slope" when "all of a sudden
   everything is taken away."

   But the president also said his administration is having "meaningful"
   talks with Democrats on gun control.

   "We're looking at different things. And I have to tell you that it's a
   mental problem as I've said it a hundred times -- it's not the gun that
   pulls the trigger, it's the person that pulls the trigger. These are
   sick people," Trump said.

   According to The Atlantic, Trump was excited about the idea of a Rose
   Garden ceremony during which he would sign documents tightening
   background checks for gun purchases.

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