The shooting in Florida High School, leaving 17 dead and several others injured has reignited debate in the Congress about placing restrictions on gun violence on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC).
“The President spoke to Senator Cornyn on Friday about the bipartisan bill he and Sen. Murphy introduced to improve Federal Compliance with Criminal Background check Legislation. While discussions are ongoing and revisions are being considered, the President is supportive of efforts to improve the Federal background check system,” said Sarah Huckabee Sanders, in a statement.
“While discussions are ongoing and revisions are being considered, the President is supportive of efforts to improve the federal background check system,” Ms. Sanders said in a statement.
Murphy, responded to Trump’s support on Twitter, saying he was encouraged by the President’s support for the bill, saying it is “another sign the politics of gun violence are shifting rapidly,” but added that more sweeping policy changes are still necessary.
His Twitter post said, “Interesting morning. Two quick thoughts: 1/ Trump’s support for the FixNICS Act, my bill with @JohnCornyn, is another sign the politics of gun violence are shifting rapidly. 2/ No one should pretend this bill alone is an adequate response to this epidemic.”
Alex Azar, Health and Human Services Secretary expressed on Thursday, his willingness to look into the causes of gun violence.
“We believe we’ve got a very important mission with our work with serious mental illness as well as our ability to do research on the causes of violence and the causes behind tragedies like this, so that is a priority for us especially at the Centers for Disease Control,” Azar said during a congressional hearing.
Representative Leonard Lance (R-N.J.) had similar remarks to Azar’s saying that “I agree with Secretary Azar — it’s time to permit the CDC to study gun violence as a public health problem.” Lance is a top Democratic target facing a tough reelection.
“By removing restrictions that prevent the federal government from studying mental health issues that lead to gun violence, Congress could have a clearer picture of what effective policies and solutions might be taken to stem the tide of violence,” Lance added.
President Donald Trump spent most of his holiday weekend sharing tweets with his thoughts about the grave guns issue comparing it to millions of illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally during their childhood and were protected by Obama Administration, referring to the DACE Program.
“Just like they don’t want to solve the DACA problem, why didn’t the Democrats pass gun control legislation when they had both the House & Senate during the Obama administration. Because they didn’t want to, and now they just talk!” he wrote on Twitter.
On Sunday, Mr. Trump met House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) at Mar-a-Lago resort in South Florida during President Donald Trump’s three-day weekend. During the meeting, the White House reported that their conversation included, “the recent tragedy in Parkland, Florida.” Neither the White House nor Mr. Ryan’s office provided any details about their discussion.
