Donald Trump supports improving background checks for guns, White House says

Donald Trump has been a strong supporter of US gun rights
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Tom Powell19 February 2018

Donald Trump supports efforts to improve background checks for gun purchases, the White House has said.

The US president spoke to Republican senator John Cornyn about a bipartisan bill to strengthen the FBI’s database of people prohibited from buying guns.

White House press secretary 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."

It comes as Florida school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz appeared in court charged with the murder of 17 people.

Students who survived the attack have called for action on gun control after it emerged Cruz bought his weapon legally, despite being examined by mental health workers in 2016.

A “lie-in” protest was held outside the White House on Wednesday by the organisation Teens for Gun Reform in a bid to send a “powerful message” to the Trump administration.

The president, who spent the weekend at his private Palm Beach estate in Florida, has long been a strong supporter of gun rights and the National Rifle Association (NRA).

Last year, he signed a resolution blocking an Obama-era rule designed to keep guns out of the hands of certain mentally disabled people.

And in April, he promised members of the NRA: “The eight-year assault on your Second Amendment freedoms has come to a crashing end.”

The proposed background check legislation would be aimed at ensuring that federal agencies and states accurately report relevant criminal information to the FBI.

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It was introduced after the Air Force failed to report the criminal history of the gunman who slaughtered more than two dozen people at a Texas church.

Kristin Brown, co-president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said the measure would help to enforce existing rules but would not close loopholes permitting private sales on the internet and at gun shows.

She has called for a ban on assault-type weapons and for laws enabling family members, guardians or police to ask judges to strip gun rights temporarily from people who show warning signs of violence.

"We need a comprehensive system," Ms Brown said.

Current US federal law requires someone to be at least 21 to buy a handgun from a licensed dealer, but only 18 in most places to buy a so-called "long gun".

Long guns are firearms with a longer barrel including shotguns and rifles.

States including Maine, Minnesota and Vermont allow teens 14 or 16 years old to buy or purchase long guns without parental consent, with some exceptions.

According to the Small Arms Survey of 2011, there are an average of 88 guns per 100 people in America.

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