PALM BEACH - The White House said on
Monday that President Donald Trump supports efforts to improve
federal background checks for gun purchases, two days after a
shooting at a Florida school killed 17 people.
Trump spoke to Senator John Cornyn, a Republican, about
a bi-partisan bill that he and Democratic Senator Chris Murphy
introduced to improve federal compliance with criminal
background checks, White House spokeswoman 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," Sanders said in a
statement.
Cornyn and Murphy introduced the bill to improve federal
background checks last November, days after a gunman killed more
than two dozen people in a church in Texas.
The bill, called the Fix NICS Act, would ensure that states
and federal agencies comply with existing law on reporting
criminal history records to the national background check
system.
Cornyn, of Texas, had complained when introducing the
legislation that compliance by agencies was “lousy.”
Students from the Florida high school where a former student
is accused of murdering 17 people last week using an
assault-style rifle, are planning a "March For Our Lives" in
Washington on March 24 to call attention to school safety and
ask lawmakers to enact gun control.