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| Trump backs NRA as 'great American patriots' amid Florida shooting backlash over gun control | Trump backs NRA as 'great American patriots' amid Florida shooting backlash over gun control |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Donald Trump has called leaders of the National Rifle Association "great people" amid backlash against the organisation following a school shooting in Florida. | Donald Trump has called leaders of the National Rifle Association "great people" amid backlash against the organisation following a school shooting in Florida. |
| "What many people don’t understand, or don’t want to understand, is that Wayne, Chris and the folks who work so hard at the @NRA are Great People and Great American Patriots," Mr Trump tweeted, referring to NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre and NRA Institute for Legislative Action principal strategist Chris Cox. | "What many people don’t understand, or don’t want to understand, is that Wayne, Chris and the folks who work so hard at the @NRA are Great People and Great American Patriots," Mr Trump tweeted, referring to NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre and NRA Institute for Legislative Action principal strategist Chris Cox. |
| The missive came as part of a Thursday-morning tweet storm in which Mr Trump suggested several new gun control policies in the wake of the Florida shooting, which left 17 students and staff members dead. Many of the student survivors have begun to advocate for more gun control, and focused much of their attention on the pro-gun lobbying efforts of the NRA. | The missive came as part of a Thursday-morning tweet storm in which Mr Trump suggested several new gun control policies in the wake of the Florida shooting, which left 17 students and staff members dead. Many of the student survivors have begun to advocate for more gun control, and focused much of their attention on the pro-gun lobbying efforts of the NRA. |
| In his tweets on Thursday, Mr Trump proposed expanding background checks for gun purchases, raising the minimum age for such purchases to 21, and ending the sale of "bump stocks" – devices that allow semi-automatic weapons to acts as automatics. | |
| The president suggested that the NRA would follow his lead, tweeting: "They love our Country and will do the right thing." | |
| It is unclear whether this will be the case. The NRA's lobbying wing has strongly opposed expanding background checks in the past. The day before Mr Trump's tweets, the group issued a statement condemning efforts to raise the minimum age for gun purchases. | |
| In a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday, Mr LaPierre criticised efforts to enhance gun control, warning the audience of conservative leaders that Democrats want to "get rid of the second amendment". | |
| "Their solution is to make you – all of you – less free," he said. | |
| Instead, the guns-rights lobbyist suggested putting armed security in schools across the country. He did not go as far as to endorse Mr Trump's idea – suggested at a listening session the day before with school shooting survivors – of giving weapons to teachers. | |
| "The NRA does care," Mr LaPierre insisted. "We at the NRA are Americans who continue to mourn, and care, and work every day at contributing real solutions to this very real problem." | |
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