Trump told reporters Tuesday that “we have very, very strong background checks right now” and suggested he is more interested in “looking at mental institutions” than addressing gun control.
President Trump backed away Tuesday from his own call to strengthen background check requirements for firearm purchases that he made in the wake of mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, that left 31 people dead.
Research has turned up little evidence of a correlation between mental health and gun violence. The National Center for Health Statistics, for instance, found that fewer than 5 percent of the 120,000 gun-related killings in the United States between 2001 and 2010 were perpetrated by people diagnosed with mental illness.
Before departing for a vacation on Aug. 9, Trump again touted the need for background checks on firearm purchases. “I think meaningful background checks are a real positive,” Trump said on the South Lawn. “I don’t just say ‘background checks.’ Because we passed background checks a number of times, but … everybody knew they weren’t that strong.”
In the aftermath of the Feb. 14, 2018, shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., that left 17 people dead, Trump also came out in support of strengthening background checks on firearm purchases. “We’re going to be very strong on background checks. We’re going to be doing very strong background checks,” Trump said the week following the shooting.
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