--- title: Donald Trump Shifts Stances on Five Gun Control Ideas description: President Donald Trump started the week reminding America where he stands on gun control proposals. canonical: https://time.com/5195469/donald-trump-gun-control-white-house/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-03-12T15:12:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T09:02:18.848Z article:section: Politics og:title: Here's Where President Trump Stands on 5 Gun Control Ideas og:description: From background checks to bump stocks. og:url: https://time.com/5195469/donald-trump-gun-control-white-house/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt095f082db5b2153e/69892a4122fb85a543e2503a/gettyimages-929388524.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: President Trump Signs Section 232 Proclamations On Steel And Aluminum Imports og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's Where President Trump Stands on 5 Gun Control Ideas twitter:description: From background checks to bump stocks. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt095f082db5b2153e/69892a4122fb85a543e2503a/gettyimages-929388524.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's Where President Trump Stands on 5 Gun Control Ideas > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=ffc87f30-c5ff-4a5c-98c0-41a02f135663&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Trump Discusses Gun Control Reforms With Congress Members [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Discusses Gun Control Reforms With Congress Members](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zO5Fa8SC.m3u8) (1:52)  _Published 2018-02-28. President Trump met with a bipartisan group of Senators and Representatives to discuss various ideas to curb gun violence._  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Mar 12, 2018 3:12 PM UTC  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Mar 12, 2018 3:12 PM UTC President Donald Trump started the week reminding America where he stands on [gun control proposals](http://time.com/5168608/gun-control-white-house-congress/). In two Monday morning [tweets](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/973185831547670529), Trump listed various potential actions on guns, saying he’s moving forward on some and pulling back on others in the wake of the shooting in Parkland, Florida, in February. The tweets came after Administration officials outlined a [new plan on school safety](http://time.com/5195043/white-house-gun-training-teachers/?xid=homepage) with reporters Sunday evening. Here’s a look at where Trump stands on various gun proposals. ## **Background checks** Since the Parkland shooting, Trump has said he wants to strengthen background checks, at times appearing to support universal checks that would apply to private sales and gun show sales. His new school safety plan doesn’t advocate for such comprehensive background checks, but reiterates support for the bipartisan “Fix NICS” bill in Congress, which would, among other things, mandate that federal agencies and states upload all relevant information to the background check system. “Very strong improvement and strengthening of background checks will be fully backed by White House,” Trump tweeted Monday. “Legislation moving forward.” > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/973185831547670529) ## Bump stocks In February, Trump directed the Justice Department to develop regulations that would ban [bump stocks](http://time.com/4970720/trump-bump-stocks-ban/), devices that are used to make legal semi-automatic weapons fire similarly to machine guns. In March, the Department formally submitted a regulation to ban the accessories, [Reuters reports](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-guns-bumpstocks/justice-department-files-regulation-to-ban-bump-stocks-idUSKCN1GM0JN), which now needs to be approved by the Office of Management and Budget and then will be subject to a comment period. Trump tweeted Monday that bump stocks “will soon be out.” **Read more:** [_Inside the Republican Party’s New Direction on Gun Restrictions_](http://time.com/5180537/gun-control-donald-trump-meeting/) ## Arming teachers Trump’s school safety plan moves forward on one controversial idea he’s floated repeatedly in listening sessions and speeches after Parkland: arming teachers. Under the plan, the federal government will work with states to provide voluntary “rigorous” firearms training for “specially qualified” school personnel. “Highly trained expert teachers will be allowed to conceal carry, subject to State Law,” Trump tweeted Monday. “If schools are mandated to be gun free zones, violence and danger are given an open invitation to enter. Almost all school shootings are in gun free zones. Cowards will only go where there is no deterrent!” > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/973199981292216320) The White House also supports the STOP School Violence Act, currently in the House, which would create a federal grant program for states to train students, teachers and school officials in potential violence detection and intervention. ## Raising age limit Trump has backed off raising the age limit to buy semiautomatic weapons, for now. [The Washington _Post_ reported](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-citing-evil-massacre-in-florida-starts-talking-about-gun-control/2018/02/20/8da6dd7e-1683-11e8-b681-2d4d462a1921%5Fstory.html?hpid=hp%5Fhp-top-table-main%5Ftrumpguns-935pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm%5Fterm=.552f0e20670f) that Trump had been interested in the idea of raising the minimum age to purchase a semiautomatic weapon from 18 to 21, and White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said at the end of February that raising the age of purchase is “on the table for us to discuss.” But Trump pulled back from this idea, not including it in his school safety plan and saying in his Monday tweets that he’s “watching court cases and rulings before acting” and “states are making this decision.” Under his school safety plan, Education Secretary Besty DeVos will chair a commission to recommend further policy and funding proposals on school safety, which could include age restrictions, but there is no set timeline on when the commission will report findings. ## Mental health measures Trump often emphasizes the link between mental health and mass shooters. After Parkland, he suggested that law enforcement should be able to take guns away from people they think are safety risks without going through the courts. His new plan doesn’t go that far and run afoul of due process, but he’s calling for an expansion of mental health programs and enhanced coordination between mental health care, schools and law enforcement. ## Transcript We continue to mourn the lose of so many precious young lives in [ UNKNOWN ] We are determined to turn our grieve into action, I really believe that, I think that the people of the state have wanted and I see some folks don't nice things about me and that's okay because is you turn that into this energy. I love you. I don't care. Mr. President it's gonna have to be you that brings the Republicans to the table on this, because right now, the gun lobby would stop it in it's tracks. I like that responsbility, Chris, I really do. I think it's time that a President stepped up. And we haven't had them and I'm talking Democrat and Republican presidents. They have not stepped up. We can do that with an executive order. I'm gonna write the bump stock, essentially write it out. So you won't have to worry about bump stock. Shortly that'll be gone. It doesn't make sense that I have to wait until I'm 21 to a handgun but I can get this weapon at 18. I don't know. So I was just curious as to what you did in your bill. You don't address it. We didn't address it, Mr. President. You know why, because you're afraid of the NRA, right? [ LAUGH ] If you look at the concealed carry population, these are people by and large who are helping us stop crimes, these are people who are well trained, who actually go out there and help prevent crimes. So, hope that that's not immediately dismissed because there is a lot of talk of Just putting that on the side. Just view it like this. You know I'm your biggest fan in the whole world, right. I know. I think that maybe that bill will someday pass, but it should pass as a separate. If you're gonna put concealed carry between states into this bill we're talking about a whole new ball game. And You know, I'm with you but let it be a separate bill. All right, I understand that. You'll never get this passed. If you add concealed carry to this, you'll never get it passed. One of your other ideas that are being talked about [ UNKNOWN ] I don't think, again, you'll never get it passed. So we want to get something done. 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