President Donald Trump's gun control proposal is already running into Republican resistance, as conservatives from across the country suggested in interviews Friday that they will not line up behind their leader on this issue.
Trump has outlined a wide-ranging series of proposals to combat gun violence in the wake of a massacre at a Florida high school that killed 17 last week. One measure: "raise age to 21," he tweeted this week. That move to raise the age for buying certain weapons has support from a number of Republican lawmakers--most significantly, Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who on Friday proposed raising the minimum age for purchasing any firearm from 18 to 21.
But conservative officials and activists are signaling significant discomfort with that idea, which is opposed by the powerful National Rifle Association.
"I don't know that there's going to be enough support in the House to get that passed," Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., who chairs the conservative House Freedom Caucus, told McClatchy here on the sidelines of the Conservative Political Action Conference. He didn't rule it out entirely, and added that lawmakers are looking at a “comprehensive” package, but continued, "Obviously, everyone is in the information-gathering mode at this point and it will be difficult, based on the members that I've talked to at this point, to get enough support."
Of course, there are also Republicans who support the measure—or are willing to go further. A number of GOP lawmakers, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, have indicated support for raising the age limit for certain rifles. Vice President Mike Pence also didn’t shy away from again mentioning raising the age limit while speaking at an event on Friday.
Rep. Brian Mast, a Florida Republican and a veteran, wrote an op-ed in The New York Times expressing support for a ban on future purchase of assault weapons.
And even Kelli Ward, who is running as a conservative candidate in the contested Arizona Senate primary, didn’t rule out the proposal, saying “it has to be on the table” even as she questioned the need for more gun laws.
More at: http://www.miamiherald.com/latest-ne...201854944.html
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