Trump's Stance On Guns Stuns Republican Lawmakers

President Trump is hoping to end the stalemate in Congress over gun control. He said he expects Congress to pass legislation to protect schools from gun violence like the mass shooting that killed 17 people at a Florida high school last month. 

Trump tweeted about his meeting on school safety with Democratic and Republican lawmakers. He said that a big part of the conversation was focused on background checks.  

Many ideas, some good & some not so good, emerged from our bipartisan meeting on school safety yesterday at the White House. Background Checks a big part of conversation. Gun free zones are proven targets of killers. After many years, a Bill should emerge. Respect 2nd Amendment!

During the meeting on school safety, President Trump seemed to be siding more with Democrats than Republicans. He expressed his desire to enhance the background check system to keep guns out of the hands of potentially dangerous individuals, ban bump stocks and supported raising the minimum age to buy a gun from 18 to 21. 

Trump even suggested that police should be able to take guns from people before getting a court order.

“I like taking the guns early, like in this crazy man’s case that just took place in Florida ... to go to court would have taken a long time,” Trump said at a meeting with lawmakers on school safety and gun violence.

“Take the guns first, go through due process second,” Trump said.

His stance on guns puts him at odds with the Republican party and the NRA. Texas Senator John Cornyn said the meeting was "fascinating television" but that it was "surreal to actually be there."

Republican Senator Ben Sasse, who did not attend the meeting, said that he has no intention of "ditching any constitutional protections."

We're not ditching any constitutional protections simply because the last person the president talked to today doesn't like them.

Senator Rand Paul slammed the President's idea to eliminate due process in a tweet saying that "due process comes first or it isn’t due process." 

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