WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he has signed a memo directing the Justice Department to propose regulations to “ban all devices” like the rapid-fire bump stocks involved in last year’s Las Vegas massacre.Seeking to show action days after a deadly school shooting in Parkland, Fla., Trump spoke during a White House ceremony recognizing bravery by the nation’s public safety officers.“We must move past clichés and tired debates and focus on evidence based solutions and security measures that actually work,” Trump said.Read more:U.S. cities and states move to ban bump stocks, device used in Las Vegas mass shootingOnce an obscure device, ‘bump stocks’ are in the spotlight after Las Vegas shootingNRA open to new rules on ‘bump stock’ devices that allow rapid firing after Las Vegas shootingThe announcement came days after the shooting deaths of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The device Trump referred to was used in the October shooting deaths of 58 people in Las Vegas, and attached to a half-dozen of the long guns found in the shooter’s hotel room. A legislative effort to ban the device fizzled out last year.White House officials say the president will be meeting with students, teachers and state and local officials to discuss ways of providing more school safety and address gun violence. Pressure has been mounting for action after the Parkland shooting.Trump has also indicated he is open to a limited strengthening of federal background checks on gun purchases.Over the weekend, the White House said he had spoken Friday to Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, about a bipartisan bill designed to strengthen the FBI database of prohibited gun buyers.Trump spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders qualified the support, stressing that talks continue and “revisions are being considered,” but said “the president is supportive of efforts to improve t ...
|
