Politics

Trump Vows To Be ‘Strong’ On Background Checks, Mental Health Issues

Screenshot/Fox News

Saagar Enjeti White House Correspondent
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President Donald Trump vowed to implement background check systems and install some mental health screening for future gun purchasers during a Wednesday listening session with survivors and families of school shootings across the country.

“We’re going to be doing very strong background checks, a strong emphasis on the mental health of somebody and we’re going to do plenty of other things,” the president declared, revealing that governors from nearly all 50 states would converge on the White House in the coming weeks to discuss school safety.

“Next week the governors are coming in from most of the states and we’re going to have a very serious talk about what is going on with school safety. Very important. We’re going to cover every aspect of it. Many ideas that I have, many ideas that other people have. We’re going to pick out the strongest idea,” Trump vowed.

Vice President Mike Pence also stated that school safety will be a “top priority” of the White House in the coming months. Trump has spoken with Texas Sen. John Cornyn about improving the background check system.

Cornyn is spearheading efforts to improve the federal background check system in place for all U.S. citizens attempting to purchase a firearm. The Republican senator’s legislation would hold “federal agencies accountable if they fail to upload relevant records to the background check system through public reporting and prohibiting bonus pay for political appointees.”

Cornyn introduced the legislation after a November shooting at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas by convicted domestic abuser Devin Kelley. Kelley was convicted of an offense that should have prohibited him from buying a gun while an active duty service-member. The Air Force, however, failed to submit Kelley’s information to the NIC’s database, enabling him to purchase multiple firearms.