Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin was asked about gun control on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday and said that there had been “good dialogue” with President Donald Trump on the issue.
CBS host Margaret Brennan asked Manchin about the Manchin-Toomey background check bill saying, “You’ve spoken to the president this time. Will he go out there and twist arms to get Republicans onboard with this bill?” (RELATED: Gun Control Advocates Take Easy Way Out)
Manchin replied, stating Trump has a “golden opportunity” to make America “safe again” by using background checks, which he described as a “basic building block.” He also went on to say that he is a gun owner and that “no one is going to take his guns away.”
The Manchin-Toomey background check bill would require background checks for private sales conducted at gun shows as well as private online sales, but would carve out exceptions for sales between friends and family, so as long the sale was not advertised online, according to politifact.com.
Following the recent mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, gun control has been a hot political issue as Republicans have shown signs of being willing to pass a “red flag” law, which would give state courts the authority to temporarily suspend a person’s right to bear arms if presented with convincing evidence that the person in question is a threat to society. Trump said that we must, “make sure that those judged to pose a grave risk to public safety do not have access to firearm and that if they do those firearms can be taken through rapid due process.”
Manchin also expressed support for this measure in his interview with Brennan, saying, “You know the red flag bill that Lindsey Graham and a lot of us are working on makes sense, that if we can identify and get somebody help before they do something, some horrible tragedy should be done. And we have the ability to do these things that really make sense.”
The conversation on gun control wrapped up with Manchin saying that he told the president, “President Trump, this is yours it doesn’t happen unless you stand up and you have a bill that you basically support. And this is your piece of legislation and it should be a gun sense bill that makes sense to all gun owners.”
He added that despite “good dialogue” there had been “no promise on any of this” from President Trump.