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You are here: Home / Gun Control / Trump Told NRA He Won’t Push Background Checks

Trump Told NRA He Won’t Push Background Checks

August 20, 2019 at 6:39 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump called National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre to tell him that universal background checks for gun purchases are off the table, The Atlantic reports.

In the call, Trump said he instead wanted to focus now on “increasing funding” for mental-health care and directing attorneys general across the country to start prosecuting “gun crime” through federal firearms charges from the Justice Department.

Said one White House aide: “The only worry now… is that once Congress returns from recess and talk of gun-control legislation restarts, Trump will change his mind yet again.”

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Filed Under: Gun Control

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goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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