Sen. Charles E. Schumer said Thursday that the only way presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump can prove he wants to keep terrorists away from guns is by persuading the National Rifle Association to support gun control measures sponsored by Democrats.
“Donald Trump — like the Republicans, he’s talking the talk,” said Mr. Schumer, New York Democrat. “But he ain’t walking the walk.”
“He’s going to meet with the NRA. Well, our Republican colleagues have been doing that for decades,” Mr. Schumer said.
Mr. Schumer spoke on Capitol Hill along with other senators after Democrats staged a nearly 15-hour quasi-filibuster to secure votes on legislation to ban people on terrorist watch lists from buying guns, as well as a separate measure to expand background checks for gun purchases.
“The only way Donald Trump can prove he seriously wants to keep guns out of the hands of the terrorists is to convince the NRA to support Sen. [Dianne] Feinstein’s bill and Sen. [Christopher] Murphy and [Cory] Booker and my bill. That’s it,” Mr. Schumer said.
“If Donald Trump feels terrorists shouldn’t have guns, all he has to do is issue a two-sentence statement,” he said. “’Donald Trump supports the Feinstein bill, which keeps guns out of the hands of terrorists, and Donald Trump supports the Murphy-Booker-Schumer bill, which causes universal background checks.”
Mr. Trump announced Wednesday that he would discuss the issue with the NRA, which has endorsed him.
The NRA and other Republicans have said they support an alternative approach from Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican, that would provide for a period of judicial review before a known or suspected terrorist is finally rejected from buying a gun.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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