President Donald Trump has insisted that the US already has "very, very strong background checks" for gun purchases in the latest sign that he is backing away from throwing his political support behind changes to the system that are opposed by the powerful gun lobby.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump also noted "a lot of the people that put me where I am are strong believers in the Second Amendment," and suggested he worries about blurring the contrast between Republicans and Democrats on the issue.
"We have to be very careful about that," he said. A gradual rhetorical softening by Trump has taken place in the more than two weeks since gunmen opened fire in El Paso, Texas, then in Dayton, Ohio, leaving more than 30 people dead.
Trump said in the tragedies' wake that he was eager to implement "very meaningful background checks" and told reporters there was "tremendous support" for action.
"We don't want people that are mentally ill, people that are sick we don't want them having guns," he said.
But in the days since, Trump has changed his tone. He said Tuesday that, while the current system has "sort of missing areas and areas that don't complete the whole circle," it is overall "very, very strong" even though federal law only requires background checks for guns sold through licensed firearm dealers.
And he said he worried about the potential risk of a "slippery slope," where "all of a sudden everything gets taken away."
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who spoke with Trump last week, said the president expressed support then for working across the aisle "to come up with a background checks bill that can pass the Senate and save lives."
"Are they going to stand with the 90 per cent of Americans who want universal background checks, or are they going to once again kowtow to the desires of the gun lobby?"
"We've had ongoing conversations, at the staff level, with the White House regarding background checks both last week and this week."
Meanwhile, NRA spokeswoman Amy Hunter said the group "has always supported efforts to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals and the dangerously mentally ill" and "appreciates the president's desire to find logical ways of accomplishing that goal."
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content