Caving To The NRA: Trump Backs Away From Age Increase On Owning Assault Weapons

Donald Trump is already caving to the National Rifle Association less than two weeks after a gunman took the lives of 17 innocent people inside a high school in Parkland, Florida.

According to CNN Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta, the president is “backing away from his support for 21 year age limit for assault weapons purchases.”

Trump never intended to stand up to the gun lobby

In the immediate aftermath of the tragic shooting, the most optimistic pundits predicted the president would actually take up a few common sense but meaningful actions to prevent future shootings. This was a turning point, even for Republicans, they insisted. Trump himself hinted that raising the age to own an AR-15 from 18 to 21 made a lot of sense (Hint: because it does).

As a result, a popular narrative that emerged over the past two weeks is that Trump, despite being a puppet of the NRA, was so impacted by the images coming out of Parkland that he would actually do something.

With the news that Trump is already caving to the gun lobby, it’s clear that this optimism was misplaced and those hopes were false.

Trump never intended to stand up to the gun lobby. Instead, he pretended to have some compassion – it’s what his cheat sheet instructed him to do, after all – while news of the shooting remained fresh in the nation’s collective mind.

While the post-Parkland push for stronger gun laws is still in the news thanks to the brave students fighting for change, it’s clear the President of the United States, with the help of his NRA masters, is starting to move on.

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Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.

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