Washington insiders – gun control legislation unlikely under Trump

In the midst of the new demands for gun control, Axios was able to contact insiders in Washington to get their opinions on whether Trump would join Congressional Democrats and call for gun control legislation.

Steve Bannon, the former White House Chief Strategist, who has vowed to fight for Trump from outside D.C. shared his thoughts with Jonathan Swan of Axios,

“I asked Steve Bannon whether he could imagine Trump pivoting to the left on guns after the Las Vegas massacre. ‘Impossible: will be the end of everything,’ Bannon texted. When asked whether Trump’s base would react worse to this than they would if he supported an immigration amnesty bill, Bannon replied: ‘as hard as it is to believe actually worse.’ “

There are two reasons that Trump is unlikely to pass gun control legislation. The first reason is that sources near the President say that Trump would lose the support of his base, and according to Roger Stone, “he knows it.”

The second reason is the support he has received from the NRA. The NRA stayed loyal to Trump’s campaign through all the ups and downs, of which there were plenty. This loyalty cannot be overlooked when it comes to Trump taking action. It is well known that Trump values loyalty from those he associates with.

Despite the sources saying that Trump calling for gun control is unlikely, Swan did say that the sources he spoke with “hesitated when predicting Trump’s next move on guns” due to his “taste for bipartisan deal-making.” Even those of us watching from the outside understand that there is a degree of unpredictability when comes to President Trump.

Perspectives

Sarah Sanders Dismisses Calls for Gun Control: ‘Premature for Us to Discuss Policy’ | Mediaite

Democrats have already begun making those calls, and Nancy Pelosi is urging Speaker Paul Ryan to set up a Select Committee on Gun Violence.

Huckabee Sanders said in response, “Today is a day for consoling the survivors and mourning those we lost. Our thoughts and prayers are certainly with all of those individuals. There’s a time and place for a political debate, but now is the time to unite as a country.”

Sen. Murphy Tells Congress to ‘Get Off Its Ass’ on Gun Control – NBC News

“This must stop,” Murphy said. “It is positively infuriating that my colleagues in Congress are so afraid of the gun industry that they pretend there aren’t public policy responses to this epidemic.”

Bannon warns: “end of everything” if Trump supports gun controls – Axios

Bottom line: Trump’s allies, both inside and out of the White House, are mostly sure he’ll resist because he owes too much to the NRA and its supporters — but even some of them aren’t 100 percent sure.

Final Thoughts

The worst time to make a decision that affects hundreds of millions of individuals is when we are suffering from a flurry of powerful emotions. If we allow evil acts to take away our belief in good, then we all lose. Our nation has 320 million Americans and over 300 million guns.

Every time evil rears its ugly head, there is only one response. That response is to continue to be good by helping those around us and denouncing the evil that surrounds us.