White House: Trump stands by raising age limit for assault weapons

President Trump is standing by his calls to raise the age limit to buy the type of high-powered rifle used in the Parkland, Fla., school shooting, the White House said Tuesday. 

“The president still supports raising the age limit to 21 for the purchase of certain firearms,” press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters.

Sanders said she expects the topic to come up when the president discusses gun violence on Wednesday with a bipartisan group of lawmakers, even though “he knows that everybody doesn’t necessarily agree.”

The White House sought to push back on speculation that Trump is backing away from the age-limit proposal, which is opposed by the National Rifle Association (NRA) and some of the president’s conservative supporters. 

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Trump and his aides have sent mixed signals about the intensity of the president’s support for raising the age limit and other possible reactions to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.

The president did not mention the plan during an hourlong discussion with the nation’s governors Monday, which occurred one day after he met with leaders of the NRA. 

Sanders later said Trump supports raising age limits “in concepts” but was waiting to see legislation from the GOP-controlled Congress, where the plan is unpopular. 

“These other weapons that we talk about — that some people don’t like —  they’re allowed to buy them at 18,” the president said last week. “So how does that make sense? How does that make sense? So I say that it should all be at 21.”