NRA pushed back against raising age limit on gun purchases in meeting with Trump

The National Rifle Association (NRA) pressed President Trump not to raise the legal age for purchasing certain guns during a weekend meeting, according to a report by CNN.

Citing a senior administration official, CNN said officials with the NRA argued the age limit for buying high-powered rifles, often described as assault weapons or assault rifles by their opponents, should remain at 18.

The administration official told CNN that Trump and the NRA will not have the same opinions on everything.

Trump has repeated suggested he is interested in raising the limit, an idea also embraced by Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R). 

This week, however, Trump did not mention raising the age limit in comments to governors about mass shootings and guns. On Tuesday, the White House said Trump stands by his calls to raise the age limit for the purchase of certain guns.

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

A senior administration official told CNN that there has been “a lot of flux in the way it’s been communicated,” but that the president’s “preference is that it’s raised to 21.”

The NRA argues that it would infringe upon the constitutional rights of those aged 18, 19 and 20 to raise the age limit.