Trump’s school safety commission will not support age limits for gun purchases: report

The school safety commission convened by President Trump in the wake of this year’s deadly school shooting in Parkland, Fla., will not support new age limits for firearms purchases in its list of recommendations, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

The Federal Commission on School Safety’s final report will claim age restrictions do not reduce the likelihood of school shootings, two sources familiar with discussions told the Post.

{mosads}The report, which is set to be released before the end of the year, will recommend that states increase training for gun owners instead. 

The White House established the commission after a shooter in Parkland, Fla., killed 17 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and injured 17 others.

President Trump faced backlash over the commission, which was tasked with scrutinizing issues such as mental health, consumption of violent entertainment and media coverage of mass shootings, but not gun control. The commission also looked at boosting security by arming school employees.

But the White House instructed the commission to only consider whether the country should increase age limits for gun purchases.

Trump has vacillated on the issue of age restrictions for firearms purchasing. He once said he would give “serious thought” to raising age limits. He tweeted later that states should deal with the policy on their own. 

The commission, which has met more than a dozen times, invited mostly Republican guests, The Post reported. Guests included more than 30 Republican officials and only a handful of Democrats, according to the newspaper.

The commission is also set to recommend arming teachers and school personnel, sources told the Post

A high school senior went viral for tearing into Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who heads the school safety commission. The student, Alessia Modjarrad, in June told DeVos and her commission that it was “misguided and inefficient” to address school safety without dealing with guns. 

“I would ask to please consider the possibilities that guns are the most important aspect of the purview of this commission,” she said.