Bloomberg calls on Trump to implement firearm background checks

Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg called on President Trump to implement firearm background checks in the wake of the Milwaukee shooting that left at least five dead.

The former New York City mayor said during Wednesday’s CNN town hall that he was “sympathetic” to the president’s call for prayers for the families.

“But what he should have said is ‘and we’re gonna do something to have background checks to stop guns from being sold to people who shouldn’t buy them,'” he said, leading the crowd to applaud.

Bloomberg after Milwaukee shooting: Trump “said our prayers should be with the families. I’m sympathetic with that. But what he should have said is, ‘and we’re going to do something about background checks to stop guns being sold to people who shouldn’t buy them'” #CNNTownHall pic.twitter.com/xwuXakZhPc

— CNN (@CNN) February 27, 2020

Bloomberg argued that background checks should apply to those purchasing firearms over the internet and at gun shows. He cited the group he helps fund, Everytown for Gun Safety, which advocates for states to implement background checks and “red flag” laws. 

“We would be much better off if we could do that on a national level, so I think you should ban AK-47 automatic weapons and insist on background checks for everybody no matter how they buy it,” Bloomberg said.

The former mayor referenced Trump’s remarks regarding the shooting in Milwaukee, where, according to the city’s mayor, there were “multiple fatalities“ when a gunman attacked the Molson Coors Brewery Co. campus earlier in the day.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that seven people, including the gunman, were killed, but the city’s police department has cautioned that “various sources” are “citing various numbers of casualties. 

The president addressed the shooting ahead of his press conference regarding the coronavirus, saying he wants to “extend my deepest condolences to the victims and families.”

“Earlier today, a wicked murderer opened fire at a Molson Coors Brewery Co. plant, taking the lives of five people,” he said. “Our hearts break for them and their loved ones. We send our condolences.”

Trump pledged to release proposals to address gun reform after August shootings in Texas and Ohio but later abandoned those plans.