GOP’s Toomey: Trump ‘interested in doing something meaningful’ on guns

by Regina Zilbermints - 09/01/19 10:32 AM ET

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said Sunday that he and President Trump, as well as other senators, are having “ongoing conversations” about how to move forward on gun legislation.

“I have spoken with the president repeatedly and recently about this topic. He is very interested in doing something meaningful,” Toomey said on ABC’s “This Week,” adding that his staff and the White House are “very seriously pursuing this.”

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey tells @martharaddatz he has “spoken with the president repeatedly and recently” about a bill he is co-sponsoring to expand background checks on gun sales and Trump is “very interested in doing something meaningful” https://t.co/c7kkqRsVWT pic.twitter.com/xAqv6iumxt

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) September 1, 2019

The comments come one day after at least seven people were killed and more were wounded in a mass shooting in West Texas and weeks after more than 20 people were killed at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, just 300 miles away.

{mosads}Following the shooting in El Paso and another one that killed nine people in Dayton, Ohio, the next day, Trump has sent mixed messages on what, if any, gun control measures he is willing to support.

Toomey is a co-sponsor of a bipartisan background checks bill with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.)

“I can’t guarantee an outcome. I’m not sure where this all ends. But the president is very interested, I remain very interested in measures that would make it harder for people who shouldn’t have guns to get guns. And, you know, we’re going to take a very serious run at it,” Toomey said.

Tags Donald Trump Joe Manchin Pat Toomey Sunday shows Texas mass shooting