The U.S. Congress’ foremost advocate for gun violence awareness, Rep. Ted Deutch (D), has called President Donald Trump a “coward” for not pushing gun “gun safety negotiators” to expedite the legislative negotiation process the president himself says is “going very slowly.”
President Trump says gun safety negotiators are “going very slowly,” stated Deutch “This is not complicated. 90 percent of Americans want background checks. There are only two options – courage or cowardice. Stop being a coward. Pass HR8.”
Rep. Deutch and House Democrats filed and passed a universal background check bill (H.R.8) in January, but the U.S. Senate has failed to address the gun measure, even as the overwhelming majority of Americans, including President Trump, support universal background checks.
Deutch’s fellow Democratic colleagues, Reps. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Stephanie Murphy, and Donna Shalala, have all been railing against the Republican-led Senate and president for not taking up their background checks bill.
But while Democrats continue to say that Trump has not done enough to address the gun violence problem, Team Trump pushed back at the president's critics.
Trump’s team “shot back,” outlining the key accomplishments the president has made on “gun violence” since taking office in 2017.
- President Trump signed into law the Fix NICS Act last year, strengthening the existing federal firearms background check system.
- President Trump also signed into law the STOP School Violence Act, which helps schools and law enforcement “identify and prevent violence in schools” with more than $1 billion in annual grants.
- The Trump administration took action to ban bump stocks, the device used in the 2017 Las Vegas attack.
- Last year, the Justice Department prosecuted a record number of firearms offenses.
- After last year’s Parkland shooting, President Trump established the Federal Commission on School Safety, which developed new recommendations to prevent school violence.
Trump is also supportive of “Red Flag” laws like the bill Senator Marco Rubio (R) introduced shortly after the 2018 Parkland school shooting that claimed the lives of 17 innocent students and teachers.
President Trump says gun safety negotiators are “going very slowly.”
This is not complicated.
90 percent of Americans want universal backgrounds checks.
There are only two options - courage or cowardice.
Stop being a coward. Pass #HR8.
— Ted Deutch (@TedDeutch) September 19, 2019
