Rep. Stephanie Murphy said Tuesday she was at the table with President Donald Trump when he held his meeting on school safety and mocked lawmakers for being afraid of the National Rifle Association, and she finds it "disappointing" that his proposals on guns fall "way short" of what was expected.
"I was hopeful that we would be able to get the president's support to pass common sense gun safety measures," the Florida Democrat told MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "He talked a really big game about what he would be supportive of, so it's disappointing to see the proposal that he put forward falls way short of what parents in my community are expecting us to do."
Murphy didn't say directly if she thinks Trump caved in to the demands of the NRA, whose representatives met with him on the day after the school safety meeting. In his final recommendations, Trump, who had initially said he favored raising the age limit from 18 to 21 on long guns, did not include that restriction in his plans.
"Well, he talked a big game, challenging both Republicans and Democrats to not be fearful of the NRA and certainly he's rolled back his commitments," said Murphy.
Meanwhile, Trump has appointed Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to lead his commission to study the issue, but Murphy said she thinks before DeVos looks at proposals, the facts should be gathered.
"This is why I've put forward a bill called the Gun Research Act to study gun violence as the public health issue that it is, and then from that space of fact and evidence, develop the proposals," she said. "I think it's kind of starting in the midway point to set up a commission that just looks at proposals."
Murphy said she also thinks the issue of guns always comes up after a mass shooting happens, but instead, day-to-day gun violence also should be studied.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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