President Donald Trump "still supports" raising the legal age for certain gun purchases, despite opposition from the National Rifle Association and resistance from House Speaker Paul Ryan, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday.
"The president still supports raising the age limit to 21 for the purchase of certain firearms," Sanders told reporters at the daily briefing. "We're meeting with certain members of Congress tomorrow and expect that to be a topic of discussion.
"He knows that everybody doesn't necessarily agree," she said. "It's something that he knows there are a lot of differing views on."
Ryan said Tuesday that he disagreed with the president's call for arming school teachers and selected personnel after this month's deadly shooting in Florida that left 17 dead and 14 injured.
"That is really a question for local government, local school boards, local states," the Wisconsin Republican said. "As a parent myself and as a citizen, I think it's a good idea, but as speaker of the House, I think we need to respect federalism and respect local jurisdictions."
The NRA has repeatedly opposed any increase in age limits regarding gun purchases since the Parkland shooting.
Sanders told reporters that policies "specific to school safety" will come from the Trump administration after Wednesday's meeting.
Trump already supports bipartisan legislation by Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn and Connecticut Democrat Chris Murphy to strengthen FBI background checks and the STOP School Violence Act, proposed in the House last month by Florida GOP Rep. John Rutherford.
"The number one thing we're looking at is every possible action that we can take that helps it protect the safety and security of school kids across this country," Sanders said. "We're going to look at everything we can."
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