唐纳德·特朗普总统星期三在拜访俄亥俄州代顿和得克萨斯州埃尔帕索的大规模枪击事件受害者之前告诉记者，“对背景调查有很大兴趣”，并似乎对参议院通过更严格枪支政策的可能性持开放态度。

       但是来自华盛顿邮报 似乎与特朗普公开支持枪支改革相矛盾，据报道，本周枪击事件发生后，特朗普总统曾多次与美国步枪协会首席执行官韦恩·拉皮尔(Wayne LaPierre)交谈。

       匿名官员说邮报在周二的电话会议上，拉皮尔警告总统背景调查立法会损害他在共和党内的声望，并敦促他重新考虑自己的立场。新闻周刊无法确认会议的细节，白宫也没有立即回复置评请求。

       但是西弗吉尼亚州的民主党参议员乔·曼钦告诉该报，周二他与总统通了电话，特朗普在电话中概述了全国步枪协会的担忧。

       “我们谈过了，”曼钦说。“我告诉他，我们不指望国家步枪协会会支持他。总统先生，老实说，当你做股票涨跌的时候，他们【国家步枪协会】并不适合你。他们也反对。你没有受到任何打击。”

       据报道，白宫官员称总统一直在向顾问和可信的立法者询问全国步枪协会的政治影响力邮报。

       全国步枪协会在2016年打破了竞选支出的记录，当时它花费了3000多万美元帮助特朗普当选。

       但是自2016年选举以来，反枪支暴力团体增加了他们的政治影响力和竞选筹款——特别是在佛罗里达州帕克兰马乔里·斯通曼·道格拉斯高中枪击案和幸存学生创建了“为我们的生命游行”之后——同时全国步枪协会也卷入了一些争议，包括一些争议与俄罗斯影响力代理人的显著联系。

       在2018年的中期选举中，吉福兹政治行动委员会和枪支安全一切公司总共花费了大约3700万美元，相比之下，全国步枪协会花费了2000万美元。

       与此同时，全国步枪协会赞扬特朗普总统周一在埃尔帕索和代顿之后的讲话，他说，“精神疾病和仇恨扣动了扳机，而不是枪。”NRA表示，总统在解决枪支暴力的“根本原因”而不是枪支改革方面做得很好。

       该组织在一份声明中说:“全国步枪协会欢迎总统呼吁解决我国发生的可怕暴力行为的根源。”。“国家步枪协会的长期立场是，那些被判定对自己或他人构成危险的人不应该获得枪支，应该接受治疗。”
 

NRA CALLS DONALD TRUMP TO WARN AGAINST BACKGROUND CHECKS: REPORT

       President Donald Trump told reporters Wednesday before visiting victims of the mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, that there "was great appetite for background checks," and seemed open to the possibility of stricter gun policy passing through the Senate.

       But new reports from The Washington Post seem to contradict Trump's outward support of gun reform as the president reportedly spoke with National Rifle Association chief executive Wayne LaPierre a number of times this week after the shootings.

       Anonymous officials told The Post that during the Tuesday call,LaPierre warned the president that background check legislation would hurt his popularity with the Republican base and urged him to reconsider his position. Newsweek was unable to confirm details of the meeting and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

       But Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia told the paper he had a phone call with the president on Tuesday where Trump outlined concerns brought by the NRA.

       "We talked about that," Manchin said. "I told him, we don't expect the NRA to be supportive. Mr. President, in all honesty, when you did the bump stocks, they [the NRA] weren't for you. They were against that, too. You didn't take any hit on that."

       White House officials claim the president has been asking advisers and trusted lawmakers about the NRA's political clout, according to The Post.

       The NRA broke its record for campaign spending in 2016 when it spent more than $30 million to help elect Trump.

       But since the 2016 election, anti-gun violence groups have increased their political influence and campaign fundraising—particularly in the wake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, and creation of March For Our Lives by surviving students—while the NRA has become embroiled in a number of controversies, including some notable ties with a Russian influence agent.

       Combined, the Giffords PAC and Everytown for Gun Safety spent about $37 million during the 2018midterm elections compared to the $20 million the NRA spent.

       The NRA, meanwhile, praised President Trump's post-El Paso and Dayton speech on Monday where he said, "mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun." The NRA said the president did well to address the "root causes" of gun violence instead of gun reform.

       "The NRA welcomes the President's call to address the root causes of the horrific acts of violence that have occurred in our country," the organization said in a statement. "It has been the NRA's long-standing position that those who have been adjudicated as a danger to themselves or others should not have access to firearms and should be admitted for treatment."