Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) co-authored a background check bill, which failed in 2013, following the deadly shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. | John Shinkle/POLITICO Sen. Toomey 'very skeptical' about raising gun age

Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey said on Sunday he's “very skeptical” about raising the minimum age for gun purchases.

Toomey, the Republican leader of the last bipartisan effort in Congress to reform gun laws, appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press," where host Chuck Todd asked him whether he personally supported raising the age on assault weapons from 18 to 21.


"I’m very skeptical about that," the senator said, "because the vast majority of 18-, 19-, 20-, 21-year-olds are law-abiding citizens who aren’t a threat to anyone. So, I’m skeptical about that. I’m willing to hear the other side on this, but I’m skeptical."

President Donald Trump has backed the idea of increasing the minimum age for purchasing weapons like the AR-15 in the aftermath of the Feb. 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

"Raise age to 21 and end sale of Bump Stocks! Congress is in a mood to finally do something on this issue — I hope!" Trump tweeted.

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Toomey also discussed on Sunday the likelihood that a bill sponsored by him and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) would get a vote in the Senate.

"I’ll be speaking with Sen. [Mitch] McConnell about, about that this week," Toomey said. "Time on the Senate schedule is precious, especially with our Democratic colleagues chewing so much of it up over noncontroversial nominees. But if we’ve got 60 votes, I think that would be a very compelling argument to have a vote, and I think we would."

Toomey co-authored the background check bill, which failed in 2013, following the deadly shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.