Trump borrows NRA talking points on school safety

A few hours after hailing leaders at the National Rifle Association as “Great American Patriots,” President Donald Trump borrowed frequent talking points from the gun lobby group during a discussion on school safety Thursday.

"I want my schools protected just like I want my banks protected," the president told state and local officials gathered in the Roosevelt Room at the White House, according to a press pool report. He was meeting with authorities to discuss school safety in the wake of the deadly shooting in Parkland, Florida.


The remark mirrored comments delivered by NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre during a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference a couple of hours prior.

"Our banks, our airports, our NBA games, our NFL games, our office buildings, our movie stars, our politicians — they're all more protected than our children at school,” LaPierre said during the annual summit of conservatives.

LaPierre has repeatedly called for schools to be protected as fiercely as institutions such as banks and public venues over the years.

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“We care about our money, so we protect our banks with armed guards,” LaPierre told reporters after a gunman killed 20 children and six adult staffers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.

The synergy in remarks between Trump and LaPierre highlighted the proximity of their approaches in responding to mass shootings, which have come under scrutiny in light of last week’s attack, which killed 17 people.

Trump — joined by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and White House chief of staff John Kelly, among others — expressed confidence that the NRA would respond to the Parkland massacre with action, criticizing those who have faulted the organization over shootings.

"The NRA is ready to do things,” Trump told reporters. “People like to blame them."

LaPierre and NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch at CPAC lashed out at their detractors on Thursday, accusing Democratic legislators and members of the media of “politicizing” the Florida tragedy to push an anti-gun agenda.

“The shameful politicization of tragedy is a classic strategy right out of the playbook of a poisonous movement," LaPierre said.

The president also expressed support Thursday for imposing a ban on the purchase of assault rifles for those under the age of 21 — a measure he claimed the NRA would get behind.

"It should all be at 21,” Trump said of the age requirement. “And the NRA will back it."

The NRA, however, released a statement Wednesday expressing opposition to the push, which it said was meant to “punish law-abiding citizens.”

On Thursday, Trump tweeted: "Wayne [LaPierre], Chris [Cox] and the folks who work so hard at the @NRA are Great People and Great American Patriots." Cox is the NRA's executive director for legislative action.