President Trump appears to be pulling back the reins on his push for stronger background checks — telling reporters Tuesday that “it’s not the gun that pulls the trigger, it’s the person.”

“We’re looking at different things and I have to tell you it’s a mental problem,” Trump said while answering questions at the White House.

“These are sick people,” the president added, in reference to individuals who commit mass shootings.

Trump had initially showed support for strengthening the federal background check system — so that “sick people don’t get guns” — following the massacres in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas. But he appears to have softened his stance, telling reporters that “we have very, very strong background checks right now.”

“I said it 100 times, it’s not the gun that pulls the trigger, it’s the person that pulls the trigger,” the president asserted.

He declined to answer questions on whether he’d support any of the new gun laws being proposed by Democrats.

“The people that — a lot of the people that put me where I am, are strong believers in the Second Amendment,” Trump said. “And I am also. And we have to be very careful about that. You know, they call it the slippery slope. All of a sudden everything gets taken away, we’re not going to let that happen.”

The president told reporters that he thought Democrats would abolish the Second Amendment if they could.

“The Democrats would, I believe, give up the Second Amendment,” he said.

Trump first indicated that he was backing away from the expanded background checks on Sunday, while speaking to reporters outside his DC golf club.

“[I’m] very, very concerned with the Second Amendment, more so than most Presidents would be,” Trump said. “People don’t realize we have very strong background checks right now. If you go in to buy a gun, you have to sign up. There are a lot of background checks that have been approved over the years … But Congress is meeting. Bipartisan. A lot of people want to see something happen. But just remember this: Big mental problem, and we do have a lot of background checks right now.”