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The stance of White House on gun reform

President Trump is torn about signing new gun legislation. According to White House insiders, the President’s daughter Ivanka and Attorney General William Barr are strongly recommending that Trump back universal background checks for gun purchases. Meanwhile, his son, Donald Trump Jr., is urging him not to alienate his conservative base by passing new restrictions on firearms.

The infighting has stalled action on guns in Congress, Politico.com reports.

“We’re looking at it right now, we’re studying it very hard, and it’s an issue that, frankly, Congress is wasting all their time on–nonsense–and we’re studying it very hard,” Trump said. “If Congress would get back to work, we could work something, but Congress is doing all of this nonsense, this garbage they’re doing, and I’ll tell you what, they don’t have any time.”

But his daughter, Ivanka, who acts as an adviser to Trump, says she supports some basic gun control reforms.

“You can strongly support and defend the 2nd Amendment while calling for these common sense, and long-overdue reforms,” Ivanka wrote on Instagram.

The debate over gun control has become more urgent in the wake of several mass shootings this summer, including one that killed 25 people in a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. After the Walmart shooting, Walmart itself announced it was ending all sales of handguns and ammunition in the wake of consumer backlash.