<p class="p1"><span class="s1">President Trump on Monday called on lawmakers to combine gun control measures with immigration reform.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Republicans and Democrats must come together and get strong background checks, perhaps marrying this legislation with desperately needed immigration reform,” said Trump. </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">The proposal follows back-to-back mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio that left 29 people dead and 53 injured. Some Democrats claim the shooters were motivated by Trump’s white nationalist rhetoric.</span></p>
<p>Trump condemned racism and white supremacy during a speech delivered later on Monday, but failed to unveil any major policy proposals.</p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">He called for an end to the “glorification of violence” in video games and said that individuals who commit mass shootings should face the death penalty. </span><span class="s1">He also suggested that an overhaul of mental health laws could help us “better identify mentally disturbed individuals.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">If Trump was really serious about gun control, complained Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), he would ask Senate Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) to hold a vote on House-approved legislation to expand background checks. </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Trump called for stronger background checks in 2018 after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, but backed down after a meeting with the NRA. </span><span class="s1">This year, he threatened to veto two bills on gun control passed by the House &#8211; one that calls for universal background checks and one that extends the review period of background checks from 3 to 10 days. </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">In 2017, he repealed a regulation that blocked firearm sales to individuals who receive </span><span class="s1">disability benefits for mental health issues. </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">&#8212;</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Gun control is an issue that has long been near and dear to Democrats’ hearts, and Trump’s suggestion to combine it with immigration reform is his latest attempt </span><span class="s1">to coerce lawmakers into correcting the situation at the southern border. </span></p>
<p>Trump also knows that any combination of the two issues will be voted down by Democrats and he can point to that failure during his re-election campaign.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, immigration reform and gun control are both explosive topics with<span class="s1"> virtually no bipartisan consensus in Congress and it seems Trump&#8217;s advisers talked him out of repeating the suggestion to combine the two issues during his Monday speech. </span></p>
<p><strong>Author&#8217;s Note: </strong></p>
<p>Republicans have long opposed gun control &#8211; not because they don&#8217;t care about safety, but out of respect for the <em>2nd Amendment. </em>If the government can deny firearms to anyone, the <em>2nd Amendment</em> is in danger.</p>