WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump, in an extraordinary White House event on Wednesday, heard the heart-breaking personal stories of loss from the parents and friends of young people who had died in school shootings.
Parents and students impacted by gun violence pleaded with Trump for action to make schools safer, including some calls for additional gun control measures.
“Fix it!” an anguished father, Andrew Pollack, told Trump he stood and told the story of the murder of his daughter Meadow, 18, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., last week.
“It should’ve been one school shooting and we should’ve fixed it,” said Pollack. “I’m pissed.”
The conversation turned several times toward gun violence and the regulation of assault weapons, but mostly focused on the emotional reactions of those directly affected by the shootings.
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“You don’t want to be me; no parent does,” Nicole Hockley, whose 6-year-old son was murdered in the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, said. “You have the ability to save lives today, please don’t waste this.”
She was seated next to Sam Zeif, whose text messages with his 14-year-old brother during the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School went viral online. On Wednesday, Zeif spoke through tears, saying he did not understand “how is it that easy to buy” an AR-15, the kind of gun used in the Parkland shooting and many others over the past few years.
“We need to do something,” he begged.
Trump told the group he would “do something about this horrible situation that’s going on” in America, and that he hoped to “figure it out together” with those students, teachers and parents gathered at the White House Wednesday — among them survivors of last week’s tragedy at a Parkland, where a gunman killed 17 people.
“We don’t want others to go through the kind of pain that you’ve gone through,” Trump said.
In the days since the Parkland shooting, students who survived the attack have spoken out publicly about the need for gun control and action from Washington to prevent this kind of violence — party politics and interest group allegiances aside.
Trump himself has benefited from the endorsement and financial support of the National Rifle Association as a candidate, and has continued to be an outspoken supporter of gun rights as president.
On Tuesday, the president directed his Justice Department to propose a rule that bans so-called “bump stocks” that allow shooters to engage gun triggers faster, causing them to fire at a rate similar to an automatic weapon. That move comes in response to America’s deadliest mass shooting in Las Vegas last year.
Trump has also tweeted in recent days about the need to strengthen background checks.
While he has expressed a willingness for action, it is unclear how far the president will seek to venture into the gun control debate.
On Wednesday, Trump did endorse ending gun-free zones and — after one of the parents present proposed arming school officials and teachers — spoke in support of that controversial measure.
To a shooter, Trump said, gun free zones are a sign that says “let’s go in and let’s attack because bullets aren’t coming back at us.” He also said stricter background checks, an increased focus on the mental health of potential gun buyers, and a change to the age at which individuals would first be allowed to purchase weapons were potential solutions the administration would be exploring.