‘We Don’t Want Guns in the Hands of the Wrong People,’ Trump Says

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Friday said he was committed to passing new laws for background checks on gun purchases and said the time was now for lawmakers to come together and do something, as he left the White House for a political fund-raiser in Southampton followed by a vacation at his golf club in New Jersey.

“We don’t want guns in the hands of the wrong people,” Mr. Trump said in brief remarks to reporters less than a week after two mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, that left 31 people dead.

He said there is “tremendous” support for “really common-sense sensible, important background checks.” He added that he was confident that the gun lobby, which in the past has been effective in resisting such measures, would ultimately agree or “be more neutral.”

On Thursday, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, signaled that he would at least be open to considering such legislation, though he did not call the Senate back from its August recess to address the issue.

There were no new major signals on Friday from the National Rifle Association, the White House or Capitol Hill that action on the politically fraught issue of gun rights was closer to compromise or resolution.

In the past, both Mr. Trump and Mr. McConnell have opposed legislation to expand background checks.

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