August 21, 2019

President Trump said he thinks the prevalence of gun deaths in America constitutes a public health emergency, but has not offered a clear proposal on what he wants to do to address it. 

Mr. Trump, asked on the White House South Lawn on Wednesday if he views the scores of gun deaths each day in America as a public health emergency, responded, "I do, I do. Sure, I do." Public health emergencies allow funds to be released to address a heightened health crisis. But the president then went on to blame mental illness, even though mental health experts deny a connection between mental illness and gun violence. The president has voiced a desire for "meaningful" background checks, although he hasn't specified what that would entail. 

"We're working on background checks, there are things we can do," Mr. Trump said on Wednesday. "But we already have very serious background checks, we have strong background checks. We can close up the gaps we can do things that are very good and things that frankly gun owners want to have done. But we also have to remember the gun doesn't pull the trigger, the person does. And we have great mental illness."

Read more: 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-says-he-thinks-gun-deaths-are-a-public-health-emergency-but-unclear-what-to-do-about-it/