Trump, lawmakers consider app that would conduct background checks: report
President Trump and Republican lawmakers are reportedly considering supporting an app that would conduct background checks before gun sales as a gun control measure, The Washington Post reported.
The app would be connected to the National Instant Criminal Background Checks system that could be used to complete background checks on private gun sales, three senators and other officials told The Washington Post.
However, lawmakers and congressional aides have privately raised privacy concerns for gun owners about the app idea.
Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) told The Washington Post that he was told about the app by a White House official. Thune said he was concerned gun owners’ personal data being available, adding that it “would kind of be a de facto registry.”
“It’s fraught with a lot of issues when it comes to some of the Second Amendment concerns,” Thune said.
Currently, there are no federally mandated background checks for the private sales of guns.
Kris Brown, president of Brady, a gun violence prevention advocacy group, called on the Senate to take up a background check bill that would include private gun sales, CNN reported.
"This proposal reveals one important fact from the White House: they recognize the problem of the private sale loophole that allows 20 percent of guns to be sold with no background check at all. ... We agree the private sale loophole must be fixed, but it should be fixed in a way that allows meaningful enforcement, not easy circumvention that endangers lives," Brown said.
News of the app came as lawmakers expect Trump to unveil his plan to reduce gun violence next week. Senior advisors briefed Trump on various gun safety measures this week but he did not seem concerned with the details of how each plan would work, an unnamed source confirmed to CNN.
Trump has also met with lawmakers on potential gun control plans, including Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), among others.