Politics

Watch: Trump and bipartisan lawmakers discuss guns, school safety

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President Donald Trump is set to discuss school and community safety with a bipartisan group of lawmakers on Wednesday.

The meeting, scheduled after a gunman toting a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle killed 17 students and teachers at a Florida high school, could bring members of Congress closer to implementing some of the various gun control measures proposed since the shooting.

Trump himself has advocated supplying "firearms adept" teachers with concealed guns to deter school shooters. He has said that 20 percent of teachers might be eligible, and that those who undergo annual training should receive a bonus.

Trump tweet armed teachers

Last week, Trump directed his Justice Department to craft regulations that would ban "bump stocks" — attachments that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire continuously. The weapon modifier was used during a massacre last year at a Las Vegas concert.

The president also said he favors strengthening background checks to focus more on mental health, as well as raising the federal minimum age to buy some guns to 21 from 18 — a policy staunchly opposed by the National Rifle Association.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders announced Wednesday that reporters had been asked to monitor the meeting for an extended time period. But "due to this expanded access with the president," she said, a previously scheduled press briefing was cancelled.

Trump will be joined on Wednesday by 10 senators and seven U.S. representatives, NBC News reported. They include: