The White House has a photo of Trump easing gun restrictions for the mentally ill but, oddly, won't release it
In his speech Thursday about Wednesday's mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, President Trump focused on mental illness, after earlier tweeting about the "mentally disturbed" guy who murdered 17 people. Exactly a year earlier, Congress had passed a bill nullifying a rule designed to keep guns out of the hands of people with mental illness, and Trump signed it two weeks later. A White House photographer took photos of Trump signing the bill in a closed-door ceremony, CBS News reported Thursday, but it has declined 12 requests to release the photo to the public.
It's not clear that presumptive Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz would have been among the 75,000 people with diagnosed serious mental illness placed on the federal database blocking gun sales, but Trump and his fellow Republicans are the ones focusing on mental illness after this and other mass shootings. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), for example, was the lead Senate sponsor of the gun and mental illness law Trump signed, and this is what he had to say Thursday. Peter Weber
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Why is Prince William in Saudi Arabia?Today’s Big Question Government requested royal visit to boost trade and ties with Middle East powerhouse, but critics balk at kingdom’s human rights record
-
Wuthering Heights: ‘wildly fun’ reinvention of the classic novel lacks depthTalking Point Emerald Fennell splits the critics with her sizzling spin on Emily Brontë’s gothic tale
-
Why the Bangladesh election is one to watchThe Explainer Opposition party has claimed the void left by Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League but Islamist party could yet have a say
-
Japan’s Takaichi cements power with snap election winSpeed Read President Donald Trump congratulated the conservative prime minister
-
Trump sues IRS for $10B over tax record leaksSpeed Read The president is claiming ‘reputational and financial harm’ from leaks of his tax information between 2018 and 2020
-
Trump, Senate Democrats reach DHS funding dealSpeed Read The deal will fund most of the government through September and the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks
-
Fed holds rates steady, bucking Trump pressureSpeed Read The Federal Reserve voted to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged
-
Judge slams ICE violations amid growing backlashSpeed Read ‘ICE is not a law unto itself,’ said a federal judge after the agency violated at least 96 court orders
-
Rep. Ilhan Omar attacked with unknown liquidSpeed Read This ‘small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work’
-
Democrats pledge Noem impeachment if not firedSpeed Read Trump is publicly defending the Homeland Security secretary
-
The billionaires’ wealth tax: a catastrophe for California?Talking Point Peter Thiel and Larry Page preparing to change state residency
