© Jonathan Ernst/ReutersWhite House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump is "interested in in improving" background checks on Friday.
Trump made no promises to NRA leaders during a Thursday night Oval Office meeting, but vowed to "continue to support the Second Amendment," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.
Sanders sought to tame expectations after Trump's wide array of promises and proposals, made in the wake of the country's latest school shooting, on gun-related legislation.
Trump is "interested in improving" the background check system, but does not necessarily support universal checks favored by Democrats as he indicated during a sitdown with lawmakers earlier in the week.
"Not necessarily universal background checks, but certainly improving the background check system," Sanders said.
Trump vowed to present concrete proposals regarding gun measures by Friday, but the White House had not issued any statements that clarified the President's shifting rhetoric by the early afternoon.
© Mandel Ngan/Afp/Getty ImagesPresident Trump had an Oval Office meeting with the NRA Thursday.
Trump stunned his fellow Republicans by calling for across-the-board changes to the nation's gun laws following the Feb. 14 massacre in Parkland, Fla., that left 17 dead.
In a bizarre and freewheeling bipartisan meeting on Wednesday, he called for "comprehensive" gun control.
He pushed to raise the age for purchasing a rifle from 18 to 21 and said he was OK with taking "the guns first" from violent people and going "through due process second."
He also called for expanding background checks and told House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) that a concealed-carry bill would never pass attached to legislation to encourage states to enter data into the national background checks database.
But Sanders was more cautious on Friday, saying the President wants to see what legislation is cooked up on Capitol Hill.
"Universal means something different to a lot of people," Sanders said. "He certainly wants to focus and improve on the background check system."
Late Thursday, Trump tweeted that he'd had a "Good (Great) meeting in the Oval Office tonight with the NRA!"
© Win Mcnamee/Getty ImagesTrump called for big changes to gun laws after the Parkland, Fla., shooting.
Cox shot down the idea that Trump is sincere about reform, saying that the President and Vice President Pence "support the Second Amendment, support strong due process and don't want gun control."
The NRA has called the bulk of the proposals discussed at the White House this week "bad policy" that would not keep people safe.
Universal background checks sounds a lot like their wanting every transfer to go through the government, including say a father or grandfather passing down a heirloom firearm or a private sale between two people. That totally goes against the 2ed amendment and would require that everyone, well every "law" abiding citizen, register their guns. Unfortunately far too many people understand that registration is the first step before confiscation, so I wouldn't expect many people to be willing to register their firearms.
Everyone is talking like the NRA is some monster organization with all this political power. Sure they heap money on politicians, but it's the gun owning public that will decide whether to support some new law or not.
These people need to wipe the froth from their mouths and realize that America won't disarm like those "civilized" countries in Europe. So no forced migrant settlement, no austerity at the barrel of a gun or other Stazi type edicts. Yes, it could be said that we already have many things perpetrated upon the people. But I'm fairly confident that this latest dumbassery won't pass.