Only thing Trump has done about guns is make them easier to get

The Republican catchphrase in the wake of America’s latest gun massacre in Parkland, Florida, is “mental health.” Refusing to even discuss or address the epidemic of gun violence in America, Trump presented the school gun rampage as a medical problem in awkward address to the nation Wednesday.

“We are committed to working with state and local leaders to secure our schools and tackle the difficult issue of mental health,” he said.

That, despite evidence that most mass murderers in America do not have documented histories of mental illness.

What they have in common, though, is easy access to high-powered automatic rifles that are designed for military use but are sold to civilians in the U.S.

Wednesday’s Florida shooter used an AR-15, which is frequently used in American mass shootings. He killed 17 people.

The GOP’s desperate talking point about “mental health” and that’s it — not guns — is blunted by the fact that the only bill Trump has signed in office that relates to guns was a bill that undid restrictions on those with severe mental illness seeking to buy guns.

The GOP bill overturned a rule that was enacted under President Obama, which came in response to school massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012.

The rule was designed so that people receiving Social Security checks for mental illnesses and those deemed unfit to handle their own finances would have been added to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

Elsewhere, Trump and his administration have taken drastic action to weaken gun safety laws.

Last year, Trump’s Justice Department purged tens of thousands of people who had previously been labeled fugitives from the FBI’s background check system.

Meanwhile, Republicans in the House have worked to make it easier for consumers to buy silencers for their guns. And last year, they voted to pass a radical, NRA-sanctioned and Trump-approved bill that would allow people to carry concealed weapons across any state line, even if local state law forbids carrying concealed guns.

This, while the White House’s latest so-called budget proposal cuts millions of dollars from the country’s background check system.

The NRA spent a record amount of money in 2016, more than $419 million. The FBI is currently investigating whether Russian operatives funneled money to the NRA during the election cycle.

Trump, the GOP, and the NRA are hiding behind “mental health” to avoid talking about guns. This, after Trump weakened a key law regarding guns and mental health.