Parent at WH listening session asks Trump for age restrictions on gun purchases

The parent of a survivor of last week’s high school shooting in Florida on Wednesday asked President Trump to impose age restrictions on gun purchases at a listening session with the president at the White House.

“If he’s not old enough to buy a drink, to go and buy a beer, he should not be able to go and buy a gun at 18 years old,” Cary Gruber told Trump.

“That’s just common sense. We have to do common sense. Please, Mr. Trump, these are things we have to do,” he continued.

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“It’s not left and right, it’s not political, it’s a human issue. People are dying and we have to stop this,” he said.

Gruber is the father of Justin Gruber, who was hiding in a closet during the shooting last week at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

The listening session was made up of Stoneman Douglas students, as well as parents of victims from the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and the 1999 Columbine High School shooting.

Trump opened the session promising to get tough on background checks.

“We’re going to be very strong on background checks,” the president said.

“It’s not going to be talk like it has been in the past. It’s been going on too long. Too many instances, and were going to get it done.”

Vice President Pence and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos were also in attendance.

Seventeen people were killed and numerous others were injured after 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz allegedly opened fire at the school.

Axios reported Wednesday that the president has told associates he doesn’t believe high school students should be able to purchase guns.

Trump said he would consider imposing an age requirement of 21 for people to buy guns like the AR-15 used in last week’s shooting, a source close to the president said.

The shooting has reignited the national debate on gun control.

Students across the country staged walkouts on Wednesday to demand action on gun laws from lawmakers.

Survivors of the shooting visited Florida’s capital in Tallahassee on Wednesday with hopes of lobbying state lawmakers to take action on gun control.