Trump discusses school safety with some Parkland families

President Trump on Monday met with some families of victims of the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Fla., to discuss potential safety measures as the two-year anniversary of the killings approaches.

The president met in the Oval Office with members of Stand with Parkland, a group of families affected by the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 dead. The group has pushed for public safety reforms to help prevent school shootings.

Monday’s meeting was focused on the School Safety Clearinghouse, which aims to provide recommendations and best practices for how to improve building designs and otherwise guard against school shootings. The project was backed by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

The White House did not provide a full list of those who attended Monday’s meeting, but Stand with Parkland determined the invitations based on those who have been working to develop the clearinghouse, meaning some Marjory Stoneman Douglas families were not present.

Fred Guttenberg, one of the more outspoken critics of the administration’s inaction on guns, tweeted that he did not receive an invitation. His family is not part of Stand with Parkland, he said, but he was critical that Trump’s public schedule said he would greet “Parkland Families.”

“I am proud of these Parkland families for their efforts on this. It appears that this is why they are meeting at the White House today,” Guttenberg tweeted. “I wish the WH would have handled the public announcement differently, however, these families are to be commended.”

Guttenberg was escorted out of the State of the Union last week after he shouted in protest of Trump’s pledge to protect the Second Amendment.

The president has vowed in the wake of multiple mass shootings during his administration that he would take on the gun lobby and enact reforms that simultaneously protected the Second Amendment and curbed bursts of violence. But he has waffled in each case and has yet to sign significant gun legislation three years into his term.

Following the Parkland shooting, Trump said he would support stronger background checks and a possible increase in the minimum age to purchase firearms. He ultimately backed away from that, instead unveiling a series of proposals to “harden” schools and improve safety.

The president again signaled last August that he would support more thorough background checks or “red flag” laws in the wake of back-to-back mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. But the issue faded into the background as the House formally launched an impeachment inquiry, and the White House never formally backed a specific proposal.