福克斯新闻台主持人珍妮·皮罗周六晚上召见了一名共和党国会议员，他暗示特朗普政府正试图从美国人手中夺走枪支。

       皮罗说:“总统说我们需要聪明的背景调查，事实上，众议员，就在几个小时前，我和总统谈过，当时他说他致力于推进某种背景调查，因为，你知道，这种情况发生得太频繁了。”他在接受佛罗里达州共和党众议员马特·盖兹(Matt Gaetz)采访时说，有“需要面对的问题”。

       本月早些时候，德克萨斯州埃尔帕索和俄亥俄州代顿的大规模枪击事件造成30多人死亡，数十人受伤。这些袭击导致了一场关于枪支政策改革的全国性辩论。

       “我在澳大利亚，国会议员，他们没有这样的问题，”皮罗继续说道。"不幸的是，这开始成为美国特有的情况。"

       她用“我是一名持枪者和强壮的第二修正案者”来限定自己的陈述

       盖兹然后将强化背景调查等同于政府从守法公民手中拿走枪支。

       “在美国，没有人会建议我们想要澳大利亚的解决方案。他们没收了所有的枪，”盖兹说。“你知道谁做了澳大利亚做的事吗？委内瑞拉，”他补充说。

       皮罗接着反驳道，盖兹误解了特朗普和其他像她一样的人的建议。

       “国会议员，没有人在谈论拿走人民的枪。美国最高法院明确表示，我们有权拥有这些枪支来保护自己的人身安全，”她说。"没人在谈论拿走我们的枪。"

       在1996年导致35人死亡的大规模枪击事件后，澳大利亚议会通过了全面的枪支改革，禁止某些类型的枪支，包括猎枪以及自动和半自动步枪。这些规定还建立了枪支所有人的集中登记制度，并使购买枪支的过程更加严格。

       由于许多自动和半自动武器已经在流通，澳大利亚政府实施了强制性回购计划:政府总共回购了大约65万件武器。

       由于政策的改变，澳大利亚的自杀率下降了57%，枪支杀人率下降了42%，根据哈佛大学的一份报告。

       在周五的白宫新闻发布会上，特朗普总统按下以增强背景检查这表明两党都支持“常识”改革。

       “我可以告诉你，对有意义的...背景调查，这样生病和精神错乱的人就不会随身携带枪支，”他告诉记者。“这是一个很大的精神疾病问题。枪不会扣动扳机——一个头脑，一个有病的头脑扣动扳机，我们想把它从方程式中去掉...我们非常支持常识性背景调查。”
       特朗普政府还呼吁扩大危险信号法，让执法人员更容易从被认为是威胁的个人手中拿走枪支。

       目前，联邦法律要求所有有执照的枪支经销商对潜在买家进行背景调查，一些州实施了更严格的程序。然而，有一些明显的漏洞，包括不要求私人枪支销售商进行检查。
 

FOX NEWS HOST JEANINE PIRRO CALLS OUT GOP CONGRESSMAN FOR SUGGESTING TRUMP WANTS TO TAKE PEOPLE'S GUNS AWAY

       Fox News host Jeanine Pirro called out a Republican congressman Saturday night after he suggested that the Trump administration was attempting to take guns away from Americans.

       "The president has said that we need intelligent background checks, and in fact congressman, I spoke with the president just a few hours ago when he said that he is committed to going forward with some kind of background checks because, you know, this is happening far too often," Pirro said, arguing that there are "issues that need to be confronted" in an interview with GOP Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida.

       Earlier this month, mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, left more than 30 people dead and dozens more wounded. The attacks have lead to a renewed national debate on gun policy reform.

       "I'm here in Australia, congressman, they don't have problems like this," Piro continued. "This is starting to be, unfortunately, a uniquely American situation."

       She qualified her statement by saying "I am a gun owner and strong Second Amendment person."

       Gaetz then equated enhanced background checks with the government taking away guns from law-abiding citizens.

       "Nobody would suggest in the United States we would want Australia's solution. They confiscated all the guns," Gaetz said. "You know who did what Australia did? Venezuela," he added.

       Pirro then pushed back, pointing out that Gaetz was mischaracterizing what Trump and others like herself were suggesting.

       "Congressman, nobody is talking about taking away people's guns. The United States Supreme Court made it clear we have the right to have these guns for our own personal protection," she said. "No one is talking about taking our guns away."

       Following a 1996 mass shooting that left 35 people dead, the Australian parliament passed sweeping gun reforms, banning certain types of firearms, including shotguns and automatic and semi-automatic rifles. The regulations also established a centralized registry of gun owners and made purchasing a gun more rigorous process.

       As many automatic and semi-automatic weapons were already in circulation, the Australian government implemented a mandatory buy-back program: In total, about 650,000 weapons were bought back by the government.

       As a result of the policy changes, Australia has seen a 57 percent decline in suicide and a 42 percent drop in the firearm homicide rate, according to a report from Harvard University.

       In a White House press briefing on Friday, President Trump pressed for enhanced background checks, suggesting there was bipartisan support for "common-sense" reform.

       "I can tell you, there's tremendous goodwill for meaningful... background checks so that sick and demented people don't carry around guns," he told reporters. "It's a big mental illness problem. The gun doesn't pull the trigger—a mind, a sick mind pulls the trigger, and we want to take that out of the equation... We have tremendous support for common-sense background checks."
       The Trump administration has also called for expanding red flag laws that would make it easier for law enforcement officers to remove guns from individuals believed to be a threat.

       Currently, federal law requires all licensed firearms dealers to perform background check on prospective buyers, with some states having implemented more restrictive procedures. However, there are some glaring loopholes, including that private gun sellers are not required to run checks.