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Sen. Tim Kaine to hold gun violence roundtable with parents

Posted at 7:57 PM, Feb 25, 2018
and last updated 2018-02-25 20:45:17-05

RICHMOND, Va. -- Sen. Tim Kaine will hold a roundtable on gun violence with parents from the Richmond chapter of Moms Demand Action on Monday.

The event will take place at 10:15 a.m. at the SunTrust Center at 919 East Main Street in Richmond.

Kaine helped strengthen background checks and pushed for action to curb gun violence in the wake of the Virginia Tech shooting that left 33 people dead, including the gunman, and left 17 others wounded.

The discussion comes after students from Marjory Stonemason Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, have been pushing for gun control measures after a gunman killed 17 students and teachers and wounded more.

President Donald Trump doubled down on his supportfor the controversial idea of arming school teachers as a protective and preventive measure against school shootings, indicating that aspects of such a proposal could be "up to states."

"Armed Educators (and trusted people who work within a school) love our students and will protect them," Trump tweeted Saturday. "Very smart people. Must be firearms adept & have annual training. Should get yearly bonus. Shootings will not happen again - a big & very inexpensive deterrent. Up to States."

The White House did not immediately return a request for comment on Trump's tweet.

When asked on Thursday about the cost of such a plan, White House principal deputy press secretary Raj Shah told reporters, "I think that if we find the policy solutions that make the most sense that we can get buy in for, we'll figure out the rest of the pieces that you outlined."

The President held a listening session earlier this week with victims and activists from several school shootings and has stated that he wants to end the sale of bump fire stocks, which allow semi-automatic weapons to fire bullets at a rapid rate.

Trump also said this week that he is pushing comprehensive background checks to emphasize mental health.

The CNN Wire contributed to this report.

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