After the Florida school shooting, the people have been demanding legislative reform regarding the second amendment from their government. From school walkouts to protests, to memorials, to political disputes, the political arena is more torn than ever. Democrats call for tighter gun control while Republicans point to mental instability, video games, or anything but guns as the real source of such violence. Recently, however, Donald Trump surprised everyone with a gun control proposal.

Previously, Trump had mostly supported mental health checking as a form of filter and protection. The president also proposed to arm teachers with firearms in schools. He argued the armament of “gun adept” teachers would serve as an immediate response force as well as a great deterrent to school shooters. Bump stocks, a device that allows conventional semi-automatic rifles to be fired at a much more rapid rate, was also banned.

At a bipartisan white house meeting, President Trump shocked lawmakers when he unexpectedly sided with the Democrats and called for some measures of gun control. He agreed with some of Democratic Senators Dianne Feinstein and Amy Klobuchar’s proposals (VOX).

When his vice president, Mike Pence, tried to slyly steer the conversation back to a Republican point of view, Trump shot back with this statement: “Take the firearms first and then go to court.A lot of times by the time you go to court, it takes so long to go to court, to get the due process procedures. I like taking the guns early.”

During the meeting, President Trump even went as far as to criticize GOP Senator Toomey as being afraid of the NRA. He requested the Republicans give up on a concealed carry bill that was being pushed through Congress.

Regarding the turn of events, Ashley Bui-Tran (11) was surprised when she first heard the president’s opinion on the controversial subject: “I thought it was funny how the rest of the room, both Democrats and Republicans, were caught off guard by the president’s sudden change in position. The Democratic senator next to President Trump even began to laugh.”

However, given how President Trump has had a history of retracting or even contradicting his previous statements, especially recently, the certainty of more gun control still remains unclear. New plans released by White House indicates that Trump has backed down from raising the age limit to 21 and enforcing comprehensive background checks.