Trump in favour of improving background checks for gun purchases: White House

PALM BEACH, Fla., Feb 19 (Reuters) – The White House said on Monday that President Donald Trump supports efforts to improve federal background checks for gun purchases, days after a shooting at a Florida school killed 17 people.Trump spoke to Senator John Cornyn, a Republican, on Friday about a bi-partisan bill that he and Democratic Senator Chris Murphy introduced to improve federal compliance with criminal background checks, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.“While discussions are ongoing and revisions are being considered, the president is supportive of efforts to improve the federal background check system,” Sanders said in a statement.READ MORE: Florida school shooting survivors lash out at TrumpCornyn and Murphy introduced the bill to improve federal background checks last November, days after a gunman killed more than two dozen people in a church in Texas.The bill, called the Fix NICS Act, would ensure that states and federal agencies comply with existing law on reporting criminal history records to the national background check system.WATCH: ‘I don’t know when we’re going back’: Florida students continue to grieve, question about back to school Cornyn, of Texas, had complained when introducing the legislation that compliance by agencies was “lousy.”Students from the Florida high school where a former student is accused of murdering 17 people last week using an assault-style rifle, are planning a “March For Our Lives” in Washington on March 24 to call attention to school safety and ask lawmakers to enact gun control.WATCH: Funerals held for 3 Florida shooting victims as students push for better gun control legislation