President Donald Trump talked Tuesday with National Rifle Association chief executive Wayne LaPierre and assured him that universal background checks were off the table, according to several people familiar with the call. Trump told LaPierre that the White House remained interested in proposals that would address weapons getting into the hands of the mentally ill, including the possibility of backing so-called “red flag” laws that would allow the police to temporarily confiscate guns from people who have been shown to be a danger to themselves or others. Curtis Compton, Atlanta Journal-Constitution via APPresident Donald Trump and National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre appear together at the National Rifle Association Leadership Forum in 2017. Nonetheless, the president’s conversation with LaPierre, which was first reported by the Atlantic, further reduced hopes that major new gun-safety measures will be enacted after the latest round of mass shootings. “I know the gun lobby is putting the full-court press on everyone surrounding the president,” said Sen.