One month after the latest school massacre, countless students coast to coast walked out of class for at least 17 minutes Wednesday _ one for each person fatally shot at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Valentine's Day. The emotional demonstrations at thousands of schools targeted the appalling failure of the GOP-led Congress on the issue of gun violence.
Just two weeks ago, Republican President Donald Trump made major progress on reducing such deadly mass shootings seem tantalizingly close. Trump told lawmakers visiting the White House that he endorsed "very, very strong" background checks for gun buyers and supported Democratic California Sen. Dianne Feinstein's push to renew the federal ban on assault-style military rifles that lapsed in 2004. He also expressed interest in raising the minimum age for buying assault rifles to 21.
Now, alas, progress seems illusory. Trump has cooled on raising the age limit for some gun purchases and has shelved talk of a new "assault-weapon" ban. He says he still supports more comprehensive background checks and bans on "bump stocks," but his interest in a bold Nixon-goes-to-China approach to gun regulation seems to have vanished. Maybe Wednesday's student rallies create new momentum. But without Trump's leadership, the long congressional stalemate on guns won't soon end.
