Day 417: Trump Yields to NRA Overlords

After the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 dead, Donald Trump openly pushed for bipartisan changes to the nation’s gun laws. He went so far as to mock Republicans for being afraid of the NRA.

Just six days after the shooting, Trump said:

“I think we’ll have a great bill put forward, very soon, having to do with strong background checks … and perhaps we’ll do something on age because it doesn’t seem to make sense that you have to wait until you are 21 years old to get a pistol, but to get a gun like this maniac used in the school, you get that at 18,” he told Fox News in an interview that aired February 24. “That doesn’t make sense.”

His positions were crystal clear.

Now, just weeks later, after numerous meetings with NRA lobbyists, Trump’s positions line up with that of the NRA. He’s largely flip-flopped, pushing for more guns and abandoning the idea of raising the age to purchase rifles.

While he sees merit in improving the existing background check database, he failed to go near universal background checks, much less address the gaping loophole that allows many sellers at gun shows to forgo such checks, both of which the NRA strongly opposed.

Trump was clearly moved by what happened in Parkland, Florida and advocated for common sense changes after hearing from survivors. It took him just weeks to be moved in the other direction by the NRA.

417 days in, 1045 to go

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