2A/GOP/GUNS/NRA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump stunned Republicans on live television Wednesday [2-28-18] by embracing gun control and urging a group of lawmakers at the White House to resurrect gun safety legislation that has been opposed for years by the powerful National Rifle Association and the vast majority of his party.
In a remarkable meeting, the president veered wildly from the N.R.A. playbook in front of giddy Democrats and stone-faced Republicans. He called for comprehensive gun control legislation that would expand background checks to weapons purchased at gun shows and on the internet, keep guns from mentally ill people, secure schools and restrict gun sales for some young adults. He even suggested a conversation on an assault weapons ban…
The declarations prompted a frantic series of calls from N.R.A. lobbyists to their allies on Capitol Hill and a statement from the group calling the ideas that Mr. Trump expressed ‘bad policy.’ Republican lawmakers suggested to reporters that they remained opposed to gun control measures…
Democrats, too, said they were skeptical that Mr. Trump would follow through.”
-Michael D. Shear, “Trump Stuns Lawmakers With Seeming Embrace of Comprehensive Gun Control,” The New York Times online, Feb. 28, 2018