Spoiler alert: Trump breaks promises on gun violence

Two weeks ago, President Trump tried to create a new episode of “Celebrity Apprentice,” set in the White House.

Trump wanted viewers to see him as a deft negotiator committed to passing landmark firearms control legislation. After the Marjory Stoneman Douglas massacre, Trump vowed to the assembled lawmakers, everything would change. He would deliver. The National Rifle Association didn’t scare him.

As with all reality TV, of course, this episode lacked reality. Trump’s promises were as true as those Trump University made to its “students.” Trump has backed off from the “comprehensive” and “beautiful” bill he touted during the made-for-TV session. He’s backed off from raising the age to buy firearms and greatly expanding background checks.

One month after the massacre, Florida’s tepid response likely will look braver than anything Congress does — if that NRA subsidiary does anything at all. Florida may have raised the firearms purchase age to 21 and established a three-day waiting period only because Gov. Rick Scott faces a Senate campaign and House Speaker Richard Corcoran wants to run for governor.

Those lawmakers whom Trump convened on March 1 tried the right strategy. They flattered the narcissistic president. U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, whose district includes Stoneman Douglas, said he was “heartened by what you said about presidential leadership.” Trump seemed pleased.

Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., told Trump that he alone had the standing to get the NRA behind a bill. In 2013, after the slaughter of 20 first-graders and six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary, Toomey introduced bipartisan legislation with Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. It would have expanded background checks for firearm sales at gun shows and over the Internet.

Even that baby step, however, couldn’t survive a Senate filibuster. Marco Rubio voted against it. Trump, ever consumed by wanting to seem better than any president but especially better than Barack Obama, said, “It surprises me that nothing got done.”

Sen. Chris Smith, D-Conn., tried to help the president understand. “It was the NRA.”

Now, it is the NRA again. Two weeks ago, Trump said, “I’m not into popularity.” And Stormy Daniels isn’t into publicity. Trump wants to look popular on gun violence without being unpopular with the NRA.

As Deutch said in a tweet after Trump’s backdown, “We know what needs to be done. There’s broad support to expand background checks, ban bump stocks, increase the age to buy a gun, and get weapons of war off our streets.” He’s correct on all counts, but we won’t get that debate.

Instead, we will hear about violent video games and movies. At that White House meeting, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, blamed the Stoneman Douglas massacre on “Hollywood” and the “culture in our schools.” We will hear about mental health. Trump told his audience, “We have to fix mental illness,” about which he had said nothing before Stoneman Douglas.

And we will hear about arming teachers. Scott agreed to a state “marshals program” despite his personal opposition. Trump claimed that “offensive firepower” could stop school shootings. Yet studies show that even trained police officers hit their targets only 20 percent of the time. There is no evidence that arming teachers will deter attacks, and unarmed people stop shootings more often than those who are armed.

Indeed, the idea is a diversion. It was a diversion when the NRA proposed it after Sandy Hook. It aligns with the NRA’s trite slogan: “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., whom Scott likely will challenge this fall, summed things up when he said this week, “There’s near-universal agreement that arming teachers is a terrible idea, and yet such an idea continues to direct Congress’ attention away from the obvious and common-sense solutions supported by most Americans.”

Those include a ban on military-style weapons and high-capacity magazines that serve no civilian purpose. They include expanded background checks and more complete reporting to firearms dealers.

That’s because for all the justified focus on the Stoneman Douglas massacre, our firearms violence problem goes well beyond schools. Addressing it will take political courage. Trump wanted people to believe that he has it, but the man who said he would have charged into Stoneman Douglas High won’t even confront the NRA. That’s the reality.

Email Randy Schultz: randy@bocamag.com