Francis Wilkinson: “In a small, carpeted classroom in Delta, British Columbia, a dozen of us filed in for the first of two days of classes — 15 hours in all — required to obtain a firearm license. Canadian law recognizes three basic types of guns: non-restricted, restricted and prohibited. Firearms become more difficult to possess as the government’s assessment of their danger increases. Handguns, for example, are restricted. Despite their designations, even restricted and prohibited firearms can be legally possessed and acquired.”

“Licensing is extensive and mandatory. Without a license issued by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, you can’t legally possess or purchase a firearm in Canada. And without completing an authorized training course in firearm safety like this one, and then waiting a minimum of 28 business days for your application to be processed, you won’t get a license.”

“Mayor Kevin Smith, of Helena-West Helena, said today that his city will defy any new State law preventing local law enforcement from cooperating with Federal law enforcement agencies when enforcing Federal gun crime laws,” the Arkansas Times reports.

Said Smith: “My NRA voting record, as a state senator years ago, was a triple A rating — the best you could get at the time. I understand both the politics and the importance of being vigilant regarding gun rights. But this is going way too far. I am not sure where we would be as a city without the partnerships we have with our US Attorney, the FBI, ATF, and DEA, but I do know it would be much worse than it is already.”

“President Biden ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff for the fifth time in eight weeks on Friday, after a mass shooting overnight at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis left eight dead,” Axios reports.

Doubling down on his pro-gun rights credentials, Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) signed a symbolic proclamation designating Nebraska as a “Second Amendment Sanctuary State,” the Omaha World-Herald reports.

Such a resolution means “that a state, county or city will not enforce federal gun laws they consider to be too restrictive.”

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) signed a bill that will allow most adults to carry a handgun without a permit, the Tennessean reports.

Politico: “Biden will direct the administration to begin the process of requiring buyers of so-called ghost guns — homemade or makeshift firearms that lack serial numbers — to undergo background checks.”

“Other executive actions remain unclear. But stakeholders have speculated that the president could announce regulations on concealed assault-style firearms; prohibitions on firearm purchases for those convicted of domestic violence against their partners; and federal guidance on home storage safety measures.”

Gallup: “If it were up to Americans, what would they do? The immediate answer is straightforward. The data show strong public support for proposed legislative changes that would do such things as require background checks for all gun purchases, ban high-capacity ammunition magazines, require all privately owned guns to be registered with the police, and require a 30-day waiting period for all gun sales.”

Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) told WJZY that he believes the man alleged to have carried out a mass shooting in a Colorado supermarket last week was inspired to violence following U.S. airstrikes in Syria, which he called a “failed policy” of the Biden administration.

“If the federal government imposes new restrictions on guns it will have to enforce them without Arizona’s help,” the Arizona Daily Star reports.

“The state Senate approved legislation Tuesday — already passed by the House — that would make it illegal for state and local governments and employees to enforce, administer or cooperate with any federal law, act, treaty, rule or regulation that is ‘inconsistent with any law of this state regarding the regulation of firearms.’”

“I own an AR-15. If there’s a natural disaster in South Carolina where the cops can’t protect my neighborhood, my house will be the last one that the gang will come to, because I can defend myself.”

— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), on Fox News.

CNN: “But thanks to years of shedding its claim to bipartisanship and aligning almost entirely with the Republican Party, the country’s premier pro-gun lobby’s agenda has firmly planted its agenda within the GOP, a legacy that continues to frustrate efforts to change gun laws.”

“Both Republican and Democratic aides have told CNN the NRA has not been much of a factor on Capitol Hill in recent months.”

That said, the Washington Post reports that prospects for new gun control laws remain.

Adam Gopnik: “The truth of reform is that it can begin anywhere, on any scale, and, once begun, it tends to be self-renewing. And, as reformers well know, it does not always matter where the reform starts—if it starts at all, it magnetizes other reforms toward it.”

“The President’s proposed assault-weapons ban, for that reason, is a good place to start. It may not lasso all or even the most dangerous weapons, and it will certainly not immediately end gun massacres or the psychic costs they exact. But it is a start. The gun lobby opposes it so irrationally because it understands this, too.”

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) warned President Joe Biden on Twitter not “to come and take it” with a picture of a statue of himself holding a shotgun.