“Colt Firearms will be ending its production and sales of its AR-15 rifles due to lack of public demand amid excess market capacity,” American Military News reports.

“Colt released a statement on Thursday to clarify the decision, which was made because the company simply isn’t selling enough of the rifles in the civilian marketplace to continue devoting the resources into it — a pattern that may be attributed to Colt rifles’ $1,000+ price tag and a market supplied with lower priced competitors.”

“Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer warned President Donald Trump on Sunday that any firearm legislation that falls short of universal background checks for gun sales ‘will not get the job done,’ complicating delicate negotiations between the president and a group of senators,” Politico reports.

“Trump has been discussing potential legislation with senators in both parties that would expand background checks but would not go as far as House-passed legislation that would apply them to all gun sales with limited exceptions. Trump issued a veto threat on the House’s background-checks bill earlier this year, and few Republicans in Congress support it.”

“But in a conversation with Trump on Sunday morning, the House speaker and Senate minority leader indicated to Trump that they were taking a much harder line than rank-and-file senators involved in the talks.”

New York Times: “As Democrats make an aggressive push for new gun control legislation, they have made a calculated decision to stop short of pursuing their most ambitious goal: an assault weapons ban.”

“The overwhelming majority of House Democrats — 211, seven shy of the 218 needed for passage — are co-sponsoring legislation to ban military-style semiautomatic weapons, similar to the ban in effect from 1994 to 2004. But some centrist Democrats remain skittish about any proposal that keeps firearms from law-abiding citizens — a frequent charge against Democrats by Republicans and gun rights groups — making any such ban politically risky for moderates in Trump-friendly districts. In the Senate, it draws less support.”

“The split reveals just how complicated gun politics remain inside the Democratic Party, even as mass shootings are terrorizing the nation and the Twitter hashtag #DoSomething has captured the mounting public demands for Congress to act.”

Washington Post: “White House aides briefed Republican senators on potential legislative options at their private weekly luncheon Tuesday — including expanding the federal background-check system for gun buyers and encouraging states to create systems to temporarily seize guns from individuals judged to be dangerous — but they gave no indication of what Trump himself is willing to sign into law, exasperating some of those present.”

“Speaking to reporters afterward, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) confirmed Trump has yet to weigh in on the subject. Guns were among the topics discussed at a White House meeting between Trump and Republican congressional leaders Tuesday afternoon, but attendees said there were no decisions on how to move forward on the issue.”

“Americans across party and demographic lines overwhelmingly support expanded background checks for gun buyers and allowing law enforcement to temporarily seize weapons from troubled individuals, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll, as President Trump and Republicans face fresh pressure to act.”

“Although the poll finds a continued partisan divide on more far-reaching gun-control proposals, public opinion is firmly behind Democrats’ push for action as Congress returns to Washington on Monday. More Americans say they trust congressional Democrats over Trump to handle the nation’s gun laws, 51 percent to 36 percent, with independents siding with Democrats by a 17-point margin — a divide that could have political ramifications for the 2020 presidential and congressional elections.”

Although President Trump assured Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) that he was still considering legislation that could include background checks for gun buyers, White House aides tell the New York Times that they had polling data showing that gun control was politically problematic for the president.

The polling data indicated that the issue does not help the president with his core base of supporters.

“President Trump met with Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin at the White House on Thursday to discuss a policy response to mass shootings that have killed dozens of people over the past several weeks,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The 30-minute private meeting, which included several White House staffers, touched on a range of possible gun-related policy issues including background checks, the people said. … another person familiar with the meeting said the president didn’t give Sen. Manchin a clear signal, illustrating the widespread uncertainty on Capitol Hill about what Mr. Trump might support.”

White House officials told the Wall Street Journal that they believe they have made progress on new measures to restrict guns in their conversations with U.S. senators — such as improving background checks, temporarily taking firearms away from dangerous people and boosting mental-health services — “but it remains unclear what a legislative package might include.”

Said one White House official: “We’ll need direction from the president.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) stressed that President Trump’s support is the key to a gun reform bill getting a vote on the Senate floor in the wake of recent mass shootings, The Hill reports.

Said McConnell: “I expect to get an answer to that next week. If the president is in favor of a number of things that he has discussed openly and publicly and I know that if we pass it, it will become law, I’ll put it on the floor.”

He added: “I said several weeks ago that if the president took a position on a bill, so that we knew we would actually be making a law and not just having serial votes, I’d be happy to put it on the floor.”

Texas state Rep. Matt Schaefer (R) posted on Facebook that “so-called gun-control solutions” won’t “stop a person with evil intent,” and that people should instead pray for victims and those with “evil intent.”

Said Schaefer: “‘Do something!’ is the statement we keep hearing. As an elected official with a vote in Austin, let me tell you what I am NOT going to do. I am NOT going to use the evil acts of a handful of people to diminish the God-given rights of my fellow Texans. Period. None of these so-called gun-control solutions will work to stop a person with evil intent.”

He added: “What can we do? YES to praying for victims. YES to praying for protection. YES to praying that God would transform the hearts of people with evil intent.”

President Trump said that a mass shooting that took place a day earlier in Texas “really hasn’t changed anything” about how lawmakers are approaching gun control legislation, NBC News reports.

Said Trump: “We are in the process of dealing with Democrats and Republicans, and there’s a big package of things that’s going to be put before them by a lot of different people I’ve been speaking to a lot of senators, a lot of house members, Republicans, Democrats — this really hasn’t changed anything, we’re doing a package and we’ll see how it comes about. That’s irrespective of what happened yesterday in Texas.”

He added: “Over the last five, six, or seven years, no matter how strong you need the background checks, it wouldn’t have stopped any of it.”

USA Today: “A bulk of gun law changes took effect in Texas on Sunday, loosening restrictions just one day after a mass shooting near Odessa and Midland left at least 5 people dead. The laws open more opportunities for Texans to have firearms and store ammunition in public places.”

“From churches to public schools to foster homes, the laws also loosen restrictions on where a firearm is permitted. The laws were already set to take effect Sept. 1 but come just one day after a routine traffic stop on Interstate 20 triggered a deadly shooting rampage.”

“We don’t know how many have been killed. We don’t know the motivation. But here’s what we do know: This is fucked up.”

— Beto O’Rourke, tweeting about the latest mass shooting in Texas.