New York Times: “In certain right-wing corners of the web — and, increasingly, from more mainstream voices like Rush Limbaugh and a commentator on CNN — the students are being portrayed not as grief-ridden survivors but as pawns and conspiracists intent on exploiting a tragedy to undermine the nation’s laws.”

“In these baseless accounts, … the students are described as ‘crisis actors,’ who travel to the sites of shootings to instigate fury against guns. Or they are called F.B.I. plants, defending the bureau for its failure to catch the shooter. They have been portrayed as puppets being coached and manipulated by the Democratic Party, gun control activists, the so-called antifa movement and the left-wing billionaire George Soros.”

Tampa Bay Times: “The conspiracy climbed to a new level when an aide to state Rep. Shawn Harrison, R-Tampa, was fired after emailing a Tampa Bay Times reporter with a stunning assertion: ‘Both kids in the picture are not students here but actors that travel to various crisis when they happen.'”

Jonathan Swan: “President Trump has told associates that he doesn’t think high school kids should be able to buy guns, and is open to the idea of imposing a minimum purchase age of 21 for guns like those used in the Florida high school massacre.”

“The source cautioned that the conversations with the president have been relatively loose and open-ended so far. Nothing has been decided, or is close to decided, on the age question.”

President Trump said that he signed a memorandum directing Attorney General Jeff Sessions to craft regulations to ban “bump stocks” and other devices that turn semi-automatic firearms into automatic weapons, the Washington Post reports.

“The device was used by the shooter who opened fire on a country music festival in Las Vegas in October, immediately prompting calls for lawmakers to take action and ban such devices. At the time, the White House and the National Rifle Association made clear that they were open to the idea, but no action was taken.”

A new Quinnipiac poll finds American voters support stricter gun laws, 66% to 31%, the highest level of support ever measured by the poll, with 50% to 44% support among gun owners and 62% to 35% support from white voters with no college degree and 58% to 38% support among white men.

In addition, Americans support a nationwide ban on the sale of assault weapons, 67% to 29%, and a mandatory waiting period for all gun purchases, 83% to 14%.

This is stunning: Support for universal background checks is itself almost universal, 97% to 2%, including 97% to 3% among gun owners.

[alert type=”general” dismiss=”no”]I don’t recall seeing 97% support for anything.[/alert]

Newt Gingrich told Fox News that the only long-term solution to school shootings is to train teachers and administrators in the use of guns.

Said Gingrich: “I think the only long-term solution, depending on the size of the school, is a minimum of six to eight teachers and administrators who are trained in the use of firearms and have conceal carry permits and are prepared to defend the kids.”

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds that 77% of Americans say Congress is not doing enough to prevent mass shootings and 62% say the same of President Trump.

But Americans are roughly split on an assault weapons ban, with 50% in support and 46% opposed, a stark contrast from the 80% support for the ban in 1994, the year it was enacted. The current level of support is little different from 51% in 2016.

A White House spokesman says President Trump “is supportive of efforts to improve the federal background check system” for gun purchases, less than a week after the Florida school shooting that killed 17 people, CNN reports.

“He also said he was open to banning bump stocks in the wake of last fall’s Las Vegas shooting, but there hasn’t been significant further action by the White House on that front.”

First Read: “We’ve all become accustomed to the pattern that typically happens after mass shootings: An outcry and calls for action on gun control, followed by a slow fade of the tragedy from the national headlines as the mourning community is left to pick up the pieces on its own. But something does feel a little different this time, with so many students from Parkland speaking out with passion and clarity even after having endured a shooting less than a week ago.”

“Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School have announced a nationwide march on March 24, and there’s a call for a national school walkout on April 20 (the 19th anniversary of the Columbine massacre.)”

“Teen survivors of the school shooting massacre in Florida last week are calling for a march on Washington to demand action on gun control,” ABC News reports.

Al Hoffman, a prominent Republican political donor, “demanded that the party pass legislation to restrict access to guns, and vowed not to contribute to any candidates or electioneering groups that did not support a ban on the sale of military-style firearms to civilians,” the New York Times reports.

Said Hoffman: “For how many years now have we been doing this — having these experiences of terrorism, mass killings — and how many years has it been that nothing’s been done? It’s the end of the road for me.”

“A 19-year-old former student armed with an AR-15 opened fire inside a South Florida high school on Wednesday, killing at least 17 people in the latest burst of deadly violence to erupt inside an American school,” the Washington Post reports.

“The shooting was the latest in a long line of violent attacks that have shattered the peace inside schools, movie theaters, churches, offices and other public places. Once again, bullets tore through school hallways as students and teachers sought shelter. Once again, lives were cut short and others irrevocably, painfully changed. Once again, the nation watched with horror as they again confronted the unthinkable.”

President Trump offered “prayers and condolences to the families of the victims of the terrible Florida shooting.”

“Of all the political and cultural issues that divide red states from blue ones, none is more volatile than guns and who can carry them,” 60 Minutes reports.

“Conservative rural states like Arizona and West Virginia allow almost anyone to carry a loaded firearm in public, while in urban states and big cities, it can be a felony.”

“But a piece of legislation quietly churning its way through Congress may change all that by making gun permits more like driver’s licenses, transportable across state lines. If you are allowed to carry a concealed weapon in your home state, you would be allowed to carry it in all of them.”