Recent fatal shootings across the nation — from a high school in Santa Clarita to a home in Paradise Hills to a yard in Fresno to a Walmart parking lot in Oklahoma — are grim reminders of how among affluent nations, Americans are uniquely vulnerable to gun violence because of our lax laws. After a gunman killed two students and wounded three others Thursday at Saugus High School, one student plaintively asked, “What kind of a world is this?”

It’s a world where Attorney General William Barr last week touted “a new and robust effort” to reduce gun violence — joining 145 CEOs in newly acknowledging it as a huge problem — even as the White House downplayed the issue by saying President Donald Trump was opposed to any new restrictions. It’s a world where Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has since February sat on a House-approved bill with five GOP co-sponsors that requires more comprehensive background checks for gun buyers — something polls show has long had strong bipartisan support and evidence shows could sharply limit mentally ill individuals’ access to weapons. It’s a world where one relatively small faction of a party followed by 28% of Americans somehow has veto power preventing enactment of gun reforms at a time when gun violence is a specter hanging over schools, malls and other public spaces, affecting the mental health of millions of people.

For the record: This editorial was corrected on Nov. 19 to give the correct first name for Attorney General William Barr. We regret the error.

Can anything change this? Meetings between White House and congressional officials in recent weeks that are meant to avert another government shutdown over the federal budget have had a hint of bipartisan spirit. But, alas, McConnell still keeps saying he will allow gun reform bills to be voted on only if Trump signals he is ready to sign them.

The Trump of 2000 put out a book faulting Republicans for opposing “even limited restrictions” on guns. But the Trump of 2019 is opposing common-sense reforms. His silence on gun violence means more wrenching headlines are on the way.

